ARMY OPERATIONS. 



149 



the Sound, was one of the strongest of its class 

 in the South, and had successfully resisted at- 

 tacks by the Monitor fleet in January and 

 March, 1863. It comprised three half bastions 

 and two curtains, and mounted twenty-one 

 guns, several of which were 8-inch and 10-inch 

 pieces. Every line of approach, both by land 

 and water, was swept by howitzers and field- 

 pieces placed on the bastions, and along its 

 front extended a ditch forty feet wide and of 

 great depth, into whose bottom were driven 

 heavy palisades. Outside of the ditch was a 

 formidable line of abatis, and beyond this the 

 land approaches were thickly planted with tor- 

 pedoes. The fort had received additions in 

 armament and garrison since the naval attacks, 

 and was now held by two hundred and fifty 

 men, commanded by Major Anderson and Cap- 

 tains Clinch and White. 



On the evening of the 12th Gen. Hazen's 

 division of the loth corps, to which was as- 

 signed the duty of assaulting the fort, marched 

 from its position on the Savannah and Gulf Rail- 

 road toward Kingsbridge over the Great Ogee- 

 chee, distant about six miles. This structure 

 having been destroyed by the enemy, a new 

 one, eighteen hundred feet in length, was erected 

 during the night, and at daybreak of the 13th 

 the column pushed on for Fort McAllister. At 

 half-past four in the afternoon the work was 

 completely invested, and the troops advanced 

 to the assault in a single line, over an open 

 space of six hundred yards, the greater part 

 of which consisted of a rice swamp. The ob- 

 stacles were formidable enough to have de- 

 terred veterans of more experience than those 

 who formed the attacking column, and might 

 have justified the erection of intrenchments 

 and a system of gradual approaches, which 

 would have involved a loss of valuable time 

 and delayed the opening of communications 

 with the fleet. "Carry the place by assault 

 to-night if possible," was Gen. Sherman's order 

 to Hazen, and the troops, fighting under the 

 immediate eye of their commander, who was 

 watching the action from a house-top some 

 miles distant, and aroused to a high pitch of 

 enthusiasm, pressed eagerly forward, regard- 

 less of bursting torpedoes or the fire from the 

 fort. In. an almost incredible short space of 

 time the open ground was crossed, the abatis 

 surmounted, and the ditch reached. A few 

 minutes sufficed to remove the palisades, and 

 the men, with loud cheers, swarmed over the 

 parapet, shooting and bayoneting the gunners 

 who refused to surrender, and planted the na- 

 tional colors upon the rampart. The assault 

 occupied barely twenty minutes, and from first 

 to last the storming column never wavered in 

 its advance. The Federal loss was but twenty- 

 three killed and eighty-two wounded, owing to 

 the celerity of the movement, and that of the 

 enemy amounted to fourteen killed and twenty- 

 one wounded. Two hundred and eleven rebel 

 officers and men were taken prisoners. On 

 the succeeding day the latter were employed 



in removing the torpedoes buried around the 

 fort. 



Just previous to the assault Gen. Sherman 

 detected a gunboat reconnoitring in the river 

 below the fort, and at once opened communi- 

 cations with her by signals. No sooner was 

 the fort taken than he embarked in a rowboat 

 on the Ogeechee, and a few hours later was 

 taken on board of the steamtug Dandelion in 

 the cabin of which he wrote his first despatch 

 to the Secretary of War as follows : 



Ox BOAED DAJTDELIOX, OSSABAW Sorso, / 

 11:50 p. M., Dec. 13. ) 



To-day, at 5 p. H., Gen. Hazen's division of the 15th 

 corps carried Fort McAllister by assault, capturing 

 its entire garrison and stores. This opened to us 

 the Ossabaw Sound, and I pushed down to this gun- 

 boat to communicate with the fleet. Before opening 

 Communication we had completely destroyed all the 

 railroads leading into Savannah and invested the 

 city. The left is on the Savannah River, three miles 

 above the city, and the right on the Ogeechee, at 

 Kingsbridge. The army is in splendid order, and 

 equal to any thing. The weather has been fine, and 

 supplies were abundant. Our march was most agree- 

 able, and we were not at all arrested by guerrillas. 



We reached Savannah three days ago, but owing 

 to Fort McAllister could not communicate ; but now 

 we have McAllister we can go ahead. 



We have already captured two boats on the Sa- 

 vannah River, and prevented their gunfcoats from 

 coming down. 



I estimate the population of Savannah at twenty- 

 fire thousand and the garrison at fifteen thousand. 

 Gen. Hardee commands. 



We have not lost a wagon on the trip, but have 

 gathered in a large supply of negroes, mules, horses, 

 etc., and our teams are in far better condition than 

 when we started. 



My first duty will to clear the army of surplus 

 negroes, mules, and horses. We have utterly de- 

 stroyed over two hundred miles of rails, and con- 

 sumed stores and provisions that were essential to 

 Lee's and Hood's armies. The quick work made 

 with McAllister and the opening of communication 

 with our fleet, and the consequent independence for 

 supplies, dissipates all their boasted threats to head 

 me off and starve the army. . 



I regard Savannah as already gained. 

 Yours, trulv, 



W. T." SHERMAN, Major-GeneraL 



On the succeeding day he met Gen. Fostei 

 and Admiral Dahlgren in Wassaw Sound, where 

 measures were concerted for opening perma- 

 nent communication between the army and 

 the fleet, and for efficient cooperation by the 

 latter in the reduction of Savannah. The new 

 base was established on the Ogeechee at Kings- 

 bridge, and the obstructions in the river hav- 

 ing been removed, a number of transports 

 passed up on the 16th and 17th. On the 16th 

 several tons of mail matter were distributed 

 among the soldiers. 



Meanwhile the lines of investment were 

 steadily pressed around Savannah, prisoners 

 being employed to remove the torpedoes 

 buried by the enemy along the chief avenues 

 of approach. On every side of the city but 

 that fronting the river the investment was 

 complete. By means of rows of piles, sunken 

 vessels, and the guns of Forts Jackson, Lee, 

 and Lawton, the enemy commanded the river 

 to within a few miles of Fort P'llaski. Be- 



