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006 - Chapter 21 The March To The Sea From Atlanta To Savannah November And December 1864 Part 4 · Shermans Memoirs March to the Sea and Columbia Burning

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  Speaker 1: Section five of Sherman's March to the Sea and the
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  Speaker 1: Burning of Columbia, South Carolina, from his memoirs by William
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  Speaker 1: TACUMSA Sherman. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Section five, Chapter twenty one, Part four. Having concluded all
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  Speaker 1: needful preparations, I rode from my headquarters on the Plank
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  Speaker 1: Road over to General Slocum's headquarters on the Macon Road,
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  Speaker 1: and thence dispatched by flag of truce into Savannah by
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  Speaker 1: the hands of Colonel Ewing, inspector General, a demand for
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  Speaker 1: the surrender of the place. The following letters give the result.
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  Speaker 1: General Hardy refused to surrender, and I then resolved to
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  Speaker 1: make the attempt to break his line of defense at
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  Speaker 1: several places, trusting that some one would succeed. Headquarters, Military
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  Speaker 1: Division of the Mississippi in the field near Savannah, December seventeenth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four, General William J. Hardy, commanding Confederate Forces
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  Speaker 1: in Savannah. General, you have doubtless observed from your station
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  Speaker 1: at Rosedew that sea going vessels now come through Osabo
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  Speaker 1: Sound and up the Ogeechee to the rear of my army,
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  Speaker 1: giving me abundant supplies of all kinds, and more especially
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  Speaker 1: heavy ordinance necessary for the reduction of Savannah. I have
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  Speaker 1: already received guns that can cast heavy and destructive shot
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  Speaker 1: as far as the heart of your city. Also, I
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  Speaker 1: have for some days held and controlled every avenue by
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  Speaker 1: which the people and garrison of Savannah can be supplied.
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  Speaker 1: And I am therefore justified in demanding the surrender of
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  Speaker 1: the city of Savannah and its dependent forts, and shall
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  Speaker 1: wait a reasonable time for your answer before opening with
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  Speaker 1: heavy ordinance. Should you entertain the proposition, I am prepared
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  Speaker 1: to grant liberal terms to the inhabitants and garrison. But
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  Speaker 1: should I be forced to resort to a sault or
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  Speaker 1: the slower and sure process of starvation, I shall then
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  Speaker 1: feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures, and shall
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  Speaker 1: make little effort to restrain my army, burning to avenge
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  Speaker 1: the national wrong which they attached to Savannah and other
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  Speaker 1: large cities which have been so prominent in dragging our
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  Speaker 1: country into civil war. I enclosed you a copy of
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  Speaker 1: General Hood's demand for the surrender of the town of Rizoa,
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  Speaker 1: to be used by you for what it is worth.
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  Speaker 1: I have the honor to be your obedient servant. W. T. Sherman,
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  Speaker 1: Major General, Headquarters Department, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, Savannah, Georgia,
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  Speaker 1: December seventeenth, eighteen sixty four. Major General W. T. Sherman,
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  Speaker 1: commanding Federal Forces near Savannah, Georgia. General, I have to
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge the receipt of a communication from you of this
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  Speaker 1: state in which you demand the surrender of Savannah and
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  Speaker 1: its dependent forts, on the ground that you have received
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  Speaker 1: guns that can cast heavy and destructive shot into the
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  Speaker 1: heart of the city, and for the further reason that
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  Speaker 1: you have for some days held and controlled every avenue
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  Speaker 1: by which the people in garrison can be supplied. You
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  Speaker 1: add that should you be forced to resort to assault
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  Speaker 1: or to the slower and surer process of starvation, you
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  Speaker 1: will then feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures,
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  Speaker 1: and will make little effort to restrain your army, et cetera,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. The position of your forces a half mile
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  Speaker 1: beyond the outer line for the land defense of Savannah
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  Speaker 1: is at the nearest point at least four miles from
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  Speaker 1: the heart of the city. That and the interior line
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  Speaker 1: are both intact. Your statement that you have for some
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  Speaker 1: days held and controlled every avenue by which the people
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  Speaker 1: and garrison can be supplied is incorrect. I am in
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  Speaker 1: free and constant communication with my department. Your demand for
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  Speaker 1: the surrender of Savannah and its dependent forts is refused
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  Speaker 1: with respect to the threats conveyed in the closing paragraphs
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  Speaker 1: of your letter. Of what may be expected in case
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  Speaker 1: your demand is not complied with, I have to say
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  Speaker 1: that I have hitherto conducted the military operations entrusted to
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  Speaker 1: my direction in strict accordance with the rules of civilized warfare,
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  Speaker 1: and I should deeply regret the adoption of any course
