The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-12-23

our cavalry advanced to Grlswoldville, eight
miles east Of Macon, where they captured q
lumber train, burned foundry and the chem
ical works, tore up the railroad and cut the
telegraph. At the same time part OF Gen.
HOwards command moved rapidly through
Monticello, the county seat Of Jasper county,
/ where the court house was burned, via Hills
boro' In the southern part OF the same coun-
", TO Clinton, the county seat Of Jones coun-
ty, for the purpose OF striking the Georgia
/ Central railroad at Gordon, the junction of the
branch road to MilledgeEilla. Having left
CObbs forces In Macon, now In his rear, Sher-
man sent an infantry force 10 act as rear
guard at Griswoldville, while he moved TO.
ward the Oconee, occupied Milledgeyilie, and
Gen. Sherman entered MilIedgeyille Nov.
II, having made the march from Atlanta In
just seven days, with no haste aon the part Of
any Of his columns. Average distance by the
routes marched, ninety five miles.
THE MOVEMENT OF THK LEFT WING. ~
The left wing under Gen. Slocum, left At
lanta Nov IA, moving out by the Decatur
road for q short distance and then branching
of to the right and passing through De Kalb
County, BY way OF Flat Rock and Swapping
Shoals, TO Covington, the county seat Of New
ton County, which point the advance reached
on Nov. IL, the cavalry pushing on as far as
Social Circle, In Walton County, q station on
the railroad nfty-two miles east OF Atlanta,
where the railroad buildings were burned.
Covlpgton Is situated in the midst ofa very
fertile country, and foraging was carried on
10 an extensive degree. A party from one Of
the brigades OF the Twentieth Corps, While
out foraging some distance north Of the rail-
read, at Oxford, were fred upon by bush
whackers, and one of their number killed
Here the order for relentless devastation Of.
tne country was carried out with degree OF
sever tys which resulted in the destr uction oil
Emory College, at Oxford, IL was the prop
erty or the Methodist Church, had several fine
libraries, a neurological cabinet, hne chem
ical apparatus, andIcost nearly halt a million
dollars before the war The plantations IL
this lNewton) county were thoroughly strip
ped, and our troops lived on the. fat of the
land. They were much surprised by the rich
ness Of: the country they passed through.
THE LINE OF THE GEoReIA RAILROAD. 7a
From Covington Gen. Slocum moved di-
reetiyA east to Madison, the county seat of
Morgan county, his cavalry, covering his left
flank and destroying the railroad thoroughly.
At Madison the railroad buildings the jail,
several warehouses and the market-house
were burned. From Madison the left wing
moved almost due south upon Eatonton, !.
which Is the northern terminus of the Mil
ledgeville branch railway. This point was
reached Nov, Fl, the same day that Gen. How,
ards right flank reached Gordon, the south
ern terminus of the same railroad stad
Gen. Slocum reached Milledgeville on the
I'D, which place proved to be q general point
Of rendezvous for the two wings.M sllsI ss ei
THE OCCUPATION OF MILLEDGRv1LLE.
Our army occupied MilledgeVille three days,
from Nov 2l to Nova24, when the rear guard
left. Gen. Sherman occupied the Executive
Mansion for his head, quarters. Very little
property, either public or private, was de-
stroyed. The State House was left standing, 4
though the rebels declare thatiJ was much 4
mutilated. The sudden disqualification OF the
rebel legislature disgusted our troops The
members, with Gov. Brown, left In great haste
on the 18Th, some for Macon, some for Au-
eusta, and many on foot, there not being Con-
lederate currency enough In Milledgeville TO
hire conveyance Two members paid $1,000
TO be carried distance OF eight miles. Gov.
Brown took the public funds, the public arch-sn
ives, his private carriage and bis garden ssss'
$50 said the Savannah Republtcan,) and fed
to Macon, where he opened headquarters in
the CityAHall, and issued a proclamation. He
left three Thousand muskets and several thou
sand pounds Of powder belonging to the
State of Georgia. which our troops destroyed.
