AKMY OPERATIONS. 



41 



the 21st of February, a body of the enemy's 

 cavalry, under Lieut. McNeil, dashed into Cum- 

 berland before daylight, surprised and captured 

 the pickets, and carried off Maj.-Gens. Kelly 

 and Crook. They were quietly seized in their 

 beds with their staff officers, and taken to Rich- 

 mond, and subsequently exchanged. 



The success which attended the march of 

 Gen. Sherman through Georgia, both in dis- 

 heartening the Southern people and in destroy- 

 ing the communications between different parts 

 of the Confederacy, determined the nature of 

 the approaching campaign. The field of de- 

 cisive operations was now reduced to three 

 States, and if South and North Carolina were 

 overrun it would not only cut off the resources 

 of Gen. Lee's army at Richmond, but also result 

 in concentrating an overwhelming force against 

 him. Both 'combatants therefore prepared to 

 put forth their final efforts. At Richmond, Gen. 

 Lee was appointed as General-in-Chief; Gen. 

 Johnston was ordered to the command in 

 South Carolina; Gen. Hood was supplanted by 

 Gen. Taylor in Alabama and Mississippi ; Gen. 

 Breckinridge was brought into the Cabinet as 

 Secretary of War, which had already undergone 

 a change by the displacement of Mr. Memmin- 

 ger as Secretary of the Treasury, and the ap- 

 pointment of Mr. Trenholm of South Carolina. 

 On the Federal side Gen. Schofield, with a 

 strong force, was placed in command in North 

 Carolina, to prepare the way for the approach 

 of Gen. Sherman, and Gen. Gillmore relieved 

 Gen. Foster in the Department of South Caro- 

 lina. 



Immediately after taking possession of Sa- 

 vannah, Gen. Sherman began his preparations 

 for a march through the Carolinas to Richmond ; 

 meanwhile Gen. Hardee with his command 

 occupied Charleston. The first movement of 

 Gen. Sherman was to send a part of Gen. 

 Logan's 15th corps and Gen. Blair's 17th corps, 

 both belonging to Gen. Howard's wing of his 

 army, by transports to Beaufort, near Hilton" 

 Head. The important bridge where the rail- 

 road from Savannah to Charleston crossed the 

 Pocotaligo, was the object of this movement. 

 This bridge, 49 miles from Savannah and 55 

 miles from Charleston, being with the trestle 

 work in the swamp a mile in length, was so 

 necessary to the communication between the 

 two cities, that frequent attempts had been 

 made by the Union commanders of the depart- 

 ment to destroy it. The force of the enemy 

 had always proved strong enough to defeat 

 these efforts. On Jan. 13th the advance from 

 Beaufort began. The division of Gen. Hatch 

 had taken a position near the bridge, with their 

 guns turned on the railroad, when the 17th 

 corps crossing the ferry at Port Royal on a 

 pontoon bridge moved rapidly but cautiously 

 to the railroad. The pickets of the enemy were 

 driven away without difficulty. On the loth 

 an advance was made, the 17th corps being 

 on the left, and Gen. Hatch on the right, and 

 the railroad gained a little south of the bridge. 



The skirmishers pushed forward, encountering 

 those of the enemy, who were supported by 

 light artillery, and quickly drove them off, 

 thus gaining the bridge. A brigade of the 

 17th followed, and carried it and the earth 

 works at the further end. The enemy seeing 

 they would lose possession of the bridge, at- 

 tempted to burn it, but were defeated in their 

 efforts by the rapid movements of the troops. 

 The Federal loss was about fifty. The force 

 of the enemy consisted of a detachment from 

 Gen. Hardee's command, under Gen. McLaws. 

 They were driven out, and the 17th corps 

 occupied the railroad from Coosawatchie to the 

 the Tallahatchie. A depot of supplies was 

 established near the mouth of the creek, with 

 easy water communication back to Hilton 

 Head. 



At the same time the left wing, under Maj.- 

 Gen. Slocum, and the cavalry, under Maj.-Gen. 

 Kilpatrick, were ordered to rendezvous near 

 Robertsville and Coosawatchie, with a depot 

 of supplies at Pureysburg on Sister's ferry on 

 the Savannah River. Gen. Slocum caused a 

 good pontoon bridge to be constructed opposite 

 Savannah, and the "Union causeway" leading 

 through the low rice fields opposite the city 

 was repaired and "corduroyed." But before 

 the time appointed for him to march, the heavy 

 rains of January had swelled the river, broken 

 the pontoon bridge, and overflowed the whole 

 bottom, so that the causeway was four feet 

 under water, and Gen. Slocum was compelled 

 to look higher up for a passage over the river. 

 He moved up to Sister's ferry, but even there 

 the river with its overflowed bottoms Avas 

 nearly three miles wide. He did not succeed 

 in getting his whole wing across until during 

 the first week in February. 



Meanwhile the division of Gen. Grover of 

 the 19th corps had been sent by Gen. Grant to 

 garrison Savannah, and on Jan. 18th Gen. 

 Sherman transferred the forts and city of Sa- 

 vannah to Gen. Foster, still commanding the 

 Department of the South, and instructed him 

 to follow on the coast the movements of the 

 army under Sherman inland, by occupying 

 Charleston and such other points as would 

 be of any military value. The plan of Gen. 

 Sherman was to strike direct for Goldsboro' 

 in North Carolina, and open communication 

 with the sea by the Newbern Railroad. For 

 this purpose he ordered Col. "W. W. "Wright, 

 Superintendent of Military Railroads, to pro- 

 ceed in advance to Newbern and to be prepared 

 to extend the railroad out from that city to 

 Goldsboro by March 15th. At the same time 

 Gen. Sherman ordered his chief quartermaster 

 and commissary, Gens. Easton and Beckwith, 

 to complete the supplies at Sister's ferry and 

 Pocotaligo, and follow the movement coastwise, 

 and be prepared to open communication with 

 him from Morehead City about the same 

 time. Having completed his preparations, Gen. 

 Sherman issued the order to march on Jan- 

 uary 19th. He left Savannah on the 22d 



