The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-23
The City Closed to the Influx
of Refugees.
GARRISON lilly PROVIDED
WITH SUPPLIES.
Further Particulars of the March
Through Georgia,
INTERESTING INCIDENTS BY The way


her le My mst letter clos, q with the capture Of
the stronghold fhsr old like a lion guarding the
entrance To the inner waters of the OguC1ee aud
the investment Of the doomed city. La IL 1
c, p-g,s,d the opinion that the Ciy would %" held
uuu Sh"rmans grasp upon it htd starved oui
tie garrison and the large mum Her OF rotlg rs
who fed bgfsre him and took refuge within the
d,tens,s
This belief was grounded upon the reports Of
our sCOu's and dc-Crtcrs, who agree that the
place i, lily proysioued, and unable 10 stand
months siege. When sherman was no MIl5n,
threatening Augusta, there were in Sayanulh but
eight thousand OF n gurison, with twenty days
ratiuus. At that time all the roads hal been
cut, and every avenue for thro wing In supplies
closed, EXCEPT via the Savannah river.
The Introduction of fifteen thousand more
troops, who must DE fed, viii 90 far ards has
tcuitg the time when starvation viii be reached.
Fo ter had covered the railway at Consawatchie
so that Trains or sapp rs could not be saut in
from South CarUliua, and 10 Is not a. al probable
that any considerable amount entered by water
from Augusta, as our cavalry were constantly
threatening the river.
THE CITY Closed AGAINST RETUGGEs
Another fact Cuulrma'ury of this supDosition is
that the authorities gt Savannah, IN view of n
siege, closed Tie city to tn admission of negroes,
ana in some instances 10 the whites. A m ,u
must have considerable influence ur his family
were forced to remain Ou'sidc, while the male
head was COnscriptci ant acad in the bitches.
On the Ia ge rice plantations about the 81 we
found hundreds OF neg Jes, who, Hhen asked
WHO Their owners had run them or replied that
city, and had guards stationed on all the avenues
OF entrance.
sPECULATtoNs UPON THE FUTURE.
Should Sherman take Savannah IN a few weeks,
what " II be his next mOyei is a question pro
pour dCd iu my heRirg Just now. aud il is one
that is moe easily asked thau ansg cred, inns
mUcl as Sherman has no Cunidaufe outside of
Grant tnd the War Dep r.menL Nevertheless,
to one who has studied carefully ShermIns
me d. of m kngpr conducting war, his path %
victory is not altog, ther hid from view. Ny
iRdiNiiual opinion, iumed upon a careful study
of tht toTogr-rhy oi lhe couptry the force 20 be
met, ~ % e. fCsu g. likely 10 a 'Crue is that when
aNannah falls as fall it mus many weeks,
the CHmphiRu, 80 lar from being nc an end, MS
Sneru an aid when Alaua collapsed, twill have
bur iust commenced"
Thomas, the able Co-OpCrator with Sherman,
has now 80 thoroughly crippled he rash and i'm
pCtuous Hood that to day he cannot mus er
twenty-five thousand men, were he to "r,b the
cradle and the grave, and place their inhabitants
in the tOnt ranks. Lee has not a man 10 spare
Bragg has ten thousand strlgglcrs searching for
Sherman away up the river, and probably ten
thousand more are uXuriating about Chgrleston
and Wilmington. Davis cannot by st4m0 OF
his hCel command an amy to spriug out OF the
soil Cou equently Sh,rmAn's grand army will
lot have Ii'ted agninst Il twenty tholsand men,
u lr,s Win iugtOn and Oh rleston are abandoned.
E1W 20 small a force IN hs trout nothing
stands in his way to garrison Savannah With ten
thousand or fifteen thousand, make 10 Il fortress,
place his gunbOais on The river, and, with a feW
Lundred mariucs attack ard clp.ure Augusta,
with is fo1DdIies and machine shops labOra.
tDri's ana arteries, destroy the railroads or
ing there, march = 60 umn across % Knoxville,
and down the valley in'O the rear of X chmOnd,
10y ing waste the cuuutTy and buTniug the rail
roads, asSuil Lee; or, hre ikiug across the SaVan
nah mOyr direct upon Charleston aud Whining
ton and enable our yessel,-Of war 70 lOat through
the rivers TO the he rt ut the COnfeleTa y.
