| From the Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer |
| |
| June 27, 1865 |
| |
| ***** We copy from the
{Columbus} Enquirer, of June 27th,
(which was the first number of a paper issued in the city after the
raid,) an account of the attack and capture of the city: |
| "On Sunday, the 16th of April,
the last battle of the war, on this side of the Mississippi river, was
fought in Girard, Alabama, opposite this city. |
| ***** Before the line had been
broken, however, it was discovered that a squad of the Federal troops
had by some means made their way to the Girard end of the upper bridge
and were actually holding the bridge at that end, in rear of the line of
defense! How they gained this position is not yet fully known. It is
generally supposed that it was by making their way, either in disguise,
or under the shelter of some ravines and the darkness of the night,
through the line in the neighborhood of the railroad bridge, and coming
down on the bank of the river. ***** |
| It is plain that an error was
committed in making the line of defense too long Had the railroad bridge
been partially destroyed, and the line shortened and doubled around the
upper bridge, a much stouter and more prolonged resistance could have
been made. *****" |
|
|
| {Copied from John, H.
Martin, Columbus, Geo., From its Selection as a "Trading Town" in
1827, to its Partial Destruction by Wilson's Raid, in 1865. Printed
in Columbus in 1874. The copy of the newspaper quoted has not survived.} |
|