Sherman At Atlanta

At the end of the Western Campaign of the Civil War the river systems were secured. Sherman had pushed Hood out of Atlanta, and burned the city. The only thing left to do in the Western Campaign was to burn a sixty-mile path to the sea. Here is an interesting story of Sherman leaving Atlanta. I received this as an e-mail and I have no idea who the author is. If you know please let me know I will be happy to give the author credit. Enjoy! Sherman had an army of 100,00 to 125,000 well-trained seasoned soldiers. ( SEASONED They are like me they have been around a long time.) Sherman’s army is taking I-20 as they leave. Then they turn onto the Stone Mountain Freeway. Low and behold when they get to Stone Mountain there is a Rebel soldier on top of the mountain. He is waving his saber. His scarf is blowing in the wind. From the Reb’s mouth Sherman hears ugly names about his Yankee army. “Boys, we can not have this! We have CNN, USA Today, and ABC NEWS with us. This is not what we want to see on their headlines. Who is the toughest Yankee we have here?” They all yell “Tyson, Tyson!” Son go up that mountain and get the Reb! Tyson climbs the mountain. He is there a minute and his body comes flying off that mountain and lands in front of Sherman’s horse. (Now I don’t need to describe you what that pool in front of Sherman looked like.) Sherman gets mad and orders the ten top Yankees to go get the Reb! Sad, sad not a one lives to tell their story. Sherman is furious, his neck is getting red, and there is a little smoke coming from his ears. He sends 150 of his best Yankees after that Reb. Later a lone soldier staggers down off the mountain. He is bleeding from every square inch of his body. “What is your story son?” “General Sherman it was a trick! There were two of them Rebs!”

FLAMES OF WAR

There has never been a War so devastating to the United States of America as the Civil War. There were over six hundred thousand killed during those four long years of slaughter between our Northern and Southern armies. How many hundreds of thousands were left with one or more of their limbs on those battlefields that ran red with their blood. Their young men left with the idea that they would whip those yanks or rebels (depending on the army they joined) in a few months and come back home to their families. Those months turned into a year, a bloody year. The year stretched into four gruesome years for all. Those boys, men learned that war was not a glorious affair. It could be a blood bath with death. There has never been a more destructive force that swept through our nation. Many of the railroads were pulled-up, the rails heated and twisted around a tree in a bowtie. Cannons with their monster noises hurled their cannon balls at their targets. Many were cities and they leveled them. Fires destroyed crops, homes and anything in their path. How many soldiers cried when the bugler played “Taps” for their dead comrades? How many times was it played before that horrendous War ended? How long did a family have to wait before they knew what happened to their loved ones? Some never did. It took the Civil War to set the slaves free. It was taken another one hundred and forty-four years to grant real equality and respect.

CIVIL WAR SLANG

"Number Ones" First in the order of soldiers firing the cannons
"Spotted Papers" Playing cards
"Mud Heads" Mississippi boys
"Follow Me Lads" Shoulder length curls
"Army Graybacks" Lice
"Job's Turkey" Thin or badly fed
"Gloot" A green Raw recruit
"Bark Juice" Liquor
"Fimble Famble" A poor excuse"
"Skin Plasters" Muster or mud applied to the skin
"Kenning" The sound of the rebel yell
"Rib" Wife
"Hish Hash" Meal of edibles
"Pumpkin Rind" Union lieutenant
"Wet Goods" Whiskey
"Graveled" Sudden night blindness results of a bad diet
"Hunger Munger" Underhanded, Sneaking
"Fire Eater" Zealous Secessionist
"Smeller" A blow to the nose
"Bummer" Taking food and needed items from townspeople and farmers
"Saw Your Timbers" Get out of here
"Lay Downs" Knife and Fork
"Sheet Of Iron" Hardtack
"Fizzing" Stunning
"Barrack Hack" A soldier who avoided drill or a prostitute
"Rusty Gut" A bought of old yeller
"Hunger Munger" Underhanded or Sneaking
"Ace of Spades" The name given Lee for his skillful directions he gave his troop to dig trenches
"Pepper Box" Pistol
"Buttons with Hens" Buttons from a Confederate uniform were prized souvenirs for the Union soldier
"Bee hive" Soldier’s knapsack
"Bermuda Bacon" Contraband of Union pork taken to Bermuda and put on a blockade runner and sold in the South for huge profits
"Silent battles" An acoustic shadow phenomenon when battles were not heard – Perryville KY
"Toothpicks" Knives with blades four to eighteen inches long
"Black Terror" Dummy gunboat build by David Porter to test the Vicksburg fortress
"Leg Case" Deserter
"Yankee Chills" Confederate coward. They said he had a case of Yankee Chills
"Kepi" A Confederate soldier’s hat or cap
"Deadwood" Incompetents, Cowards
"Top Rail" First class – Number one
"Hireling" A southern soldier who only wanted a pay Check