r battle, our great success, with our loss uppermost in our
minds.

[Illustration: MONUMENT ERECTED ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF ATLANTA

This monument was erected by the Society of the Army of the Tennessee on
the spot where Major-General James B. McPherson was killed, July 22,
1864.]

LETTER TO GENERAL RAUM

CORRECTING SOME STATEMENTS
IN
GENERAL GREEN B. RAUM'S
DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA
PUBLISHED
IN THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
SEPTEMBER 25, 1902

_My Dear General_:

Referring to my conversation with you in Washington, I will endeavor to
aid you in getting at the actual facts connected with the Battle of
Atlanta, as it has never yet been properly written up.

I delivered an address on September 25th, 1889, to the Army of the
Tennessee on that battle, copy of which I am sending to you, and from
which I think you can get a good deal of information.

I first want to call your attention to the fact that the battle commenced
about fifteen minutes after 12 o'clock, and that the Sixteenth Army Corps
fought a long time before the Seventeenth Corps was attacked. You can
verify this statement by reading General Strong's account of the battle,
which is given in our Army of the Tennessee records, volume 11 to 13, page
242.

It was just 12 o'clock exactly when I reached Fuller's headquarters.
Having gone to the front to select my position, Fuller asked me to stop
and take luncheon, and I got down from my horse and went into his tent. I
had sat down at the table when I heard skirmish firing in the rear. Fuller
said it was a lot of the boys out there killing hogs. The stillness had
been oppressive as we went clear to the left and front of Blair's line to
select my new position. We inquired from the pickets and found that nobody
had seen anything of the enemy. It made an impression on us all; so the
moment I heard this firing I jumped up, as if by instinct, and told
Fuller to get into line, and sent a staff officer towards Sweeney; but
before he hardly got out of the tent Sweeney was in line and fighting, so
you can see how sudden the attack was.

In volume 11 to 13 of the Army of the Tennessee records, page 243, Strong,
in his address on the Battle of Atlanta, has this to say fixing the time
of the commencement of the battle, speaking of the time when an officer
was sent with an order to me from McPherson:

The officer had hardly disappeared from sight, when a shot was hea