[
456]
Chapter 17: Sherman's March through the Carolinas.--the capture of Fort Fisher.
- Sherman prepares to move northward from Savannah, 456.
-- his invasion of South Carolina, 457.
-- he presses on toward the capital of the State, 458.
-- he moves on Columbia, 459.
-- surrender of Columbia, 460.
-- destruction of Columbia, 461.
-- Charleston evacuated, 462.
-- destruction of property in Charleston, by the Confederates.
463.
-- Charleston Repossessed by the National forces, 464.
-- the old flag at Sumter, 465.
-- expedition sent to Florida. 466.
-- invasion of Florida, 467.
-- battle of Olustee, 468.
-- events on the Carolina coasts, 469.
-- siege of Plymouth, 470.
-- duel between iron-clads, off Plymouth, 471.
-- destruction of the Albemarle, 472.
-- Port of Wilmington to be opened, 473.
-- plan for capturing Wilmington, 474.
-- designs against Fort Fisher, 475.
-- an immense torpedo to be used, 476.
-- delay of the fleet, 477.
-- explosion of the great torpedo, 478.
-- attack on Fort Fisher, 479.
-- withdrawal of Union troops from the attack, 480.
-- the author's visit to Fort Fisher, 481.
-- also to Charleston harbor, Beaufort, Hilton Head, and Savannah, 482, 483.
Having made the necessary orders for the disposition of his troops at
Savannah,
General Sherman directed his chief engineer (
Captain Poe) to examine the works around the city and its vicinity, with a view to their future use. He directed portions of them, including
Forts McAllister, Thunderbolt, and
Pulaski, to be put in perfect order.
The remainder were to be dismantled and destroyed, and their heavy armament sent to
Hilton Head.
Savannah was made a base of supplies.
The formidable obstructions in the river were sufficiently removed to allow the passage of vessels, and the torpedoes which abounded were gathered up under the direction of
Admiral Dahlgren.
These arrangements were completed by the first of January, when
General Sherman was ready for a march northward through the Carolinas.
Sherman appointed the 15th of January
as the day when he would commence his march.
The Seventeenth Corps, of
Howard's troops, was sent by water, around by
Hilton Head, to
Pocotaligo, on the Charleston and Savannah railway, where it had made a lodgment by the day above named, and from that point seriously menaced
Charleston.
The left wing, under
Slocum, accompanied by
Kilpatrick's cavalry, was to have crossed the
Savannah River on a pontoon bridge laid at the city; but incessant rains, which flooded the country, swelled the streams and overflowed the swamps on their margins, had caused the submergence of a causeway which
Slocum had constructed opposite
Savannah, and broken up his pontoon bridge.
He was compelled to look higher up the river for a passage, and marched his troops to Sister's Ferry, or
Purysburg.
The delay caused by the flood prevented
Slocum getting his entire wing of the army across the
Savannah River until the first week in February.
In the mean time,
General Grant had sent to
Savannah Grover's division of the Nineteenth Corps, to garrison that city, and had drawn the Twenty-third Corps, under
General Schofield, from
General Thomas's command in
Tennessee, and sent it to re-enforce
Generals Terry and
Palmer, operating on the coast of
North Carolina, to prepare the way for
Sherman's advance.
Sherman transferred
Savannah and its dependencies to
General Foster, then commanding the Department of the South, with instructions to follow
Sherman's inland movements by occupying, in succession,
Charleston and other places.
Hardee, with the troops with which he fled from
Savannah, was then in
Charleston, preparing to defend it to the best of his ability.
[
457]
Sherman had advised
General Grant that it was his intention “to undertake, at one stride,” after leaving
Savannah, “to make Goldsboroa, and open
communications with the sea, by the New Berne railroad,” and for that purpose, he sent
Colonel W. W. Wright, superintendent of military roads, to New Berne to prepare for extending the railway from that place to Goldsboroa.
Meanwhile, during the delay caused by the floods, some feints were made from
Pocotaligo of an advance on
Charleston, and thereby
Hardee was kept from interfering with
Sherman's preparations for his proposed “stride.”
Finally, when the waters had somewhat subsided, and every thing was in readiness for an advance, the posts at the
Tullifinny and
Coosawhatchie rivers were abandoned as useless and the troops a long the Charleston and Savannah railway were concentrated at
Pocotaligo.
Sherman's whole army moved forward on the first of February, nearly in a due north course, toward
Columbia, the capital of
South Carolina.
All the roads in that direction had, for weeks, been held by