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  Speaker 1: by you that may force me to deviate from them
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  Speaker 1: in future. I have the honor to be very respectfully
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  Speaker 1: your obedient servant. W. J. Hardye, Lieutenant General, Headquarters, Military
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  Speaker 1: Division of the Mississippi in the field near Savannah, December eighteenth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four, eight p m. Lieutenant General U. S. Grant,
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  Speaker 1: City Point, Virginia. General, I wrote you at length by
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  Speaker 1: Colonel Babcock on the sixteenth Instant, as I therein explained
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  Speaker 1: my purpose. Yesterday I made a demand on General Hardy
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  Speaker 1: for the surrender of the city of Savannah, and to
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  Speaker 1: day received his answer refusing. Copies of both letters are
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  Speaker 1: herewin closed. You will notice that I claim that my
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  Speaker 1: lines are within easy cannon range of the heart of Savannah,
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  Speaker 1: but General Hardy asserts that we are four and a
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  Speaker 1: half miles distant. But I myself have been to the
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  Speaker 1: intersection of the Charleston and Georgia Central Railroads, and the
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  Speaker 1: three mile post is but a few yards beyond within
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  Speaker 1: the line of our pickets. The enemy has no pickets
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  Speaker 1: outside of his fortified line, which is a full quarter
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  Speaker 1: of a mile within the three mile post. And I
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  Speaker 1: have the evidence of mister R. R. Kayler, president of
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  Speaker 1: the Georgies Central Railroad, who was a prisoner in our hands,
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  Speaker 1: that the mile posts are measured from the exchange, which
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  Speaker 1: is but two squares back from the river. By tomorrow morning,
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  Speaker 1: I will have six thirty pound parrots in position, and
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  Speaker 1: General Hardy will learn whether I am right or wrong.
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  Speaker 1: From the left of our life line, which is in
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  Speaker 1: the Savannah River, the spires can be plainly seen, but
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  Speaker 1: the country is so densely wooded with pine and live oak,
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  Speaker 1: and lies so flat that we can see nothing from
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  Speaker 1: any other portion of our lines. General Slocum feels confident
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  Speaker 1: that he can make a successful assault at one or
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  Speaker 1: two points in front of General Davis's fourteenth Corps. All
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  Speaker 1: of General Howard's troops the right wing lie behind the
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  Speaker 1: little Ogeechee, and I doubt if it can be passed
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  Speaker 1: by troops in the face of an enemy. Still, we
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  Speaker 1: can make strong feints, and if I can get a
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  Speaker 1: sufficient number of boats, I shall make a cooperative demonstration
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  Speaker 1: up Vernon River or Warsaw Sound. I should like very much,
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  Speaker 1: indeed to take Savannah before coming to you, but as
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  Speaker 1: I wrote to you before, I will do nothing rash
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  Speaker 1: or hasty, and will embark for the James River as
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  Speaker 1: soon as General Easton, who has gone to Port Royal
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  Speaker 1: for that purpose, reports to me that he has an
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  Speaker 1: approch number of vessels for the transportation of the contemplated force.
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  Speaker 1: I fear even this will cost more delay than you anticipate,
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  Speaker 1: for already the movement of our transports and the gunboats
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  Speaker 1: has required more time than I had expected. We have
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  Speaker 1: had dense fogs, there are more mud banks on the
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  Speaker 1: Ogeechee than were reported, and there are no pilots. Whatever
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  Speaker 1: Admiral Dahlgren promised to have the channel buoyed in state,
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  Speaker 1: but it is not done yet. We find only six
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  Speaker 1: feet of water up to Kingsbridge at low tide, about
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  Speaker 1: ten feet up to the Rice Mill, and sixteen to
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  Speaker 1: Fort mc allister. All these points may be used by us,
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  Speaker 1: and we have a good strong bridge across Ogeechee at
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  Speaker 1: kings by which our wagons can go to Fort mc allister,
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  Speaker 1: to which point I am sending all wagons not absolutely
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  Speaker 1: necessary for daily use the Negroes, prisoners of war, sick,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera. En route for Port Royal. In relation to Savannah,
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  Speaker 1: you will remark that General Hardy refers to his still
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  Speaker 1: being in communication with his department. This language he thought
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  Speaker 1: would deceive me. But I am confirmed in the belief
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  Speaker 1: that the route to which he refers, the Union Plank
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  Speaker 1: Road on the South Carolina Shore, is inadequate to feed
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  Speaker 1: his army and the people of Savannah. And General Foster
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  Speaker 1: assures me that he has his force on that very
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  Speaker 1: road near the head of Broad River, so that cars
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  Speaker 1: no longer run between Charleston and Savannah. We hold this
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  Speaker 1: end of the Charleston railroad and have destroyed it from
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  Speaker 1: the three mile post back to the bridge about twelve miles.
