Details
SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH, General. Autograph letter signed ("W.T. Sherman Maj. Gen."), TO GENERAL GEORGE HENRY THOMAS ("The Rock of Chickamauga"), Head-Quarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, In the Field, 6 AM, 18 July 1864. 1 full page, 4to, on Head-Quarters stationery. Fine.
SHERMAN'S FINAL ATTACK ON ATLANTA: "FIRE DOWN STRONG FOR ATLANTA"
Sherman's strongly-worded to a trusted Corps ccommander at the climax of the Atlanta campaign, two days before the Battle of Peach Tree Creek and four days before the Battle of Atlanta. A fine battlefield letter, it portrays Sherman's sense of urgency to move the separate wings of his armies around the Confederate stronghold to sever its crucial rail connections: "I have this moment received your letter of 8 PM last night. I would like you to get to Buckhead early today and then to fire down strong for Atlanta. General O.O.] Howard has already started, and [General John M.] Schofield and [General John Birdseye] McPherson. I am on the point of starting and will be near Schofield, about the Cross Keys. Establish communication by coming along up to me as soon as you know any troops are in that vicinity. I may order McPherson off on a tangent if I hear anything that justifies it. I want that Railroad as quick as possible, and the weather seems to me too good to be wasted."
SHERMAN'S FINAL ATTACK ON ATLANTA: "FIRE DOWN STRONG FOR ATLANTA"
Sherman's strongly-worded to a trusted Corps ccommander at the climax of the Atlanta campaign, two days before the Battle of Peach Tree Creek and four days before the Battle of Atlanta. A fine battlefield letter, it portrays Sherman's sense of urgency to move the separate wings of his armies around the Confederate stronghold to sever its crucial rail connections: "I have this moment received your letter of 8 PM last night. I would like you to get to Buckhead early today and then to fire down strong for Atlanta. General O.O.] Howard has already started, and [General John M.] Schofield and [General John Birdseye] McPherson. I am on the point of starting and will be near Schofield, about the Cross Keys. Establish communication by coming along up to me as soon as you know any troops are in that vicinity. I may order McPherson off on a tangent if I hear anything that justifies it. I want that Railroad as quick as possible, and the weather seems to me too good to be wasted."