The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-19
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 1854
anIRnAN.s EInar nEsp TNlI.

NNE RHAN'S FIRST OENFNI'"s
Major General SHERMAN has sent Secretary
STANTON a despatch which will be rcai by
the peoI with thrills Of exultation. SHHH-
MAN new very well what he was about wAen
he le an his march upon Savannah. II he
looked non his march with confidence, 10 is
because he argued so convincingy to himself
what the result must be. His was the self
reliance Of great general, and not the inal-
sion OF q merely dlshiny anl Intrepid oHl,er
At Atlanta he saw Savannah at his feot. No
seer ever prophesied more correctly. The fall
Of Savannah and the triumph Of SHERMAN
are coirelative sentences on the lips Of history
At midnight last Tuesday General SHEB.
MAN, n board the Daldelion, O5sabaw So ln1,
Georgia, wrote his first despatch. The Du-
dclion is termed, par complaisonce, q gunb)lt
II is in reality the champion tug-boat Of tn
South At lnic Blockliing Squadron, and
Carl one gun forward and two howitz'r'
broa side aft. Last Tuesday at five o'clock
in the moining, says the despatch, Genera
HAzuN's Division OF the 18th Corps carried
Fort McAlister by assault, and captured its
entire garrison and stores. General HAZES,
Of whose brilliant exploits in the Army Of the
Cumberland we have time and again heard, has
served with distinction under RosECRANs
THOMAS, GRANT, and finally under SHBR-
NAN. The capture OF Fort McAlster was
most imperative. The victorious result Of the
assault opened to us the OssabaW Sound and
the complete communication with Slvlnual.
AS Genera SHERMAN himself tersely says:-
eve Ieac ed Savannah three days ago, but
ewing TO Fort McAllster we could not COM
municatc; but now we have Fort MtAllister,
and go aheadp The same calm confidence
it is not idle boasts displayed ia the closing
sentence :-"'The quick work made Of Fort
McAlli5ter, and the op,n'ng Of communica-
tion with our fleet, and consequent indep,nl-
elce OF supplies, J,s5ipates all their boas.ed
threa s to head me- off and starve the army.
IrCgard Savannah os already gained"
The good work that SHERMAN has done
cannot be Oyerrated. He has kept his army
in splendid order and discipline through a
march Of over three hundred miles, and lasting
one month. He has completely DESTROYED
over two hundred miles Ol railroad, and con-
sumed stores aud provisions that were abso-
lule Unnecessary to HOODS and LEES armies
Turing all this grand march he has not lost
single wagon, but, on the contrary, has accu-
Undated an imm ,nse supply of mules, horses,
negroes, and military stores generally
All his teams, without exception, are
in far better condition than they
were when he started from Atlanta. He has
totally destroyed all the railroads leading into
and around Savannah. He has established
his left on the Savannah river, three miles
above the city, and the right on the Ogechee
at Kings bridge. He has prevented all the
ReLel gunboats coming down the Savannah,
and he is ready to demolish the garrison,
under General HARDEE, estimated at fifteen
thousand.
The people have read SHERMAN's first
despatch. They are eagerly expecting a
second. The first one was confident of VIC
Tory. The second will tell us that victory has
been achieved, and that Savannah, true to the
prophecy of General SHnRMAN, is lying van
quished at his feet.