What his preci.e rofe will be no one can safely
predict; but it is certain that the Rebel army
CaInOt obtain more men mn css they import the
aD0 mr. r
Bt viii In view Of the whole situation, it ust
he apparent that the death thrnCs are upon the
Rebel Gpvernme9t. lew more well dlre}tcd
blows, such as Sherman has given it in Georgia,
and Thomas in Tennessee, and the end will
appear.
THE POOP QUESTION
Sheiman's march has fully exploded the CON-
mon error that the Rebellion could be s'arv'd
ont; that he constant haiu upon the white
working classes 10 fiil The armies of the Confede-
raCy would leave the ground untilled and EranI-
reN unified. Wn'rever we moved from Cpyng-
tonic Savannah, every plant iln was abund ,nty y
IT 'Ckt d, and the barns gro med under the corn
az wheat that the fall harvest I'd produced.
Every farm. house yard was decorated with sweet
potato pits and corn bins, lich were very thor
oughy cloircd out by the men in their search fol
the "sihii Oi liie.'
TITHEs.
II the counties throagh which Shcrmin's col.
umn passed can be taken ne q basis D)n which "a
ground an estima,e, the GsJrgials have furnished
enough suhs.stt nee yerrly to feed fifty thousand
men Every planter pays Iithes to the q Ivern.
meut on everything Ias2d-a stipulated amount
for every negro on bis plantation. Sworn STATE
ments OF the amount pr0du 'ed must be furnished
TO The Ot er OF the Government.
THE SENTIMENTS or THE PEOPLE
rarely find uitarance, even ia the presence Of the
Yankees. But when hey do speak It is not IL
vain eulogy of The Rebel army aud the cause n
Witch tbcy are euPGged They are broken IL
spirits, suG the htughty secession ladies', who by
force OF arms end ngue drove their 0rothers
sons and lovers int tae army, arc now as meek
as sinECd kittens and on two glad 90 smile up
good looking Nar kee. They all frankly admi
that their cause is hOp''css-that suhiugttiOI
awaits them in the future, aud all they nov wst
is for the storm 70 bGrst and pass; that pea,,
with them, crushed bpGGtth the lukee heel, d
preferable 20 the present state of things.
"Grat God !" exclaimed one very intollgen
Mlledgcye LADY, whose all had boeu taken
"little did think, when [ bade my dear boys
who now sleep in their graves, good-by, an,
packed them off, thai this day would come, wher
OLD impoverished, and childless, | must ask tb
men whom they fought against for meal o
Victuals TO satisfy my hunger. But it serves M
right | was deceived, drove them 10 battle
death, and nfamy, and here l stand, their mur
deTer."
ESCAPED PRISONERS CONE IN.
A large number of prisoners from Rebel jail
arrived in during the march. In their escape tn
negroes materially aided them, feeding and hidint
them in canebrakes by day and sending them OF
by night, At Port Royal l met Captain Elder
OF the LIST United States Artillery Major sand
ford, Of the 9th Connecticut, and thirteen o.he
officers who escaped from Columbia, South Caro-
lima, and by following the Santee river, arrived
safely at the fleet, after perlous journey. The,
encountered nothing but kindness on the part o
field hands, but never trusted house servants
who are usually treacherous and betray them.
conveTsed with three men who escaped from
train Of cars near Milen, who report that tn
guard, who were mostly bOy-conscriptS, advise,
them 10 jump from the train, promising not h
fire upOn them, declaring that the ConfedeTacl
was about gone up whom Sherman could tro
through Georgia at will. About two huudret
came from the train, many Of whom arrived In.
THR INPossIBILITY on REAR ATTACK.
Some fears have been expressed that Bragg
who, Al last adyices, was moving down from Au
gu'ta with about ten thousand men gathered 70
the defence OF that city, will attack Sherman
rear on the northeast side OF the Savannah bu
persons Versed In the topography OF the countr!
appTehend no danger from that quarter.
. Ebenezer creek, fve miles In Bherman's rear
BA bread and deep river running nearly parable
with SheTNan's line, and " Il form an excellen
= defeuRVe linD which cavalry aloua can hold