The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-27
WHY sHRRMANP PASSED.
Augusta Not Included in the March
TO the sea-
From ne AUGUSTA (Ga.) ChronioIe.

hurled back on Tennessee in bloody recoll
Sherman's victorious troJus faced abOu'
and TO he tn Re Of John = owns dy'
com l.encei "sma'ni 8 things" in Georgia
Farm houses b.azsd in Is attn ana ter
rible flu row, rtJ miles wide, was cut IL
the very heart of Georgia.
The tao ica p sitio appeared to be Au
gusta Next t. Richmond, Augusta seemed
TO be KEY of the confederacy. 1t las
directly in line Of Carulina, where 1t wa
own Sherma was forcing his way. II
commanded outlets TO Sava nah BY rail and
river, being the as now the best distribute
ing point alb I'VE the sea Once in Augusta
| Charleston and Sava ma we're Ii easy
| reach, and Colu nbii IN str king distance.
Again. Augu ia contained large amount
of st res. The arsenal was here, an while
It was open the lnfsderate army com
manded rich resources for war mat rial.
| the pOwde mills Ia proven the mainst ~
Of the civil Struggle. 1t as even then
shipping rs of ammunition TO Virgin 10
the army of Lee Besides these were large
quantities of provisions and goods from tue
cotton mills. while piled in the streets, as
nigh as the buildings on Broad street, were
thousands of bales of raw cotton
| Don Piatt, in writing of the march
| through Georgia, declArei that Augu STA
was the logical des ination of S erman's
army, and that had this city been cap ured
the civil war would have closed right ava r.
lie character ID Sh rman's famous
"Ma~ch to the Sea" as an empty, bucca-
| ne ring performance, without reason and
with ut sig al achieveme l.
Speculation was rife at the time. Every
one supposed Sherman woul come. People
al hid their silver. shipped their valuables,
| spiked their guns, and tie small force left
| il charge Of the city would not have de-
| tanned his blOod-stained We Grams long 1t
was trying time in Augusta. The pIliny
OF cotton with Wow to its destruction
| by fire would probably have
resulted in the certain conhagration of the
city. The new year of 1865 was gloomy
| enough. Added TO the horrors of an in
vaslon, the river came over its banks and
the water rolled overwhelmingly through the
town. 1t seem d to be fOrerunner of fur
Their disaster, ia which fire was to succeed
Il lod and wipe the place from the face Of
the earth.
As Sherman's army passed throu n Mid
! die Georgia. however, people began to
breathe more freely. Then somebody re-
membered at way back in the AS, Geh.
Sherman I'd been static ed at the Augusta
arsenal 1t was reported tnat wui.e a
young officer and living o the Hill he had
fallen in love with beautiful G ri, who
had returned his affection For
some rea on her parents did It
favor the suit but long after the you ~
officer had left he cherished the te derest
feeli gs for q home of his early love.
was supp sed in ference b. this senti nent
that he old warrior mad C lied off his dogs
OF war when he nearei A lgusta To nurture
this little romance a strange story was told
Gen. Sherma s friend moved away. so the
narrative goes, and mar led a wealthy man
In the mountain country. In a beautiful
valley this couple had built an elegant
house, and when 3 ierman and Johns on
came storming down the valley in bloody
grapple the people fled from this peaceful
section as from a p istlleace. The lady, WIN )
RENE nbered Gen. Sherma IS early AGO laint-
ance, left her house in he care of a trusted
81 We with a note to he delivered to d
Tecumseh should the premises fall into his
hands. foraging party did sweep do vn
thai way, burning and pillaging. The whole
| valley was laid waste Moo never k ew
| WHISTLER the stern comma nder rece we'd the
! note, but the beautiful home was loft intact
with special guard over il until the army
was we'll into the fiery swirl of Keunesaw
far below.
For like reason, they said, Gen. Sherman
had spared Augusta and exhausted himself
on AvlaIta and Columbia. Perhaps it was
a d perhaps it wasn't. At all events mill
tary men haze always mai tame tn 1t
| 5 erman'o objective point should have been
| Augu ia, aud hat his marca TO the sea vas
a bloodless and BON astic demonstrate /,
| gaining no point and sacrificing valuable
time in joining Grant in Virginia.
A short W nile ago the writer concluded
| to sound Gen. Sherman on this tactical
| point, and for the purp se Of set Ii Q a d.
| puted q iestion and vindIc ting the truth
Of history, addressed to him an INQUIRY.
| concned in no spirit af pig lie for not visit
| lIg Augusta, but searching for facts. The
| swer is someN hat grim humor, but is
pretty stern in its conclusions Here is the
letter:
NEW YORK, Oct. 81, 1885,
| T. A. StordH, Esq, AugItsta
My DEAR SIR-l am just back from visit tC
my daughte who resides at Rosemont. neal
Philadelphia, and find your letter of the III
Third artillery, Company B. John r. Viatons
for about six months in the year lS4i-forty
four years ago. to the Augusta arsenal
The march to the sea" from Atlanta
was resolved on after Hood had 20
well On his way to Nashville.
then detached to Gen. Thomas force sulfcien
to whip Hood which he did in December Is 4
very handsomely and concusively Still haC
LETT a very res lectable army aud resolved Il
join Grant at Richmond. The distance wa
1000 miles and prudence dictated a oase a
savannah or Poat Royal Our enemy had gar
rsons at aeon and Augusta. | Il ured OF
both and passed between to Sava NAH Thel
ring northward the same problem presente,
itself in Au ;usta and Charleston. | figure,
on both but used bet veen | did not want Il
drive out their garrisons to accum lIate anpaC
of me at the crossings of the Santee Catawba
Peedee, Cape Fear, etc. The mo hent l passeC
| Columbia your facto les, pow der mills anu uh
Old stuff accumulated at Augusta were lost [,
the only two confederate armies left-in Lee,
and Hoods.
SO, if you have a military mind. you will 81,
| made better use of Augusta thau if hat
captured it with all its stores for which hat
no use. used Augusta twice as q buffer: in
garrison was just where ,elped me-
If the people of Au Sta think slightet
them in the wi tier of Ca 5 by reason of per
soual friendships formed in 1874, they are mis-
taken; or if they think | made a mistake i
strategy, let them say so, and with the Pres
dents consent tdink can send detachman
of hdndred thousand Or so of Sherman
Burners" ami their descendants, who wi
finish up the job without charging Uncle Sam
| cent.
The truth is, these incidents come back t.
me in humorous vein. OF course the civil
war should have ended with Vicksourg an,
Gettysburg. Every sensible man on cart
ust have then sen there could be but one re-
suit. The lead RS in the south took good car
not to die in the last ditch - and lett brav
men like Walker. Adams, Pat Cleburne, etc, t.
do that
Yours truly, W.T.. SHERMAN
This did my correspo deice ' viii
cafe the truth of history am pretty vel
ii fed why Sherman did not come tc
AugI, a. l. is OF probahle that the peo.
pie will ever entice him this way.
PA. s.
Sara Shocked the dltor.
From the CHICAGO Netrs.