Show ECHOES OF THE WAR Veterans Visit the Battlefield of Chickamauga STANDING ON HOLY GROUND SlttlncUpon the nittorleXoot Fen Picture of the Scene of Strife KsorviLLE Tenn Oct 201SSG J rode out the other day to the batte field of Chickamauga with a party of veteran soldiers stopping here on their I return tram the excursion to Atlanta The battlefield lies to the eastward of Mission Ridge and on the west side of Chickamauga Creek The nearest point of the field is about nine miles from Chattanooga and to reach it you pass up the valley of Chattanooga Creek five miles to Rossvllle Gap where the road crosses Mission Ridge into the valley of the Cblckamanga The battle was fought on the nineteenth and twentieth of September ISS3 and was one of the severest defeats suffered by the Union armies during the war The points of greatest interest are along the famous Horseshoe ndge where General Thomas I met and renulsed the desperate assaults of the rebel troops after the whole right I wing of the Union army had been swept from tne field i This part of the field is covered with a heavy growth of forest trees many of which are pines with clean straight trunks running to a height of seventy five feet before the first limb is reached The resin continually exuding from the wound made by a bullet or shell has formed a round excresent noon the bark preserving with great distinctness the marks of the battle which raged there twentythree years ago In the trunk of one of these huge pines standing stand-ing part way down the front of the ridge I counted sixtyseven of these marks The relic hunter has been herewith here-with ruthless bandand there is scarcely a pine along the lope which has not been chopped into for bullets The owners of the land have found it necessary neces-sary in order to preserve their timber from ruin to forbid this mutilation of trees and to obtain these mementos of the great battle it is now necessary to buy a tree outright The oaks are not so proud of their battle scars as the pines and there wounds healing over have left no mark or at best only a slight irregularity irregular-ity of the bark not distinguished from the knot and excrescences natural the growth of the tree The ground is covered thickly with underbrush which 1 makes it impossible to see mord than a I few rods though we were informed bv men living on the battlefield that this has mostly grown up since the war and that at the time the battle occurred the woods were comparatively open Owing to these obstructions and to the fact that there is no point from which a comprehensive vIew of the field can be obtained it is very bard to get any clear idea of the positions or movements of troops For these reasons too there is a great confusion and many contradictions in the official reports many officers having entirely erroneous potions as to distances directions direc-tions and positions This characteristic of the battle is strikingly illustrated by a story told me by M S Cheats of Dayton a veteran of the Eleventh Ohio A part of his regiment was deployed as skirmishers on the forenoon of the second day and in the readjustment of the Union position posi-tion the line of battle was witbdrawn from their rear but the skirmishers were not notified of the change Advancing Ad-vancing through the woods two of the men became separated from the rest of the command when they suddenly encountered en-countered a body of sixteen rebels who demanded and received their surrender Conversing with their captors the two soldiers found that the rebels were as completely lost as themselves being afraid to either advance or retreat for fear of running into the lines of their enemy The rebels had entered the army unwillingly having been recently conscripted and it was finally agreed that they in turn should surrender to the two Union soldiers and all should attempt make their way togetherinto the Union lines This they finely succeeded suc-ceeded in doing and the prisoners were hurried to the rear Over a windine road cut through the forest we made our way to the Snod crass house where General Thomas bad his headquarters during the battle The house stands upon the Horseshoe ridge having an open field in its front and faces the east directly towards Cnlcka man a Creek The owner is an old gentleman of eighty years or more whose name consists of the rather singular combination George Washington I Washing-ton Snodgrass He is feeble with age and rheumatism and moves about with the greatest difficulty He is very intelligent intel-ligent and impressed me as being scrupulously honest in giving his recollections recol-lections on the great conflict He has lived upon the field nearly all his life and both he and his wife remained in the house during the battle General Thomas headquarters were in a small fly tent erected a couple of rods from the bouse and he spent most of his time under a large oak tree in the yard From one side of the tree a large root runs out projecting above the ground and forming a very comfortable seat In the summer of 1833 General Long street visited the field with two companions compan-ions whose names the old gentleman does not recollect Biding up to the fence he inquired U this was the place where General Thomas had his headquarters head-quarters On being informed that it was and beng pointed to tbs spot where Thomastent bad stood he remarked that if Thomas spent most of the day under the tree it was very reasonable to suppose that he had often sat upon the root which I have described Seating Seat-ing himself accordingly upon the root General Longstreet spent several hours In lunching smoking and talking over the incidents of the great battle This root is now worn quite smooth by visitors visi-tors to the field who are anxious to absorb greatness by sitting where Thomas and LonJS tree t sat One of the I patty approached the tree with a like intent when the old gentleman exclaimed ex-claimed Hold on there YankeeTake off your shoes You are standing upon holy ground Our friends momentary confusion did not prevent him from taking tak-ing a seat upon the historic root Cincinnati Cin-cinnati CemmtreinlGaeite |