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  Speaker 1: In anticipation of leaving this country, I am continuing the
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  Speaker 1: destruction of their railroads, and at this moment have two
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  Speaker 1: divisions and the cavalry at work breaking up the Gulf
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  Speaker 1: Railroad from the Ogeechee to the Altamaha, so that even
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  Speaker 1: if I do not take Savannah, I will leave it
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  Speaker 1: in a bad way. But I still hope that events
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  Speaker 1: may give me time to take Savannah, even if I
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  Speaker 1: have to assault with some loss. I am satisfied that
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  Speaker 1: unless we take it, the gunboats never will, for they
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  Speaker 1: can make no impression upon the batteries which guard every
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  Speaker 1: approach from the sea. I have a faint belief that
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  Speaker 1: when Colonel Babcock reaches you, you will delay operations long
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  Speaker 1: enough to enable me to succeed here with Savannah in
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  Speaker 1: our possession at some future time, if not now, we
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  Speaker 1: can punish South Carolina as she deserves, and as thousands
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  Speaker 1: of the people in Georgia hoped we would do. I
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  Speaker 1: do sincerely believe that the whole United States, north and
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  Speaker 1: south would rejoice to have this army turned loose on
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  Speaker 1: South Carolina to devastate that state in the manner we
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  Speaker 1: have done in Georgia, and it would have a diarist
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  Speaker 1: and immediate bearing on your campaign in Virginia. I have
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  Speaker 1: the honor to be your obedient servant. W. T. Sherman,
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  Speaker 1: Major General, United States Army. As soon as the Army
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  Speaker 1: had reached Savannah and had opened communication with the fleet,
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  Speaker 1: I endeavored to ascertain what had transpired in Tennessee since
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  Speaker 1: our departure. We received our letters and files of newspapers,
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  Speaker 1: which contained full accounts of all the events there up
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  Speaker 1: to about the first of December. As before described, General
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  Speaker 1: Hood had three full corps of infantry S. D. Lee's,
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  Speaker 1: A P. Stewarts and Chetham's at Florence, Alabama, with Forest's
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  Speaker 1: Corps of Cavalry numbering in the aggregate about forty five
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  Speaker 1: thousand men. General Thomas was in Nashville, Tennessee, quietly engaged
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  Speaker 1: in reorganizing his army out of the somewhat broken forces
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  Speaker 1: at his disposal. He had posted his only two regular corps,
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  Speaker 1: the fourth and twenty third, under the general command of
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  Speaker 1: Major General J. M. Schofield, at Pulaski directly in front
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  Speaker 1: of Florence, with the three brigades of cavalry Hatch, Crocosston
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  Speaker 1: and Capron, commanded by Major General Wilson, watching closely for
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  Speaker 1: Hoods initiative. This force aggregated about thirty thousand men and
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  Speaker 1: was therefore inferior to the enemy, and General Schofield was
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  Speaker 1: instructed in case the enemy made a general advance, to
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  Speaker 1: fall back slowly toward Nashville, fighting till he should be
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  Speaker 1: reinforced by General Thomas in person. Hood's movement was probably
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  Speaker 1: hurried by reason of my advance into Georgia, for on
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  Speaker 1: the seventeenth his infantry columns marched from Florence in the
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  Speaker 1: direction of Waynesboro, turning Schofield's position at Pulaski. The latter
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  Speaker 1: at once sent his trains to the rear, and on
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  Speaker 1: the twenty first fell back to Columbia, Tennessee. General Hood
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  Speaker 1: followed up this movement skirmish lightly with Scholfield. At Columbia,
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  Speaker 1: began the passage of Duck River below the town, and
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  Speaker 1: Chetham's cores reached the vicinity of spring Hill, whither General
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  Speaker 1: Schofield had sent to Jims General Stanley with two of
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  Speaker 1: his divisions to cover the movements of his trains. During
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  Speaker 1: the night of November twenty ninth, General Schofield passed spring
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  Speaker 1: Hill with his trains and army, and took post at Franklin,
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  Speaker 1: on the south side of Harborth River. General Hood now
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  Speaker 1: attaches serious blame to General Chetham for not attacking General
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  Speaker 1: Schofield in flank while in motion at spring Hill, for
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  Speaker 1: he was bivouacked within eight hundred yards of the road
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  Speaker 1: at the time of the passage of our army. General
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  Speaker 1: Schofield reached Franklin on the morning of November thirtieth and
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  Speaker 1: posted his army in front of the town, where some
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  Speaker 1: rifle intrenchments had been constructed in advance. He had the
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  Speaker 1: two corps Stanley and Cox, fourth and twenty third with
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  Speaker 1: Wilson's cavalry on his flanks, and sent his trains behind
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  Speaker 1: the harpath. General Hood closed upon him the same day
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  Speaker 1: and assaulted his position with vehemence, at one time breaking
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  Speaker 1: the line and wounding General Stanley seriously. But our men
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  Speaker 1: were veterans, cool and determined, and fought magnificently. The rebel
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  Speaker 1: officers led their men in person to the several persistent assaults,
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  Speaker 1: continuing the battle far into the night. When they drew off,
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  Speaker 1: beaten and discomfited. Their loss was very severe, especially in
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  Speaker 1: general officers, among them Generals Claiborne and Adams Division commanders.
