The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-11-02

reau tnen, ana SIMPLY give them, as
know he win, a share Of his thoughts.
l would prefer that he should not an
swer them, but merely give them as
much, or as little weight as they may
deserve"
And he added, in conclusion:
Whatever plan of action he may
adopt, will receive from me the same
Jealous CO. operation and energetic sup
port, as though conceived by myself"
Colonel Bowman's statement of the
original suggestion of the immortal
campaign in which occurred "Sher-
mans march to the sea, celebrated in
poetry and prose, with music and ora
tory-sounded through all the trum-
pets Of fame and marked by q thou
sand houselcss chimneys in broad
belt Of desolation, is equally interest
ing. The Colonel says:
fisherman had previously proposed
General Grant, in the early stages
Of the pursuit, to break up the rail
way from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and
strike out for Milledgevlllc, Millen and
Savannah. Until we can re-popu-
late Georgia" he wrosc, ait is useless
to occupy it; but the utter destruc-
tion Of its houses, roads and people
will cripple their military resources.
BY attempting 10 hold the roads we
will lose a thousand men monthly, and
will gain no result. I can make the
march, and make Georgia howl" And
again, ".Hood may turn into Tenues-
sec and Kentucky, but / believe he
will be forced to follow me. Instead
Of being on the defensive l will be on
the offensive. Instead of guessing at
what he means, he. would have to
guess at my plans. The difference in
war is full twenty-five per cent can
make Savannah, Charleston or the
mouth of the Chattahooehie. 1 pre-
fer to march through Georgia, smash
ing things, to the sea-" He now pro-
posed to the Lieutenant General to
modify these plans, so far as to give
him the choice of either of the three
alternatives just named.
81 must have alternatives" he said,
"elso being confined to one route the
enemy might SO oppose, that delay
and want would trouble me, but hav-
ing alternatives I can take so eccen,
,ric course thai no General can guess
at my objective Therefore when you
hear that | am off have lookouts at
Morris Island, S. c.; Ossabaw Sound,
Georgia; Pensacola and Mobile Bays.
will turn up somewhere, and believe
me can take Macon, Milledgeville
Augusta and Savannah, Georgia, and
wind up with closing the neck back Of
Charleston, so that they will starvo
out? This movement is not purely
military or strategic, but it will illus.
trate the vulnerability of the South u
General Grant promptly author
lied the proposed movement, indica-
ting, however, his preference for Sa-
vannah as the objective, and fixing
Dalton as the northern limit for the
destruction of the railway. Prepara-
tions were instantly undertaken and
pressed forward for the consumation
of these plans"
We have only additional space to
give an extract from General Sherman
on the delicate subject of the suppress
sion of newspapers. Writing in the
field near Atlanta, Aug. 9th, 1864
General Sherman says:
General Milroy asks to suppress
tho sale and circulation, in his distric
Of certain mischievous and treasona
BILE newspapers, and transmits to m,
certain slips as proofs Of the mischiev
GUS character Of such papers. 1 woul(
} willingly suppress them were it posi-
BILE to do so, but in human natur,
there is SO much of the mule left, tina
prohibition of a newspaper only in
creases it's circulation. The press is
power in the land. For q quarter O
a century past it had been sowing thC
whirlwind and now reaped the storm.
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