The fighting in Georgia.
The latest newspaper accounts from
Georgia (the mails having been much interrupted by the raids) bring us accounts of the fighting of the 22d ultimo, but no later.
It will be recollected that the enemy assaulted our works and
General Hood repulsed and charged them in turn. "
Personne," the correspondent of the Savannah
Republican, writing on the 23d, says:
‘
It is yet too early to send you a reliable estimate of either our losses or those of the enemy in the battle of yesterday.
I can only state, on the authority of one of the corps medical directors, that a hasty reckoning of the causalities shows less than 4,000, and probably not many more than 3,000, killed, wounded and missing on our side.
On the part of the
Federal, 2,000 prisoners are reported on our books, to begin with; while all accounts from officers and men engaged concur in revealing a great destruction of life and limb.
’
On certain portions of
Hardee's front they made a most desperate resistance at close quarters, and they ran and were shot down in the act, or surrendered.
Surprised by the suddenness of the onset, they were put partially prepared with heavy breastworks to meet it — although breastworks were in course of construction — yet with that bravery which characterizes the
Western troops, they manfully stood their ground until forced to succumb to the energy and enthusiasm of our attack.
The
Yankees engaged on this portion of the line were the corps of
Dodge,
Blair and
Logan, with reinforcements from
Schofield, who held a position along our centre.
The whole were under command of
General McPherson.
There being three divisions to a corps, the disparity of numbers between the antagonists may be readily observed.
It was doubtless "dash" which gave us the victory, for had the
Federal been apprised of our approach in time they would have so fortified their left as to have utterly defeated the bold movement of the day. By this hour the entire position of the enemy is, beyond peradventure, impregnable.
The daring attacks of Wednesday and Friday have taught
Sherman that in
General Hood he has an adversary as fruitful in resources as he is audacious in execution, and hence the
Yankee commander has anticipated the necessity of acting hereafter as much on the defensive as on the aggressive.
The pride and recklessness with which he has thus far advanced have been measurably checked by the rough handling he has unexpectedly received, and we may look for an exercise by him of a degree of tenderness and caution that has marked his career from
Dalton.
The contest in front of the corps of
General Cheatham was not less desperate than that of
Hardee.
The enemy were here in position.
They had not only their own complete breastworks, with powerful abattis, but those built by our troops; and when pressed held their ground and delivered their fire with a steadiness that could not have been withstood but for the co- operation of our flanking column.--Here, also, occurred hand-to-hand encounters, in which men were bayonetted, knocked down with clubbed guns and otherwise killed at arm's length, while the capture of numerous flags attests the ever-pressing, vigorous advance of our troops.
The only misfortune of the day was its worst one, and lost us all we had gained.
Had a single brigade remained firm, there is no one in this army who does not believe that, demoralized as the enemy were near the close of the afternoon, they would not now have been on the other side of the river or ruined.
The plan was complete and, with the exception to, the execution was perfect.
The bravest veterans, however, are liable to become panic-stricken, and I would not utter a word of censure, much less reveal the name of the command, which, I believe, is yet destined to gallantly wipe out the memory of an incident which, however rightfully or wrongfully it may do so, nevertheless stains its hitherto unsullied escutcheon.
Compelled by this defection to fall back for the purpose of preserving the integrity of our lines, our army, with the exception of
Hardee, who is still on the enemy's left, but in connection with our right, has resumed its former position.
The question may be asked at home, what, then, have we gained?
What have these three thousand Southern men, who are to-day so torn and bloody, won by their sacrifice?
The answer is in a nut-shell.
We had to fight or evacuate
Atlanta — the battle has saved the city.
The Federal were steadily pushing around our right, and after destroying two lines of railway communication, were approaching the third.
That danger no longer exists in the same degree as before.
With
Hardee on his left,
Sherman is effectually checkmated in that direction.--With others of our troops in his front, he dare not attack our breastworks in heavy force; and with our left protected in a manner that
Sherman will find out when he demonstrates in that direction, no important movement can take place without proving battle, the successful issue of which no one in this army entertains a doubt.
In the language of an eminent officer, the situation may be condensed in a single statement: "If either army attacks the other in its present entrenchments, it is destined to be repulsed." Both are too strong to permit open and direct aggression on the front.
Sherman, therefore, can only advance by the flank, the difficulty of which process he has yet to learn.
You will judge from these facts that we are all sanguine as to the result of the campaign.
Hope has revived even in the hearts of the demoralized citizens, and but for the danger of remaining within the limits of a town, every foot of which is under the guns of the enemy, hundreds would doubtless return to their homes and await the end.
Of the strength of the army here, I can only say that its numbers are greatly over-estimated by our people in the rear, and much more has been expected from it than could be performed.
Notwithstanding recent losses, we are better off to-day behind our fortifications than when in the field; and since
Governor Brown has begun his energetic work of throwing to the front the militia of
Georgia, it is not revealing too much to remark that our condition will soon be such as to enable the
commanding general to put the safety of
Atlanta beyond peradventure, and possibly include in his programme the defeat or withdrawal of his antagonist.
General Bragg is now at headquarters.
His mission is generally unknown, but it is strongly suspected that he has returned with a plan perfected for the co-operation of troops in another quarter.
General Johnston is at
Macon with his family, having there rented a house and entered upon a permanent residence.
Lieutenant-General Stephen D. Lee is on his way here to assume command of the corps vacated by
General Hood.
Since about noon to-day the citizens have enjoyed the privilege for the first time, on a systematic scale, of studying the science of ferruginous conchology.
The enemy have three batteries in play, and the Parrott shells intrude everywhere.
A mother and child have been killed, a few persons and mules wounded, and a number of houses damaged.
One three-inch visitor entered a bag of corn while being carried on the back of a man, and then exploded, scattering the contents in every direction.
The porter was only slightly injured.
The express office, which was removed on Thursday, has been ordered back.
The post-office is yet
non est. Correspondence is therefore interrupted and uncertain.
Public stores and machinery are gone, and the rations of the army are now brought from the rear.
Little or no apprehension is felt concerning raids.
Our cavalry, under
Wheeler, are even now on the war trail, and we are promised good news during the week.
Communication with
Montgomery is maintained by stages.
Thirty miles of the road were destroyed before the
Yankees turned back.
The question of supplies gives the army no concern as yet, and
General Hood, judging from his admirable beginning, is likely to prove as good a provider as his predecessor.
It is a favorite remark among the men, when you ask them how they regard the change in commanders: "
Hood is a splendid fighter, but for a commissary-general give us old
Joe Johnston."
Four hundred factory girls, working in the cotton factory at
Roswell, Georgia, were arrested by order of
Sherman, the unfeeling beast, and sent north of the
Ohio river, penniless and friendless, to seek a livelihood among a strange and hostile people.
A large number of prisoners continue to arrive by nearly every train from the
Georgia front.
We noticed quite a crowd yesterday, whose personal appearance was anything but inviting.
They were captured on Monday.--
Macon Confederate.
A letter from a member of the
Savannah Relief Committee says two thousand Yankee prisoners left
Atlanta for
Macon, in 25th instant.
