The National tribune., 1903-06-04
WITH THE.
WESTERN ARMY.
Continued from first page.)

supplies, Of which the army at that time
stood much in need.
| The whole army was moved by the same
spirit that animated my brigade.
1t was Winter and, although we were
in warm climate, the cold weather that
came to us pinched very severely, so
every one wished to be under cover to en-
| joy the comfort of a roof. warm fire
and bed above the ground.
CHRISTMAS AT SAVANNAH.
Christmas was nearly at hand. This
was the fourth Christmas of the war, and
| it looked now as if it would be the last
We therefore wished to celebrate it as
best we could. Every effort was made to
provide officers and men with the best
material obtainable for good Christmas
dinner. t- r. -s--.
On the morning of Dec. %, 1864, n
circular went out from my headquarters
addressed to the field and staff officers of
the brigade directing them to report at
headquarters at IL o'clock a. m. They
all arrived promptly on time. They were
all arrayed in their best uniforms, wear
| ing both sash and sword. They had no
intimation of the business upon which
they were summoned. / gave them all a
cordial reception; We spoke briefly of the
wonderfully successful campaign through
which we had passed; the health of the
troops, etc, etc. then arose and said:
Gentlemen, this day is Christmas.
have called you together for the purpose
of celebrating the event in social way
aud beg to request that you will join me
| in drinking some egg-nog prepared with
Georgia eggs and Kentucky whisky"
The middle door was thrown open and
Alex, my man -of-all-work, marched in
with the generous MIXTURE, And there in
the old city of Savannah. Ga. on Dec. %,
1864. the field and staff officers of the
Second Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth
Corps, celebrated Christmas.
| OCCUPATION OF SAVANNAH.
The capture of Savannah and the occu-
patton of the city and surrounding country
| by Gen. Sherman's army of 6o,0OO men,
the presence of Admiral Dahlgren's fleet
in the sounds and rivers communicating
with Savannah. with large convoy of
transports loaded with supplies for the
army, and the junction of Gen. Sherman s
army with the forces of Gen. ]. G. Foster
in South Carolina, was an immense mill
tary fact, the Importance of which was
fully recognized both by the authorities at
Washington and Richmond. No care or
expense had been spared in the erection of
defenses for this city against attacks by
both sea and land. -
Up to the time of the arrival of Gen.
Sherman the safety of the city was never
questioned; its great defensive works We're
believed to make the city practically i'm
pregnable. For the defense of the place
were erected Forts McAllister, Beaulieu,
Rosedew, Barlow, Thunderbolt, Jackson,
Lee, Boggs, Brown, Lawton Battery
and Water Battery, opposite Fort Jack
son, besides the defensive lines for in
fantry around the city. In this great cir
cult of forts there were 2G9 pieces of artil-
lery with 22,o00 rounds of ammunition.
The extent and strength Of these works
and their armament was not fully known
by the officers of our army until we had
taken possession of the city.
Along that portion of the line which
was to be assaulted were found 16 pieces
of artillery in front Of Gen. Woods's Di-
vision, 16 in front of Gen. John E.
Smiths Division, 25 in front of Gen.
Corse's Division, and II in front Of Gen.
Geary's Division, total of 6S pieces of
artillery in position ready for service. Add
to these % pieces captured by Gen. HaZen
at Fort McAllister. and we find that the
Confederates mad 81 pieces of artillery
with an abundance of ammunition in the
forts which were the objects of our at
tacks.
Savannah was the object and end OF
the Georgia campaign. The possession
of this old and important city gave the
National Government great military and
naval base for future operations.
MERIT OF SAVANNAH CAMPAIGN PROVED
This campaign through Georgia ending
in the capture of Savannah and the de-
feat Of Hood by Gen. Thomas at Nash
vile, clearly demonstrated the wisdom and
enterprise of Gen. Sherman as a great
military leader.
The chief merit of his plan Of cam,
paign, when Gen. Hood left Sherman's
front at Atlanta and moved over into
Alabama, was the decision to divide the
army, giving Gen. Thomas part to con-
duct defensive campaign against Hood,
while Gen. Sherman with $1,000 men
took the offensive. Gen. Sherman was
perfectly clear in his opinion that the
Confederate authorities could not concen-
trate a sufficient force against him to
seriously impede his progress through
Georgia to the sea. He was well satisfied
that he could subsist his army off of the
country through which he passed, and
that he could so cripple the railroad lines
and resources Of the State that at the end
of his campaign Georgia would prac-
tically cease to be serious factor in the
great military contest. Further, that
Gen. Thomas could and would concentrate
his forces and be SO reinforced that he
would be superior to Gen. Hood in num-
bers and would destroy his army.
All Of these opinions and calculations
were fully realized.
This campaign through Georgia was not
only. terrible blow to the Confederate
cause, but it resulted in immense loss to
the people on the line of march. The cap
ture of food products for men and animals
was not confined to the Union army. Gen.
Wheeler's Cavalry and all the Confeder-
ate forces in motion against Sherman
lived from day to day off the country. A
great cry arose among the farming class
against the Confederate army for seizing
and carrying away horses, mules, cattle,
hogs, corn. fodder and provisions of all
kinds. This was expected of the Federal
troops; in fact, their character and con-
duct were painted so black in the South
ern daily press that the people-men,
women and children-felt that when the
foraging parties visited them they were
doing well to get off alive. Beauty and
booty" were said to be the watch word of
the Federal soldiers. When the Confed-
crate soldiers proved to be quite as ex-
acting and severe in their demands for
supplies as the Union troops, the nom
combatants of Georgia felt that they
were being ground between the upper and
lower milstones. War is terribly de-
struetive business. Success is the main
question; everything must contribute to
that apd Tifa ond proncrfy n,uSt ha Soo