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at 7 o'clock the next morning an assault was ordered.
Hudson's battery, commanded by Lieut. E. S. Walton; a section of Morton's battery, Lieut. Jo. M. Mayson commanding; the other section of Morton's battery, Lieut. Tully Brown commanding, all under the command of Capt. J. W. Morton, opened fire on the Federal position.
The troops commenced to advance, when Forrest gave the order to cease firing and to halt, and demanded the surrender of the fort and garrison.
Col. Wallace Campbell, One Hundred and Tenth United States infantry, commanding, reported that Forrest's artillery had planted almost every shell inside the works, and satisfied that he could not make a successful resistance to a largely superior force, he yielded to the demand of the Confederate general, capitulating with detachments from the One Hundred and Sixth United States colored infantry, One Hundred and Tenth colored infantry, One Hundred and Eleventh colored infantry, and Third regiment Tennessee Federal cavalry, numbering 571 officers and men.
Pending the negotiations for the surrender, firing was heard in the direction of Decatur, which proved to be a combat between reinforcements approaching Athens and the Fifteenth Tennessee, Col. Thos. H. Logwood commanding.
The Federals took refuge behind piles of cordwood and made a stubborn fight.
Logwood charged them and forced them out, when they renewed their efforts to gain the fort and fought with great gallantry, but found that the Twenty-first Tennessee, Col. Jesse Forrest, had cut them off. Colonel Nixon and Colonel Carter joined the Twenty-first with 300 men, and in a few minutes the reinforcements, 350 strong, surrendered just in time to see the garrison of the fort march out and stack arms.
In this combat Col. Jesse Forrest fell severely wounded.
The garrison of a blockhouse surrendered on demand, but another one refused with defiance.
The artillery at once opened on it and the second shot penetrated the walls,
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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