The National tribune., 1902-03-20
THE NATIONAL TRIBNE WASHINGTON c.

River, captured one of the river islands
and the point of land opposite in South
Carolina thereby preventing any craft
reaching the city with supplies. When the
enemy attempted to do so under convoy
of gunboats they were driven back with
the loss of one boat.
The Fifteenth Corps, with its flank on
Ogeechee River, assaulted and captured
Fort McAllister, which blocked the en-
trance to the river from OsSawaw Sound,
where a fleet awaited us with food and
clothing.
But these supplies still failed to reach
us because of distractions in the river and
the lack of light draft boats. Hence we
were reduced to the necessity of gathering
rice in the sl;eaf from the fields and
thrashing out the grain by hand, which
proved to be tedious process. After
separation from the straw the hulls still
held on to the grains with such tenacity
that they had to be placed in sack and
pounded for hours, yet so many remained
unhulled that they had to be picked out
before the rice was ready for boiling.
The contraband cook of our mess,
picked up in the wilds of Georgia, was
unequal to the task of preparing enough
rice for US in this manner, so we had to
assist, but with such poor grace that our
appetites outstripped our hands, and no
sooner had we emptied our dish than the
order was forthcoming: Hull some more
rice, Tom Then our cOntraband would
complain that his master had not re-
uuired such long hours and continuous Ia
Dor, nor did he have four masters like us
to thunder in his ear from early morn till
bedtime: "Hull some more rice, Tom.
He began to sigh for the 'flesh-pOts' of
the plantation, for, having no solid food,
the rice would not stick to his ribs
more than it would to ours, and with the
supply limited by his disinclination TO
work, and ours ditto, we all felt that we
were day behind with our meals, as for
instance we ate on Sunday the meals be
longing to Saturday.
HARDEE EvACUATEs SAVANNAH.
AT length our patience was rewarded.
On the night of Dee 20 Hardee slipped
out of the city by the only route left open
| to him--the Union Causeway-leaving his
| guns in position to threaten us to the
| last; but as soon as we found that the
guns had no men behind them we charged
with alacrity over the works and into the
| city early next morning, where the few
Unionists received us with manifestations
of joy and the many SecesslonlstS with
| fear and trembling.
The latter expected q repetition Of At
lanta, and in order to divert such ca
lamity proceeded with profound earnest
ness to conciliate the grim Sherman.
The Mayor and Councilmen presented
themselves in humble submission, ex-
planning that they had been opposed to
Hardee making any resistance and begged
| the preservation of their city from de-
| struction. Much as they feared Sherman,
| they dreaded still more his wild foragers,
who had secured the country to the right
| and left of the marching columns, swoop-
| ing down upon habitatiOns and farms
with the fury and destructiveness of
| whirlwind, leaving nothing behind that
| could be used or eaten by great army
| Could Sherman recall the liberty and Ii
cense he had granted them for the season
and transform them by word into obe-
dent orderly soldiers? Did not their own
| troopers who came through with Sher-
man to annoy him become insubordinate
on the night of the evacuation, breaking
open and robbing stores and even threat
ening TO burn the city? If the Yankees
were only little worse than these, the
margin between safety and destruction
was perilously narrow, and the citizens Of
Savannah had sufficient cause for alarm.
| What an agreeable surprise, then, for
these people to find law and order closely
| following our entrance. The same men
who had raided every barnyard they en-
countered from Atlanta to Savannah now
approached the citizen with the civil in
when answered in the affirmative eagerly
exchanged his greenbacks for eatables at
fancy prices.
| Apprehension soon gave way to the
spirit of barter in the minds of the cit
| izens, and their surplus stocks of rice
found a ready market at % to 80 cents
per quart, and other provisions at proper
tionate prices. Our mess considered it
most fortunate tat we were able to pur-
| chase a buSbel of rice for So
The army had had no opportunity to
spend any of the pay received just before
leaving Atlanta, and rations being very
short, we were not disposed to haggle
about prices.
Visiting the wharves of the city two
weeks after our entrance, l saw 1000
citizens and soldiers, more or less, en-
gagged in speculation. A barrel of apples
bought of some vessel for $50 was retailed
to the soldiers in half an hour for $40. 4
cheese at $50 retailed at 5000. Being
myself purchaser of portion | watched
the disposal Of this cheese with great in
terest. Two soldiers had it in charge.
The first cuts they made We're Of reason
able size, considering the price but as the
crowd of hungry soldiers grew larger, in
stead of smaller, as the sale progressed,
the vendors diminished the size of the
slice with each additional cut without
diminishing the price, until the last piece