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  Speaker 1: Hood's loss on that day was afterward ascertained to be
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  Speaker 1: Thomas's report buried on the field, seventeen hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 1: left in hospital at Franklin, thirty eight hundred and seven
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  Speaker 1: hundred and two prisoners captured and held aggregate six thousand,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty two. General Scholfield's loss, reported officially
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  Speaker 1: was one hundred and eighty nine killed, one thousand and
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  Speaker 1: thirty three wounded, and eleven hundred and four prisoners or
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  Speaker 1: missing aggregate twenty three one hundred and twenty six. The
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  Speaker 1: next day, General Schofield crossed the Harborth without trouble and
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  Speaker 1: fell back to the defenses of Nashville. Meanwhile, General Thomas
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  Speaker 1: had organized the employees of the Quartermaster's Department into a
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: corps commanded by the Chief Quartermaster, General J. Z. Donaldson,
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  Speaker 1: and placed them in the fortifications of Nashville under the
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: general direction of Major General Z. B. Tower, now of
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  Speaker 1: the United States Engineers. He had also received the two
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: veteran divisions of the sixteenth Corps under General A. J. Smith,
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  Speaker 1: long absent and long expected and he had drawn from
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Chattanooga and Decatur, Alabama, the divisions of Steatman and R. S. Granger. These,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: with General Schofield's army and about ten thousand good cavalry
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  Speaker 1: under General J. H. Wilson, constituted a strong army capable
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  Speaker 1: not only of defending Nashville, but of beating Hood in
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  Speaker 1: the open field. Yet remained inside of Nashville, seemingly passive,
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  Speaker 1: until General Hood had closed upon him and had entrenched
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  Speaker 1: his position. General Thomas had furthermore held fast to the
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  Speaker 1: railroad leading from Nashville to Chattanooga, leaving strong guards at
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  Speaker 1: its principal points, as at Murphysborough, Deckard Stevenson, Bridgeport, Wetside,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: and Chaganooga. At Murphysboro, the Division of Rousseau was reinforced
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and strengthened up to about eight thousand men. At that time,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: the weather was cold and sleety, the ground was covered
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: with ice and snow, and both parties for a time
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  Speaker 1: rested on the defensive. Those matters stood at Nashville while
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: we were closing down on Savannah in the early part
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: of December eighteen sixty four, and the country, as well
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: as General Grant, was alarmed at the seeming passive conduct
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: of General Thomas and General Grant at one time considered
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: the situation so dangerous that he thought of going to
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Nashville in person, but General John A. Logan, happening to
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: be at city point, was sent out to supersede General Thomas.
