[
334]
On the 25th
General Beauregard was on the road to
Augusta, where he was anxiously awaited.
From Tensaw Landing, Ala., he forwarded the following telegram to
General Hardee:
‘I suggest the immediate preparation of a pontoon-bridge of at least fifty boats.’
The purpose of this suggestion was to protect
General Hardee's retreat northward, especially across the
Santee, in case the railroad bridge over it should be destroyed by
Sherman's cavalry, an event which might have compelled the surrender of all our forces south of that stream.
The services of
Major-General D. H. Hill had at last been accepted by the War Department, and
General Hardee, to whom he was ordered for duty, had, on the 19th of January, assigned him to the command of
Augusta.
From that city, on the 28th, he reported the enemy rapidly advancing towards him, and expressed the hope that troops would be hurried up as fast as possible.
General Hardee immediately forwarded his telegram to
General Beauregard, adding to it these words: ‘I think your presence of extreme importance at this juncture.’
The next day the following telegram was also sent by
General Hardee:
‘Enemy failed in his attempt to cross the Combahee, but 15th and 17th Corps are about to cross the Savannah, to unite with column moving towards Augusta.’1
Pursuant to
General Beauregard's orders,
Cheatham's corps had been pushed forward to
Georgia with all possible speed; and, on the 30th, at
Lieutenant-General Taylor's own suggestion,
2 Stewart's corps was also made to move eastward.
Its services,
General Taylor thought, would be of far more value against
Sherman than in any fitful effort to arrest
Thomas, should he begin in earnest a movement southward.
From the time
General Beauregard left
Mobile till his arrival at
Augusta, on the 1st of February, he was incessantly engaged in issuing orders and giving and sending instructions for the rapid transportation of the remnant of
General Hood's army.
It was then that he called the attention of the War Department to
