For, Savannah, Christmas 1864 was anything but a timefor merriment. Almost four years of war had taken thelives of thousands of Georgians, destroyed millions ofdollars in property and left the state in chaos. As theholiday approached, so did the relentless Union Armyled by William Tecumseh Sherman. For Union soldiers,it was a time for jubilant celebration as Gen. Shermantelegraphed President Lincoln, "Sir: I beg to present to you as a Christmas gift, the City of Savannah with150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition; also about25,000 bales of cotton."
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Innocent Victims of War Face Uncertain Future
In November 1864, Sherman initiated his historicMarch to the Sea. With 57,000 infantry and 5,000cavalry, the Union Army cut a 40 to 60 mile wide swath through " the soft underbelly of the Confederacy." Within days of Savannah's surrender a Union officer wrote, "We are inSavannah, in the full enjoyment of superbquarters, fish, oysters and other good things andour army relishes the condition of the affairs." In Southern circles, "All talk was of burninghomes, houses knocked to pieces by balls,famine, murder and desolation."
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Pontoon Bridges Hasten Mass Exodus
In anticipation of Sherman's occupation ofSavannah, Confederate generals ordered theconstruction of pontoon bridges to assist inthe evacuation of the city. " Boards and timbers from the city wharves and somebuildings were pried up to use for flooring,and Rebels scoured the area for rice flats tohelp float the bridges." An eyewitnesscompared the stream of wagons, soldiers,and civilians to an "immense funeral processionstealing out of the city at the dead of night."
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(l) Burning Confederate Navy Vessels LightUp the Christmas Season Sky, (r)Captured Cotton on the Docks Made a WhiteChristmas
(Right picture)
(u) Sherman's Army Marching Down Bay Street
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Cartoon Mocks General's Holiday Generosity
" Implacable in war," Sherman was viewed by onlookers as possessing a "nervous, rumpled,irritable" nature. Known by his men asUncle Billy, he had little toleration and respectfor journalists or politicians. Prior to his onslaught on the Southern states, Sherman proclaimed," War is the remedy of our enemies havechosen and I say let us give them all they want; not a word of argument, not a sign of let-up,no cave in till we are whipped - or they are."
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