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  Speaker 1: Luckily for the latter, he acted in time, gained a
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  Speaker 1: magnificent victory, and thus escaped so terrible a fate. On
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the eighteenth of December, at my camp by the side
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: of the plank road, eight miles back of Savannah, I
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: received General Hardy's letter declining to surrender when nothing remained,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: but to assault the ground was difficult, and as all
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: former assaults had proved so bloody, I concluded to make
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: one more effort to completely surround Savannah on all sides,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: so as further to excite Hardy's fears, and, in case
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: of success, to capture the whole of his army. We
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: had already completely invested the place on the north west
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: and south, but there remained to the enemy on the
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: east the use of the old dike or plank road
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: leading into South Carolina, and I knew that Hardy would
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: have a pontoon bridge across the river on examining my maps,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: I thought that the division of John P. Hatch, belonging
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: to General Foster's command, might be moved from its then
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: position at Broad River by water down to Bluffton, from
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: which it could reach this plank road, fortify it, and
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: hold it at some risk. Of course, because Hardy could
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: avail himself of his central position to fall on this
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: detachment with his whole army, I did not want to
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: make a mistake like Ball's bluff at that period of
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: the war. So taking one or two of my personal staff,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I rowed back to Grog's Bridge, leaving with Generals Howard
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and Slocombe orders to make all possible preparation, but not
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: to attack during my two or three days absence, and
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: there I took a boat for Wassaw Sound, whence Admiral
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Dahlgren conveyed me in his own boat, the Harvest Moon,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: to Hilton Head, where I represented the matter to General Foster,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and he promptly agreed to give his personal attention to it.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: During the night of the twentieth we started back, the
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: wind blowing strong. Admiral Dahlgren ordered the pilot of the
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Harvest Moon to run into Tibby and to work his
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: way through Wassaw Sound and the Ogeechee River. By the
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Romney Marshes, we were caught by a low tide and
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: stuck in the mud. After laboring some time, the Admiral
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: ordered out his barge. In it, we pulled through this
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: intricate and shallow channel, and toward evening of December twenty first,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: we discovered coming toward us a tug called the Red Legs,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: belonging to the Quartermaster's Department, with a staff officer on board,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: bearing letters from Colonel Dayton to myself and the Admiral,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: reporting that the city of Savannah had been found evacuated
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: on the morning of December twenty first, and was then
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: in our possession. General Hardy had crossed the Savannah River
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: by a pontoon bridge, carrying off his men and light artillery,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: blowing up his iron clads and navy yard, but leaving
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: for us all the heavy guns, stores, cotton, railway cars, steamboats,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: and an immense amount of public and private property. Admiral
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Dahlgren concluded to go toward a vessel, the Sonoma of
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: his blockading fleet, which lay at anchor near Boilieu, and
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: I transferred to the red legs and hastened up the
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Ogeechee River to Grogg's Bridge. Whence I rode to my
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: camp that same night, I there learned that early on
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the morning of December twenty first, the skirmishers had detected
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the absence of the enemy and had occupied his line
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: simultaneously along their whole extent, but the left flank Slocumb,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: especially Gerry's division of the twentieth Corps, claimed to have
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: been the first to reach the heart of the city.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Generals Slocumbe and Howard moved their headquarters at once into
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: the city, leaving the bulk of their troops in camps outside.
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  Speaker 1: On the morning of December twenty second, I followed with
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: my own headquarters and rode down Bull Street to the
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Custom House, from the roof of which we had an
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: extensive view over the city, the river, and the vast
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: extent of marsh and rice fields. On the South Carolina side.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: The Navy yard and the wreck of the ironclad ram
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Savannah were still smoldering, but all else looked quiet enough.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Turning back, we rode to the Pulaski Hotel, which I
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: had known in years long gone, and found it kept
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: by a Vermont man with a lame leg, who used
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: to be a clerk in the Saint Louis Hotel, New Orleans,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: and I inquired about the capacity of his hotel for headquarters.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: He was very anxious to have us for borders, but
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I soon explained to him that we had a full
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: mess equipment along, and that we were not in the
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: habit of paying board. That one wing of the building
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: would suffice for our use, while I would allow him
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: to keep an hotel for the accommodation of officers and
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: in the remainder. I then dispatched an officer to look
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: round for a livery stable that could accommodate our horses,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: And while waiting there, an English gentleman, mister Charles Green,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: came and said that he had a fine house, completely furnished,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: for which he had no use, and offered it as headquarters.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: He explained moreover that General Howard had informed him the
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: day before that I would want his house for headquarters.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: At first, I felt strongly disinclined to make use of
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: any private dwelling lest complaints should arise of damage and
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: loss of furniture, and so expressed myself to mister Green.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: But after riding about the city, and finding his house
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: so spacious, so convenient, with large yard and stabling, I
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: accepted his offer and occupied that house during our stay
