Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/13

 of the brave," the gallant J. B. Hood, to the command of the army with the rank of General.

GENERAL HOOD COMMANDING ARMY OF NORTHERN GEORGIA.

Hood was offered a sacrifice on the shrine of his country, and be it said to his glory and honor that, knowing it, he, for his country's good, unhesitatingly accepted its consequences. On his assumption of the command of the army, if I recollect correctly, it did not aggregate, including every arm of the service, but little in excess of twenty-five thousand effective men, and yet with that number he was willing, from a sense of patriotic duty, to compromise his bright and brilliant military record with the masses, who were ignorant of the situation, the most if not all of whom were his admirers, and to the ability of his little army, to give battle to the overwhelming odds under Sherman, for the one last lingering hope of holding Atlanta, the key to the Confederacy.

And, though failing in the end, gallantly did he redeem his responsible pledge. The venture was hazardous in the extreme, and it required brave officers to meet the emergency. 'Twas then that the brave and chivalric Stephen D. Lee, who merited the high compliments of President Davis, paid him before the Legislature of Mississippi the year previous, was called to the command of Hood's corps, and our equally gallant and intrepid Jacob H. Sharp and others, tried and true men, were promoted to the rank of general officers, in which capacity their military skill was more urgently needed and their valuable services could at the same time be rewarded. The battles of the 22d and 28th of July, 1864, around Atlanta, and at Jonesboro' on the 31st August following, attested the wisdom of these appointments. And although we were not successful in the immediate results of the battlefield, we showed to the haughty enemy that all chivalry was not buried in the grave of Charlemagne, but some, at least, remained to adorn the brow and make resplendent the character of the Southern officer and soldier. That character to-day of the Southerner which makes him respected abroad and by his enemies, and the latter is by every hellish device endeavoring to destroy and render ignoble, is as surely the result of her sons' bravery upon the field of battle as that the needle points unerringly to the pole. They may endeavor to crush out the last spark of patriotism in the breasts of her fellow-braves, but never, as long as she has sons and daughters worthy of their proud lineage, can our enemies succeed, but from each fell blow we