http://www.connectsavannah.com/
October, 13 2000

The indecision of a general, the escape of an army 

By Tim Daiss

tgdaiss@prodigy.net 

The Savannah Republican called them "desperately jaded men and
animals." The southern populace wasn't so kind. But they were coming
and nothing could stop them.

Atlanta had already fallen, now Savannah stood in their path. Sixty
thousand battle-hardened veterans were marching this way.

As Sherman's army completed its destructive march to the sea, Savannah
prepared the best she could. Yet all she could muster to greet the
coming blue hosts was a rag-tag force of men, mostly young boys too
young for conscription, old men, the walking wounded and small groups
of army regulars.

And the commander of Savannah's defenses, Gen. William J. Hardee,
determined to make a stand, or at least pretend to do so. 

On Dec. 8, 1864, Sherman reached Pooler, eight miles from Savannah.
On the 9th the first Union troops reached Savannah's defenses. The next
day Sherman's entire force invaded the area. Facing them were roughly
10,000 southern troops, spread thinly across a 15-mile defensive
perimeter.

Standing Their Ground

After a visit to Savannah, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, Hardee's commander,
instructs Hardee to preserve his command at all costs, including the
evacuation of the city. The much-needed troops will be needed again if
Sherman is to meet any resistance as he swings into Carolina. The
troops are deemed more valuable than the city.

With the city invested and flanked on every side but the north, the
Savannah River and the Plank Road on the South Carolina shore is the
only escape route. 

On the 11th the pop of musket fire and the crack of small arms is heard
as Confederate and Union troops skirmish along the defensive arch. As
the Union command holds a council of war, its troops dig in and wait
for orders.

To establish communication with the Union fleet anchored in Wassau
Sound and open the path to the sea, Union forces make quick work of
Fort McAllister's defenders, seizing the fort in just 15 minutes.

On the 17th, formal communication between Generals Sherman and Hardee
begin. Through a flag of truce sent to the Rebel lines, Sherman demands
surrender, stating: "Ö [we] shall wait for a reasonable time for your
answer before opening with heavy ordnance."

Yet Hardee plays the fox, buying precious time. "Your statement that
you have, for some days, held every avenue by which the people and
garrison can be supplied, is incorrect," he replies, "I am in constant
communication with my department."

Though Hardee refuses to capitulate, Sherman postpones the siege. For
the first time since the beginning of his triumphant march from
Atlanta, Sherman hesitates. Later in his memoirs he justifies his
actions, claiming that the "ground was difficult" and that similar
assaults had all "proved so bloody" that he "concluded to make one more
effort to completely surround Savannah on all sides."

But not all of Sherman's generals have the jitters. Corps Commander
Gen. Henry W. Sloculm is adamant to his commander: "Damn it, let us
take this plank road and shut the fellows in!" Sloculm wants to land
troops across the Savannah to prevent Hardee's escape.

Sherman considers the situation, but waffles. He inflates Confederate
numbers, placing them at 15,000 along with what he describes as "good
artillerists." To add to Sherman's hesitation, two Confederate
ironclads, the CSS Savannah and the CSS Georgia, as well as two gun
boats are waiting in the Savannah River.

In a letter to Gen. Grant, updating him of the situation, Sherman
writes that he intends to bomb the city, but "not risk the lives of our
men by assaults across the narrow causeways."

Finally, on Dec. 19, Sherman agrees to send troops across the Savannah
River, but the force is small and quickly contained by Gen. Wheeler's
Confederate cavalry. Sloculm presses for more troops, but Sherman
vacillates. He eventually withdraws the 1,500 he has already
dispatched, saying he wants his army to remain intact in case he is
called to Virginia to join forces with Grant.

Capitalizing on Sherman's indecision, Hardee has already begun
construction of pontoon bridges to span the Savannah River. The first
stretches from the foot of West Broad (now Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd.) and reaches 1,000 feet across to the Hutchinson Island. A second
bridge spans the distance from Hutchinson Island to Pennyworth Island
and the third stretches across the Back River to South Carolina.

The Evacuation

On the night of Dec. 20, the first of Hardee's troops begin to cross
the river. Straw is put down to muffle the sound of horses and wagons
and a heavy barrage of Confederate artillery booms in the distance to
cover the withdrawal and to keep federal troops pinned down. Cannons
that couldn't be taken are spiked and ammunition is dumped into the
river. 

As the last of the southern troops cross into Carolina, a reluctant
crew scuttles the CSS Georgia near Fort Jackson. The CSS Savannah
decides to fight her way out of the harbor and make it to sea, but she
too would have to be scuttled. And a skeleton force of soldiers keeps
the Rebel campfires on the defensive lines alive to make the Federals
believe that the trenches are still occupied.

It is a ruse, a gamble, but it works. The next morning a few Federal
infantryman cautiously raise their heads to look out over the trenches.
They are joined by more curious soldiers. When they muster the courage
to climb out of the trenches and walk to the Rebel lines, they are in
for a shock. Nothing remains but smoldering camp fires. The Rebel army
has vanished.

Gen. Sherman is making his way back from Hilton Head and a conference
with Gen. Foster about the Savannah situation when he is informed about
the evacuation. Stranded on a mud bar, he transfers boats and finally
returns to camp. He voices his disappointment in several letters and
later in his memoirs. 

Disappointment in the End

If Sherman was disappointed, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was
furious. He stated: "It is a sore disappointment that Hardee was able
to get off his 15,000 from Sherman's 60,000. It looks like protracting
the war while the armies continue to escape."

Stanton was right. Sherman would meet up with Hardee and his men again
in Bentonville, N.C., on March 19, 1865 and fight the last major battle
of the Civil War. Though he would be victorious and help bring the war
to a close, he would suffer over 1,600 casualties from a foe that he
had let escape. 

CORRECTION:

The address given, 1109 E. Oglethorpe Ave., for the McIntosh House in
"Washington slept here: George Washington's 1791 Savannah trip" (Sept.
29 issue) is incorrect. The correct address is 110 E. Oglethorpe Ave.

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