Today in 1864, in Savannah, Georgia

General William Tecumseh Sherman, who had unleashed a new type of warfare that he intended to "make Georgia howl," and his Union armies arrived at the end of their "March to the Sea" by capturing the coastal city of Savannah, its defenses having been abandoned the day before by the Rebel defenders.  Sherman telegraphed the news to President Abraham Lincoln and offered the Southern prize as a "Christmas gift" to the President and to the Nation.




William Tecumseh Sherman

In a pivotal moment for the entire Civil War, the Union Army had captured Atlanta after a series of flanking movements and a string of battles pitting the determined Union forces against the smaller Confederate army of General Joseph Johnston, whose critics worried that he was more concerned with preserving his army than preventing the capture of Southern territory.  They were not incorrect and by late 1864 few expected the Southern cause to see another Christmas.
 

Union forces intended to "make Georgia howl"

Sherman was very familiar with the South, having lived in Louisiana and taught at LSU (as it would later be known) as a professor so he had an affinity for the Southern people.  And, with many former classmates and even friends in the Confederate ranks, Sherman knew that the sooner he could bring the South to its knees and to capitulation, the sooner the United States could call itself whole and get on to the harder work of reconciliation.

 

Fort Pulaski

Savannah and its environs were protected by a string of Federal-era forts as well as hastily constructed trenches and earthen fortifications that could have held out for weeks, if there were sufficient provisions on hand.  However, the deprivations of the war and the ongoing effects of the Union blockade of Southern ports meant the city and its citizenry were ill-prepared for a siege and, having seen what had happened at Vicksburg the previous summer, none looked forward to another protracted battle with a forgone conclusion.  Southern leaders thought it better to escape to fight another day.