Some of our troops perpetrated very hand
some trayestic upon the proceedings of the
/ 1eeing Legislature. They met at the State
House, elected Speaker and Clerk, and
wereintroducing bills and resolutions at a iu-
I rious rate, when courier rushed in, breath
! less with haste, and shouted "the Yankees are
, coming y whereupon the members dispersed
in the most panic stricken manner, causing an
I immense deal of amusement. ,e1 Z -.
Sherman's army consumed Just one week in
/ moving from Atlanta to Milledgeville. the av-
/ erage distance being ninety five miles. The
| movement was deliberate, and fully up to the
/ marching orders, The ouly resistance met
H. A..
! column, where Cobb and Wheeler were steadi-
i lE pushed back BY Fitzpatrick. Gen. Slocum's
! column was unresisted, and even unmolested
save by an occasional guerrilla, and the retal-
| alton against the citizens In such cases was
| very severe. rass@sa 4 go s a1,sea faf i-aIis
| MARoH TO MILLEN--cRos SING THE ocoNEE.
The army left Milledgeville Nov. "a, en-
route to Milen, through which place 1t passed
I on the evening OF Dec. 2, camping In the vic
inity. The distance from Miledgeville TO
MiAen, the way Sherman marched, is about
IA miles, and the. distance was accomplished
in eight days. The main body crossed the
I Oconee1 at Milledgeville, destroying the bridge
{ over tn At river, and the railroad bridge over
F Fishers Creek, south of the city. The ad-
L vance of Howard's column reached Sanders
vile Nov. 26.' The railroad was cut again,
/ and the depot burned at Tennille Station, inn
mediately south of Sandersville. rs59 "A
| THE LEFT WING ACROSS THE 0CONEE.f
+ GEN. Slocum's column crossed the Oconee
|. simultaneously with the right wing, but bore
| to the northward in its march, aiming Tor
! Sparta, q hourishing village, and the county
| seat of Hancock county. On the evening of
I the Path, Gen Slocum's advance encamped at
Deyereax seven miles west of Sparta, and the
| cavalry secured the whole country, one of the
most fertile and thickly settled in the whole
State, and vast quantities Of forage and pro-
I visions, many horses and mules were obtained, },
I and much cotton burned. The Georgia rail-
road. on Gen.. Slocum's left flank was not
neglected 4 81. S 5as ~ i.f
y -gn THE REBELS IN THE DARK. fLsA
l. Itwas through this march from MiiIedgeville
y to Millen, occupying little over week, that
the movements OF Fitzpatrick we're so vigorous
and his cavalry 30 perfectly ubiquitous, that
the position OF Sherman's infantry was wholly
unknown to the enemy. HoWard's column
passed through SaDdersville Nov. 26, and
Louisville Nov. 80. Slocurn's marched
through Sparta, in Hancock county, to Gil
| son, in Glascock county, and then moved up
on Louisville, converging with the right wing
near the latter place. The whole armyap-
peared in the vicinity of Millen, Dec. 2. I'm
i til 1t was fully ascertained that Sherman had
reached Millen, the rebels believed that he
was passing down between the Ogechee and
| sOconee rivers, aiming to reach the coast at
I Darien or Brunswick. n
A. MORE OF sHERMAE's STRATEGY. :
i Very adroit strategy was necessary at this
juncture to conceal the real direction of the
march, for had the rebels known in time that
Augusta was certainly to be avoided, the en-
tire force there could have been sent down to
Millen, and thus thrown in Sherman's front,
and resisted or delayed his march upon Sa-
vannal, and in the end would have proved a
formidable addition to the garrison of that
place. Fitzpatrick, therefore pressed Wheeler
more vigorously than ever, and the latter fell
back toward Augusta, which put him out OF
4 Sherman's way most effectually, again leaving
/ him in the rear Of the very army whose ad-
vance he was endeavoring to resist 1t was
during these cavalry operations that the fight
took place at Waynesboro', Dec. Sd where
VIII ,eler attacked Kilprtrick, and reported
| that he had" "douhled him nnoa the main body,