The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-12-15
A FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY WAR 81
December IS. 1864

while HaZen was marching forward 10
the attack he and Sherman looked on
and communicated by signal
General HaZen's advance gjEr CAP
turcd 4 picket about mile from the
fort and got from him The particulars
about The torpeloes buried in The road
leading to the fort These were re-
moved, and brigade OF troops moved
forward to within half a mile OF the
work. The commander Of the brigade
wished 10 dash ahead az once hut Gen
eral IaZen decided to wait until por-
tons Of three brigades could be
brought into position. The reserves
and supports found difficulty in get
ting forward without drawing the enc
my's fire, and it was , O'Clock before
the signal for attack could be given.
Luck favored HaZen's enterprise
from the very start. The discovery of
the tOrpedoes saved his line from
heavy casualties and possibly from
panic, for hidden foes are Il terror TO
the bravest men. 1t happened also tina q
just before the attack the garrison had
added an abGtis to the dcfenses on the
land side of the fort by telling large
trees and cutting the limbs. which
when sharpened formed Il hedge of
wooden bayonets in the pathway of
the assailants But the attack came
before they had time to remove the
large trunks of the trees, and these
gave good cover TO HaZens SkiImish-
erS, enabling them to get close to the
fort and pick off the Confederate gun
nerS. In this way the guns of the fort
were rendered useless.
While Sherman and Howard impa-
tiently watched the proceedings on Ha-
Zen'S line from their perch upon the
rice mill tugboat from the feet
sneaked along under shelter Of the
river bank to communicate with the
/ Federal commander. As the sun was
going down Sherman signalcd HaZen
to hurry the charge and just then the
captain Of the tug hailed Sherman to
ask if the fort had been taken. Sher-
man answered, Not yet, but it will be
in minute"
The gallant dash of Hazen's melf
quickly fulfilled Shcrman's promise.
There was a short, sharp struggle on
the parapet, and then detachments
from all sides poured into the fort 50
swiftly did the line move that no halt
was apparent either ut the abatis, The
palisades or the ditch. The ground on
the outer edge of the ditch had been
{ al i,
and there the assailants lost heavily.
: about 200 men killed and wounded
/ This method of defense. barbaric as it
seemed, is permissible by the usages of
war. y further stroke of luck favored
the attacking party at the right time
The extreme TANKS of the works eX-
tended to the water, and the palisaGe
had been constructed with a view to
high tide. At the moment of attack
the tide was out, and HaZeu's soldiers
passed safely around the Instructions
on Il dry beach. In fifteen minutes aft
er the charge was sounded the Con
federate flag came down. The garrison
| made no formal surrender, but indi-
dividuals ceased to struggle when they
found themselves Overpowered. The
Confederate loss in killed and wounded
was forty-eight in all. Sherman sent
dispatches by the tug to Admiral Dahl
gren. whose fleet lay off the coast, and
went himself by steamer next day to
confer with the navy about removing
distractions to the channel of the
Ogeechee to enable transports to bring
supplies to camp. A dispatch steamer
which was with the feet brought in
structions from Grant to Sherman di-
recting him to move his army by water
to the James river and aid in the at
tack on Richmond.
Sherman decided to capture, Savan-
nah in any event on the 18th of De
cember and sent to General Hardee Il
demand for the surrender of the city
This demand was refused, and Sher-
man prepared to lay siege IIardee
had no intention of remaining until he
was shut in by overwhelming forces,
and Sherman. fearing that the foe
would escape, sailed away to Hilton
Head, UP the coast from the mouth of
the Savannah river, where there was
large force of Federal troops. Suppos-
ing that Hardee would attempt to 90
north to Charleston, he hoped to inter
pose a force in South Carolina to cut
off the retreat
Meanwhile Hardee got out of the
net, safely removing his troops and
light artillery. and made his way TO
Charleston unopposed. When Sherman
got back to the lines on Dec. % he
found his troops occupying Savannah.
His telegram to Washington announc-
ing the capture was made public on
Christmas eve and led to great rejoic-
ing, although the escape of Hardee
was a disappointment to the army.
Sherman said that when Hardee re-
fused to surrender the city there was
no way out but bloody assault or the
complete investment of the place, and
while he was occupied in efforts to
close the last avenue the enemy slip
ped out GEORGE L. KILMER.
All Set.
Servant-Mr Smith is at the door.