He was selected by Sherman to lead the assault on Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, and took his brigade directly up to the Confederate works. Just before the attack, he calmly recited to his men the stanza from Thomas Macaulay's poem of "Horatius" beginning "Then how may man die better than facing fearful odds?"
Sherman selected him to lead the assault on Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, and his brigade marched directly up to the Confederate defenses. Before the attack, he recited a passage from Thomas Macaulay's poem "Horatius" that began with "Then how may man die better than facing fearful odds?"