After marching four or five miles, we "about faced" and
marched back again to within two hundred yards of the place from whence
we started. It was a "flank movement," you see, and had to be counted
that way anyhow. Well, now as we had made the flank movement, we had to
storm and take the Federal lines, because we had made a flank movement,
you see. When one army makes a flank movement it is courtesy on the part
of the other army to recognize the flank movement, and to change his
base. Why, sir, if you don't recognize a flank movement, you ain't a
graduate of West Point. Hood was a graduate of West Point, and so
was Sherman. But unfortunately there was Mynheer Dutchman commanding
(McPherson had gone to dinner) the corps that had been flanked, and he
couldn't speak English worth a cent. He, no doubt, had on board mein
lager beer, so goot as vat never vas. I sweitzer, mein Got, you bet.
Bang, bang, bang, goes our skirmish line advancing to the attack.
Hans, vat fer ish dot shooting mit mein left wing? Ish dot der Repels,
Hans?
THE ATTACK
The plan of battle, as conceived and put into action by General Cleburne,
was one of the boldest conceptions, and, at the same time, one of the
most hazardous that ever occurred in our army during the war, but it only
required nerve and pluck to carry it out, and General Cleburne was equal
to the occasion.
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