The weekly union record., 1864-12-10
Savannah and Charleston.

present campaign. by the Union forces, tc
capture The city OF Savannah; nor has Charles
ton. though severely bombardsd from the har
Dor and Morris Island. been invested or regu,
larlv besieged. In October and November
1861. the graBd military and naval expedition
under the command OF General Thomas W
Sherman ard Admiral Dgpont, which captured
the Port Roval forts and The town Of Beaufort
! Is. CT. excited hopes il The public mind Of The
speedy recovery Of Savannah and Charleston
and probably both might have been taken at
the time without heavy loss Of life. as the de-
ferses were imperfect and the expedition had
caused a panic sherman had force of thir
teen regiments, numbering not less than ten
thousand men, and the feet Was the most for.
midable our Government had, until iha, date
concentrated on the ocean. But the Union
General had DO Instructions 10 follow up the
! advantages that had been gained. lie did lot
eEen occapy Beaufort until the 9th of Decem-
Der, nor 1ybee Island, commanding the ap-
proach to Savannah. until the 20jh of that
month, so that tie rebels had ample time to
fortify and to concentrate troops. Instead OF
pushing the enemy, this Sherman was content
J 10 issue proclamation, beseeching the rebels
( 10 return TO their allegiance, and protesting
great respect for the sovereignty of South Car
CHINA The capture of Fort Pulaski by Gen.
/ Gilmore subsequently, completed our command
of the water approaches to Savannah bat by
! that period the city had been intFeuched, and
/ the. river above Pulaski so obstructed and
guarded by batteries that large army would
have been required to undertake the siege, and
/ such force we have never had 10 the Depart
ment of the South. 10 front of Charleston our
Generals have reduced Sumter TO a ruin.
assailed without success the works on james
Island, gained command of the halbor. and
battered the city from The. Swamp Angel aud
the battery on Cummings Point but hitherto
no army has been sent TO South Carolina
capable of advancing into the interior and at
tacking the city in the rear. The character Of
the defenses on the land or west side of Savan-
nah and Charleston, and the nature of the
obstacles which 1 Union army will encounter
in advancing from the interior, have become
matters OF special interest since Tecumseh
Sherman left Atlanta.
Chatham county Georgia, in which Sayan-
nah is situated, is fiat plain. and the only
natural obstacles to the approach OF 80 army
from the northwest are the swamps. If the
city be walled in by inireuchments these de-
lenses cannot be formidable, because of the
character of the ground, and a heavy force
would be required to hold the long line extend
ing from the river above around the city to the
river below. The Revolutionary battles at this
point afford no data upon which to base al
opinion Of the ability of the present garrison to
resist an attack from the interior. Colonel
Campbell, with two thousand British soldiers,
captured the place 10 November, 1776, the
garrison, under General Robert Howe. being
very small and easily beaten. In October.
l119 the British garrison was besrged by an
army OF Anne leans and French under General
Lincoln and Count D D'EstaiBg. The outworks
were carried and the siege was progressing IA
vorab!y, when The impaience of D'Estaing,
who wanted to return to the West Indies,
caused the bcsiegers to make a premature
assault, which resulted in "a blood repulse, and
the siege was abandoned. In this attack, Sa
vanuah was menaced from below and not reg
ularly invested, or cut Of from communication
with the interior. An army descending the
country between tie 0geechee aud the Savan-
nah, if it failed to carry the works on the north
aud west by assault, cuuld attack Fort Jackson
in the rear. aud by taking that work allow the
eunboats to ascend the river, or else communi-
cate with the feet iu 0sSibaw Sound fifteen
miles southeast of the city. If works have
been constructed north of Savannah, the line
probably extends from Pipen,akers creek to
the Little Ogeechee, s distance of five miles
requiring full army corps for lis defense
Charleston covers over two miles of the low
tongue Of land between Cooper and Ashley
rivers. In May. l119. when General Lincoln
was besieged by the British under Provost, the
defensive works extended from river 10 river in
the rear Of the city. Provost did not pres the
siege, for he had not calculated upon a stubborn
resistance; be ravaged The plantations, carried
ch four thousand slaves, and retreated by way
OF the sea islands to Savannah. In the follow
ing May. when Sir Henry Clinton attacked the
city and finally compelled Lincoln to surrender,
Charleston was completely invested, the British
lines extending across the peninsula and also
across the Neck. north of Ashley river. A.
this time, an army advancing upon Charleston
from the interior would probably achieve
victory at less cost by destroying the Hamburg
aud Savannah railroads, and attacking the
batteries on the sonth side Of the harbor iu the
rear. After the taking of those batteries. the
iron clads could ascend to the city, which
would then be untenable for an enemy. The
railroad from Charleston to Hamburg-oppo-
site AuguSta-is one,Of the Oldest railroads in
the United States. 1t traverses Charleston,
Colleton, Barnwell and the lower part Of Edge
field counties, or districts, as they are called in
that peculiar State. This portion of South
Carolina is generally level and productive, but
the swamps are numerous, and an army ad-
vauciug from Augusta toward Charleston at
this season could not make very rapid progress
without using the railway.
Eastern speculation upon Shermans move
ment seems to have settled into belief that be
is going 10 either Charleston or Savannah. The
rebels are obliged to prepare for the defense Of
both cities, yet, while they do so, they so dread
the audacity of the Union General chat they
are compelled to keep mp strong garrison al
Wilmington. and watch the North Carolina
railroads. The military value of the line of the
Savannah is so great, however, that its capture
ought to be the limit of expectation for the
present, and We may be confident that, if Sher-
man can take and hold Savannah and Augusta.
all the rest OF a sanguiae dream will be realized
before the close Of the Winter campaign.-
Sacramento Union, Dec. 3D..