Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-05-04
trance to the ogeeohee river, ssand
up this broad estuary no federal ship
could sail until McAllisteF was disposed

could sail until McAllister was disposed
of.
After our investing line had been
stretched from the Ogeechee river to the
Savannah river and formed about the
city, Sherman took from ths et5.t IS. q s.rsay
corps the second division, commanded
by General Hazen, now at the head of
the signal service, and sent it around in
the eneighborhood of the doomed fortress,
on the south side of the Ogeechee river.
The general commanding met General
Hazen at Kings bridge, above McAllis-
ter, and there gave him his instructions.
which were to move rapidly down the
right bank of the Ogeeohee river to
Fort McAllister, assault it and earryT il
by storm, How well General Razen Car
ried out bis instructions the history of
that days work long ago informed the
world. Generals Sherman and Howard
were watching Hazen from the roof of g
rice mill three miles across the flats, on
the left side of the Ogeechee river. 1t
18th that the approach Of Hazen's forces
upon McAlhster became discernable to
the anxious watchers upon the rico mill,
and at the same time confused move
ments within the fort indicated defen-
sive preparations on the part of its gar
rison. Hazen's signal flag conveyed to
Sherman the information that he was
ready, and Sherraan's reply was that he
expected hun to take the fort that
night. Then the battle opened. lit WAS
one brief, desperate, overwhelming
charge. The lines of the second division
moved steadily forward, through the
tangled abattis, over logs and bitches,
torn by shot and shell from the fert and
by the continual explosion OF buried tor
pedoes, never hating, never waverin2,
until the blue coats finally swarmed over
the parapet, dewn into the fort and
struck the confederate colors, and Nc
Allister was ours.
Before Hazen success had opened the
Ogeechee our lines about Savannah had
settled down into something like siege
work, though the fighting was done
mostly by the artillery. Our infantry
had found lodgment only upon the
slight natnfal elevations and the artif-
cial causeways which rose at irregular
intervals ffona the rice swatnps sur
rounding ths confederate works, and
could do little more than attemptto hold
their prisoners within the confines Of the
beieagured city, Aggressive N oYenaen It's
were difficult under these circumstances,
| without further preparations. So the
days were. productive only OF successive
| artillery duels, and as the reoels out
! weighed as III armament, results were
frequently disastrous to the federal bat
teries. Our hastily constructed forts
were Sand piles just above nigh tide and
it not infreqnently happened that the
fire of o dozen or more heavy confederate
lguns was concentrated upon one OF
these little redoubts, defended only by
a field battery, and in the course of q
half hour of active work the federal de-
fence would be 80 badly knocked out OF
shape that it was hard TO tell which side
of the parapet it's guns Tasa on. Gol
artillerymen suffered severely in these
contests, but their stubborn pluck pre-
| vented them from yielding to the odds
| against them and after while oar in
fantry would crawl into places where
they could pick off the rebel cannoniers
and then the hurrah was on our side.
| So the days wore on meath the sui.
pnurous pail Of smoke and tho screams
of flying shell, and Sflernian's army was
getting hungry. 1t bad no reserve store
Of rations and the fleet supplies had yeI
been unable to reach us. We wers.si7s
ling on rice straight. Rico Ia ho,ssis'ais s
but it becomes exceedingly Inonctononi
when it reaches from the top to tht
bottom of the bill of fare three times /
day. We gathered our food supplies
from the stacks, threshed ii ogs will
sticks, hnlled it in hollows cut in log
and then boiled It. 1t was a good day.
work for one man to prepare peck o
rice for cooking. AS we had no salt, th
product of our labors wasnot at all pala
table when READY to eat, But men
horses and mules lived on an exclusiv
RIGS diet daHng their tarry before th
gates Of Savannah and Tor. many day
afterwards. Over twenty one years hav
elapsed since those experiences and
am just beginning TO manifest feehl
interest id rice as an article Of food.
4 Altar iavezting Savannah on tn
north, west and south, General Shel
man sent IN formal demand for i!
surrender, which General .Hardee d.
/ clined. General Sherman then bega
preparations for an assault, and VIII
they were in progress he started. fc
! Broad river, by the ocean route, to brin
division of Fosters command into th
j, gap east Of Savannah and thus cut o
! the retreat Of Hardee's forces after h
8 army in front had whii
8 ped them. During his al
q sence, on the morning of the 2lst
+ December, our skirmish line, feeling i
r way forward, found the eonfeiera
!. works in our front unoecupied. Tht
, were immediately possessed by II
Is federals and6a line advanced into Il
1 49, fxyt. Il. :