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: in Savannah. He only reserved for himself the use of
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: a couple of rooms above the dining room, and we
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: had all else and a most excellent house. It was
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: in all respects. I was disappointed that Hardy had escaped
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: with his army, but on the whole we had reason
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to be content with the substantial fruits of victory. The
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Savannah River was found to be badly obstructed by torpedoes
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: and by log piers stretched across the channel below the city,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: which piers were filled with the cobblestones that formerly paved
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: the streets. Admiral Dahlgren was extremely active and visited me
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: repeatedly in the city while his fleet still watched Charleston
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and all the avenues for the blockade runners had infested
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: the coast, which were notoriously owned and managed by Englishmen
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: who used the island of New Providence Nassau as a
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: sort of entrepos One of these small blockade runners came
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: into Savannah after we were in full possession, and the
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Master did not discover his mistake till he came ashore
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: to visit the custom house. Of course, his vessel fell
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: a prize to the navy. A heavy force was at
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: once set to work to remove the torpedoes and obstructions
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: in the main channel of the river, and from that
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: time forth Savannah became the great depot of supply for
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the troops operating in that quarter. Meantime, on the fifteenth
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and sixteenth of December were fought in front of Nashville,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: the great battles in which General Thomas so nobly fulfilled
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: his promise to ruin hood, the details of which are
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: fully given in his own official reports, long since published.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Rumors of these great victories reached us at Savannah by piecemeal,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: but his official report came on the twenty fourth of
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: December with a letter from General Grant giving in general
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: terms the events up to the eighteenth and I wrote
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: at once, through my chief of staff, General Webster, to
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: General Thomas, complimenting him in the highest terms. His brilliant
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: victory at Nashville was necessary to mine at Savannah to
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: make a complete whole. And this fact was perfectly comprehended
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: by mister Lincoln, who recognized it fully in his personal
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: letter of December twenty sixth, herein before quoted at length,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: and which is also claimed at the time in my
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Special Field Order number six of January eighth, eighteen sixty five.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Here given Special Field Order Number six, Headquarters, Military Division
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: of the Mississippi, in the field near Savannah, Georgia. January eighth,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four, The General commanding announces to the troops
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: composing the Military Division of the Mississippi that he has
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: received from the President of the United States and from
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Lieutenant General Grant letters conveying their high sense and appreciation
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: of the campaign just closed, resulting in the capture of
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Savannah and the defeat of Hood's army in Tennessee. In
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: order that all may understand the importance of events, it
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: is proper to revert to the situation of affairs. In
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: September last we held Atlanta, a city of little value
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: to us, but so important to the enemy that mister Davis,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the head of the rebellious faction in the South, visited
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: his army near Palmetto and commanded it to regain the place,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: and also to ruin and destroy us by a series
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: of measures which he thought would be effectual. That army,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: by a rapid march, gained our railroad near Big Chanty,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: and afterward about Dalton. We pursued it, but it moved
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: so rapidly that we could not overtake it, and General
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Hood led his army successfully far over toward Mississippi in
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: hope to decoy us out of Georgia. But we were
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: not thus to be led away by him, and preferred
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: to lead and control events ourselves. Generals Thomas and Schofield,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: commanding the departments to our rear, returned to their posts
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: and prepared to decoy General Hood into their meshes, while
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: we came on to complete the original journey. We quietly
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and deliberately destroyed Atlanta and all the railroad roads which
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: the enemy had used to carry on war against us,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: occupied his state capital, and then captured his commercial capital,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: which had been so strongly fortified from the sea as
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: to defy approach from that quarter. Almost at the moment
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: of our victorious entry into Savannah came the welcome and
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: expected news that our comrades in Tennessee had also fulfilled
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: nobly and well their part, had decoyed General Hood to
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Nashville and then turned on him defeating his army, thoroughly
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: capturing all his artillery, great numbers of prisoners, and were
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: still pursuing the fragments down in Alabama. So complete success
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: in military operations extending over half a continent is an
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: achievement that entitles it to a place in the military
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: history of the world. The army serving in Georgia and Tennessee,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: as well as the local garrisons of Decatur, Bridgeport, Chattanooga,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: and Murphysboro, are alike in title to the common honors,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: and each regiment may inscribe in its colors at pleasure
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: the word Savannah or Nashville. The General Commanding embraces in
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the same general success the operations of the cavalry under
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: General Stoneman, Burbage and Gillem that penetrated into southwest Virginia
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: and paralyzed the efforts of the enemy to disturb the
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: peace and safety of East Tennessee. Instead of being put
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: on the defensive, we have at all points assumed the
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: bold offensive and have completely thwarted the designs of the
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: enemies of our country. By order of Major General W. T. Sherman, L. M. Dayton,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Aide de camp end of Section five