DECEMBER 10, 1864:
William Tecumseh Sherman’s army arrives in front
of Savannah, Georgia, which has prepared for a siege. The 10,000 Confederate
troops in the city, led by General William Hardee C.S.A., have flooded the
fields around the city. Only a few narrow causeways give access to the city,
and Rebel guns are trained on these approaches. Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee
River is manned. On Sherman’s side of the equation, he has 60,000 well-fed,
well-armed men, most of whom are spoiling for a fight just so they can enjoy
the fleshpots of Savannah (before they wreck the city). Sherman also has the
firepower of a Union flotilla offshore bursting with winter supplies,
ammunition, fodder for the horses (the one thing he is short of), and mail from
home (something the men have not received in six weeks). Sherman moves his
batteries into position, he sends messages to the fleet, and then he settles
down to see what the outnumbered, outgunned Confederates will do.
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