OCTOBER 9, 1864:
William Tecumseh
Sherman sends a famous telegram to Ulysses S. Grant explaining the fate of
Atlanta. In his message he proposes to “make Georgia howl”:
It will be a physical
impossibility to protect this road now that Hood, Forrest, Wheeler and the
whole batch of Devils are turned loose without home or habitation. I think
Hoods movements indicate a direction to the end of the Selma and Talladega road
to Blue Mountain about sixty miles south west of Rome from which he will
threaten Kingston, Bridgeport and Decatur and I propose we break up the road
from Chattanooga and strike out with wagons for Milledgeville Millen and
Savannah.
Until we can repopulate
Georgia it is useless to occupy it, but utter destruction of its roads, houses,
and people will cripple their military resources. By attempting to hold the
roads we will lose a thousand men monthly and will gain no result. I can make
the march and make Georgia howl. We have over 8,000 cattle and 3,000,000 pounds
of bread but no corn, but we can forage the interior of the state.
The
Battle of Tom’s Brook (“The Woodstock Races”):
General
Philip Sheridan U.S.A. is still methodically destroying the Shenandoah Valley,
though he is nearing the end of his task.
Today,
his forces meet General Jubal Early C.S.A.’s forces near Woodstock, Virginia. Sheridan
orders George Armstrong Custer to “whip the enemy or be whipped yourself.”
Confederate
Major General Tom Rosser of the Laurel Brigade says pompously: "That's
General Custer, the Yanks are so proud of, and I intend to give him the best whipping
today that he ever got."
As
history will show, not quite. Unfortunately for Rosser, his whip hand is
paralyzed when Custer’s men turn at bay and attack the Laurel Brigade head-on.
The cavalrymen in gray immediately retreat at the gallop (giving the battle its
ironic nickname), and the battle is over in just a few moments. Early, when
apprised of Rosser’s defeat, remarks disgustedly, “"The laurel is a
running vine".
Although
Tom’s Brook is a little-remembered and relatively bloodless battle, it finally gives
the Union unquestioned mastery over the despoiled Shenandoah Valley. Early is
forced to withdraw, since the ruined Valley cannot support his forces any
longer.
