B. C. Truman

“ I met rather an excellent gentleman, named MAGEE, yesterday, who left Atlanta the day before. He says that there is a perfect range up Marietta and Peachtree streets for our guns, and that a large amount of property has been destroyed. He says that nearly all the people of Atlanta, who are without sufficient means to go at a distance, are encamped all along the line of the Augusta road, between Decatur and Stone Mountain. He adds, however, that there are still quite a number of men, women and children of all stations, within the limits of the city. ”

“ We must not flatter ourselves that every time we dash upon a rebel railroad, even if miles of track are removed, that the rebel army has "gone up" -- no, indeed; they stand these things as well as we do; and, to tell the truth, they manage to repair all such damages as speedily, nearly, as we do ourselves. ”

“ SHERMAN replied that if his troops were not fired upon, neither Atlanta nor its citizens should be molested. He also wrote the Mayor, that if the reverse should occur he could not state the consequences.
Of course, you are familiar with what has occurred, including the steady bombardment of the rebel stronghold by our army.
Already more than a hundred buildings have been wholly or partially destroyed, many soldiers and citizens killed, and large numbers injured. As the days roll by the shelling increases, and the destruction of life and property goes on. ”