The Federal armies of Major-General William T. Sherman settled into occupation duty in the key coastal city of Savannah, Georgia. This marked the end of their remarkable 285-mile march through the heart of Georgia, from Atlanta to the sea. On December 23, Sherman issued Special Field Order Number 139: “Savannah, being now in our possession, the river partially cleared out, and measures having been taken to remove all obstructions, will at once be made a grand depot for future operations…”
On Christmas Eve, Sherman received a message (dated December 18) from General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant, who was laying siege to General Robert E. Lee’s Confederates in Virginia:
“I congratulate you and the brave officers and men under your command on the successful termination of your most brilliant campaign. I never had a doubt of the result. When apprehensions for your safety were expressed by the President, I assured him with the army you had, and you in command of it, there was no danger but you would strike bottom on salt-water some place; that I would not feel the same security–in fact, would not have intrusted the expedition to any other living commander. I did think the best thing to do was to bring the greater part of your army here, and wipe out Lee, (but) the turn affairs now seem to be taking has shaken me in that opinion.
“I want to get your views about what ought to be done, and what can be done. If you capture the garrison of Savannah, it certainly will compel Lee to detach from Richmond, or give us nearly the whole South. My own opinion is that Lee is averse to going out of Virginia, and if the cause of the South is lost he wants Richmond to be the last place surrendered. If he has such views, it may be well to indulge him until we get every thing else in our hands.”
Sherman learned from the incoming newspapers that Major-General George H. Thomas’s Federals had won a great victory at Nashville in mid-December. Sherman wrote Thomas on the 24th, “complimenting him in the highest terms. His brilliant victory at Nashville was necessary to mine at Savannah to make a complete whole…”
Sherman also replied to Grant that night: “Your letter of December 18th is just received. I feel very much gratified at receiving the handsome commendation you pay my army. I will, in general orders, convey to the officers and men the substance of your note.” Sherman added that he was glad about Grant changing his mind about bringing him north, “for I feared that the transportation by sea would very much disturb the unity and morale of my army, now so perfect.” Sherman went on:
“The occupation of Savannah, which I have heretofore reported, completes the first part of our game, and fulfills a great part of your instructions; and we are now engaged in dismantling the rebel forts which bear upon the sea-channels, and transferring the heavy ordnance and ammunition to Fort Pulaski and Hilton Head, where they can be more easily guarded than if left in the city… In about 10 days I expect to be ready to sally forth again. I feel no doubt whatever as to our future plans. I have thought them over so long and well that they appear as clear as daylight.”
Lincoln released Sherman’s message from the 22nd to the public on Christmas Day, making the holiday extra special in the North. According to Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, “Three hundred guns were fired by order of the Secretary of War on Vermont Avenue on account of the capture of Savannah. I felt as joyful as anyone, perhaps, over Sherman’s success, but I should have dispensed with over two hundred and sixty of those guns, had I made that order.”
Major-General John A. Logan, currently in Washington but preparing to return to Sherman’s army, brought along a letter for Sherman from the president:
“My Dear General Sherman: Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift–the capture of Savannah. When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but, feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering ‘nothing risked, nothing gained,’ I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce; and, taking the work of General Thomas into account, as it should be taken, it is indeed a great success. Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but, in showing to the world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force… it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great light. But what next? I suppose it will be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide.”
The day after Christmas, Sherman issued Special Field Order Number 143: “The city of Savannah and surrounding country will be held as a military post, and adapted to future military uses, but, as it contains a population of some twenty thousand people, who must be provided for, and as other citizens may come, it is proper to lay down certain general principles, that all within its military jurisdiction may understand their relative duties and obligations…” Sherman then quickly dispelled rumors that he would ask for a military rank equal to Grant:
“I will accept no commission that would tend to create a rivalry with Grant. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. I have all the rank I want. I would rather be an engineer of a railroad, than President of the United States. I have commanded a hundred thousand men in battle, and on the march, successfully and without confusion, and that is enough for reputation. Now, I want rest and peace, and they are only to be had through war.”
As December drew to a close, Grant began seeing more clearly how devastating a Federal march through the Carolinas would be to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. On the 27th, Grant directed Sherman to “make your preparations to start on your expedition without delay… break up the railroads in South and North Carolina, and join the armies operating against Richmond as soon as you can.”
Sherman knew that waging “total war” with a march through the Carolinas would not only deprive Lee’s army of vital foodstuffs and communications, but it would also compel many of Lee’s soldiers who came from Sherman’s path of destruction to desert to protect their families. As Sherman began preparations for his next move, he sent an ominous message to Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck:
“The truth is the whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak vengeance upon South Carolina. I almost tremble at her fate, but feel that she deserves all that seems in store for her. Many and many a person in Georgia asked me why we did not go to South Carolina, and when I answered that I was en route for that State the invariable reply was, ‘Well, if you will make those people feel the severities of war, we will pardon you for your desolation of Georgia.’
“Thousands who had been deceived by their lying papers into the belief that we were being whipped all the time, realized the truth, and have no appetite for a repetition of the same experience. To be sure, Jeff Davis has his people under a pretty good state of discipline, but I think faith in him is much shaken in Georgia; and I think before we are done, South Carolina will not be quite so tempestuous.”
Halleck sent Sherman a message of his own, which threatened to turn the celebrations over Savannah’s capture into inquiries into Sherman’s tactics. Halleck warned Sherman that the tragic incident at Ebenezer Creek on December 8 (in which scores of fugitive slaves following a Federal march were killed when the troops crossed a bridge and then destroyed it behind them, leaving the fugitives in the hands of the enemy) was gaining publicity in Washington. Halleck wrote:
“I take the liberty of calling your attention, in this private and friendly way, to a matter which may possibly hereafter be of more importance to you than either of us may now anticipate. While almost every one is praising your great march through Georgia, and the capture of Savannah, there is a certain class having now great influence with the President, and very probably anticipating still more on a change of cabinet, who are decidedly disposed to make a point against you. I mean in regard to ‘inevitable Sambo.’ They say that you have manifested an almost criminal dislike to the negro, and that you are not willing to carry out the wishes of the Government in regard to him, but repulse him with contempt! They say you might have brought with you to Savannah more than fifty thousand, thus stripping Georgia of that number of laborers, and opening a road by which as many more could have escaped from their masters; but that, instead of this, you drove them from your ranks, prevented their following you by cutting the bridges in your rear, and thus caused the massacre of large numbers by Wheeler’s cavalry.”
Sherman would be forced to address these accusations in the coming month.
Bibliography
- Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command. Open Road Media, Kindle Edition, 2015.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox. New York: Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 2011.
- Garrison, Webb, True Tales of the Civil War: A Treasury of Unusual Stories During America’s Most Turbulent Era. New York: Gramercy, 1988.
- Korn, Jerry, Pursuit to Appomattox: The Last Battles. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983.
- Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971.
- McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford History of the United States Book 6, Oxford University Press (Kindle Edition), 1988.
- Nevin, David, Sherman’s March: Atlanta to the Sea. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983.
- Sherman, William T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, Vol. I. New York: D. Appleton and Co. (Kindle Edition), 1889.
- Smith, Mark A., “No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar”: Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign from Fayetteville to Averasboro, March 1865. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, Kindle Edition 2017 (Originally published by Ironclad Publishing, 2006).
- Welles, Gideon, Diary of Gideon Welles Volumes I & II. Kindle Edition. Abridged, Annotated.