arrived at Calhoun we were again under way. Stopping
once more to cut wires and tear up the track, we felt a thrill of
exhilaration to which we had long been strangers. The track was now
clear before us to Chattanooga; and even west of that city we had good
reason to believe that we should find no other train in the way till we
had reached Mitchel's lines. If one rail could now be lifted we would be
in a few minutes at the Oostenaula bridge; and that burned, the rest of
the task would be little more than simple manual labor, with the enemy
absolutely powerless. We worked with a will.

But in a moment the tables were turned. Not far behind we heard the
scream of a locomotive bearing down upon us at lightning speed. The men
on board were in plain sight and well armed. Two minutes--perhaps
one--would have removed the rail at which we were toiling; then the game
would have been in our own hands, for there was no other locomotive
beyond that could be turned back after us. But the most desperate
efforts were in vain. The rail was simply bent, and we hurried to our
engine and darted away, while remorselessly after us thundered the
enemy.

Now the contestants were in clear view, and a race followed unparalleled
in the annals of war. Wishing to gain a little time for the burning of
the Oostenaula bridge, we dropped one car, and, shortly after, another;
but they were "picked up" and pushed ahead to Resaca. We were obliged to
run over the high trestles and covered bridge at that point without a
pause. This was the first failure in the work assigned us.

The Confederates could not overtake and stop us on the road; but their
aim was to keep close behind, so that we might not be able to damage the
road or take in wood or water. In the former they succeeded, but not in
the latter. Both engines were put at the highest rate of speed. We were
obliged to cut the wire after every station passed, in order that an
alarm might not be sent ahead; and we constantly strove to throw our
pursuers off the track, or to obstruct the road permanently in some way,
so that we might be able to burn the Chickamauga bridges, still ahead.
The chances seemed good that Fuller and Murphy would be wrecked. We
broke out the end of our last box-car and dropped cross-ties on the
track as we ran, thus checking their progress and getting far enough
ahead to take in wood and water at two separate stations. Several times
we almost lifted a rail, but each time the co