letter to Hardee demanding the city’s capit-
ulation. In his exhortation Sherman inten-
tionally mimicked Hood at Allatoona and
Resaca, offering liberal terms but also
threatening, “Should I be forced to resort
to assault, or the slower and surer process
of starvation, I shall then feel justified in
resorting to the harshest measures, and
shall make little effort to restrain my
army.” Hardee was unimpressed and
vowed defiance. Sherman reluctantly made
plans to take Savannah by storm and con-
ducted personal reconnaissance of its envi-
rons in preparation.
In the end Hardee evacuated the city on
the night of December 21, marching north
over a pontoon bridge across the Savan-
nah River and wrecking the navy yard
before departing. “I was disappointed that
Hardee had escaped with his army,” said
Sherman, “but on the whole we had rea-
son to be content without the substantial
fruits of victory. Entering Savannah, he jot-
ted down, “Here terminated the ‘March
to the Sea.’” Behind that bland statement,
Sherman and his bummers had done more
than $100 million in damages to the Stateof Georgia and its dazed residents.
The next day Sherman sent an
immensely satisfying telegram to Presi-
dent Lincoln. “I beg to present you as a
Christmas-gift the city of Savannah.”
Relieved and grateful, Lincoln responded,
“When you were about to leave Atlanta
for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if
not fearful; but, feeling that you were the
better judge, and remembering ‘nothing
risked, nothing gained,’ I did not inter-
fere. Now, the undertaking being a suc-
cess, the honor is all yours; for I believe
none of us went further than to acquiesce.
It is indeed a great success. Not only does
it afford the obvious and immediate mil-
itary advantage, but, in showing to the
world that your army could be divided,
putting the stronger part to an important
new service, and yet leaving enough tovanquish the old opposing force of the
whole, Hood’s army, it brings those who
sat in darkness to see a great light.”
The London Times,couching its praise
in a comparison its readers could under-
stand, noted of Sherman’s feat, “Since the
great Duke of Marlborough turned his
back upon the Dutch and plunged hur-riedly into Germany to fight the famous
battle of Blenheim, military history has
recorded no stronger marvel than this
mysterious expedition of General Sher-
man’s route against an unknown undis-
coverable enemy.”
Confederate Captain Robert E. Park of
the 12th Alabama Infantry privately
begged to differ, writing in his diary,
“Attila, Genseric and Alaric were not more
cruel to the conquered Romans than the
brutal Sherman has been to the defense-
less, utterly helpless old men, women and
children of pillaged and devastated Geor-
gia.” All four leaders, it went without say-
ing, were victorious.
To the end of his life Sherman remained
unapologetic. Writing to an old comrade a
decade and a half later, he noted, “I never
feel disposed to apologize for or excuseanything. Those people made war on us,
defied and dared us to come south to their
country, where they boasted they would
kill us and do all manner of horrible
things. We accepted their challenge, and
now for them to whine and complain of
the natural and necessary results is beneath
contempt.”LEFT: Union infantry attacks Fort McAllister on the outskirts of Savannah. Sherman’s old 2nd Division carried
the works as their commander watched proudly from the roof of a nearby rice mill. BELOW: The view of Oss-
abaw Sound from inside Fort McAllister after its capture. Before Sherman could storm Savannah, Lt. Gen.
William Hardee evacuated the city on December 21.CWQ-Sum16 Sherman's March_Layout 1 4/20/16 4:40 PM Page 73