Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1864-11-18
SECOND EDITION,
O'CLOCK p. M.
4 O'CLOCK p. M.
SHERMAN

movement of Sherman in the Cotton States,
theorize upon the probabiliti s OF his being
able to liberate the large number OF prisoners
they state as being at Anderson vile, South
Carolina. Some Of them accordingly plan out
a campaign for h i'm, having for its purpose
march to Anderson Vile and the liberation OF
those prisoners, the organization of FEEDER al
authority, civil and military, in western North
Carolina. after which the capture OF Whining
ton and then a movement upon Richmond in
cooperation with Grant These papers do not
seem to be aware that the Union prisoners
were removed from Andersonville some time
since.
When Sherman captur ed Atlanta they were
hastily removed from Andersonviile and scat
tered at various points, Savannah, Charleston,
and elsewhere lest Sh erman should take a
fancy to send raiding expedition to Ander-
sonville to Hberate them. Alfred Onderkrrk q
member of the LIST l.. g. cavalry, captured in
May last in the fighting below Petersburg, and
who was sent to Andersonville, and after
wards (at the time of the rebel scare) sent TO
Savannah, and made his escape by jumping
from prisoner train going out OF Savannah
and whose arrival In this city we have no.
ticed, reports that the rebels have now located
their main prison not at Andersonville, but at
Millen, Georgia, point at the junction of the
Georgia Central Railroad and the Savannah
and Augusta Railroad, about so miles from
Savannah, 60 from Augusta, and 90 from Mil.
ledgeville.
AT this point they have now gathered some
25,OOO Union prisoners-a very tempting little
inducement for Sherman'to pay Millen a visit,
supposng him to be really making the bold
advance towards salt water report assigns to
him. Furthermore, Millen is on the direct line
IN hQ IA hon nv 10
aiming-not at Charleston, or Mobile, or Will
mington-but at Savannah. A glance at the
map will show that Savannah is the nearest
point on the coast Sherman could reach from
Atlanta; and Onderkirk' s statements, as well
as others, go to show that Savannah is more
weakly defended on the land side than are
either Charleston or Mobile, which places have
been strongly fortified heretofore on the land
side, i'll anticipation of attack in that direction
from our land forces.
iOnderkirk states, too, that Savannah was
very weakly defended-so much so that de.
tachments of marines from the vessels III the
harbor were compelled TO do shore guard-duty
every third night. The country, too, travelled
by Underkirk on foot from Savannah to Allan
ia presented no serious obstacles to military
movement, the country being level and the
streams shallow, for the most part. The coun-
toes, corn and peas sufficient to sustain an army
moving rapidly through
This line of march would take Sherman di-
rectly through the district where the rebels
have stored millions of bales of cotton, and
would enable him to pay attention to the i'm
mense man ufactories for cannon, small arms,
powder, locomotives, &c, at Macon, Colum-
bus and Augusta, which afford the main sup
ply at this time for rebeldom. Sherman, start.
ing with 60 days provisions, eked out by
supplies obtained on the road, could perform
this work and reach Underwater ria Savannah
probably without encountering any obstacles
that his daring genius could not overcome.
But he would not be IN plight after such a
march, and would not be proyisioned suf-
fciently to enable him TO sit down TO the siege
Of cities defended on all sides like Charleston
and Mobile.
The other programme allotted to him by some
of our contemporaries of march through upper
North Carolina (pausing TO establish govern
ment to Wilmington, and then northward, is
too i'm practicable, from its length of march and
the impossbility of provisioning an army, to
have probability.
The weight OF presum ption, then, is that
if Sherman has really entered upon move.
inert TO the seacoast, he is heading towards
Sayannah-there or thereabouts.