November 18, 1864---The garrison at Macon

NOVEMBER 18, 1864:     

Georgia is in an uproar. The fire-eating political General, Howell Cobb (once Secretary of the Treasury of the United States), General “Old Reliable” William Hardee, and General P.G.T Beauregard are all sent by Jefferson Davis to defend the city of Macon from William Tecumseh Sherman as he marches to the sea. Altogether, they have 10,000 men to defend Macon, as opposed to Sherman’s 60,000. Although Sherman pillages the nearby State capital, Milledgeville, he almost insolently ignores and bypasses Macon. The three Confederate generals elect to garrison Macon, the location of the Georgia Arsenal, and send out pickets, skirmishers and raiding parties to interfere with the Yankees. Sherman’s men bat them aside like so many gnats. 

November 17, 1864: "The great danger . . . has come upon the country."

NOVEMBER 17, 1864:      

Colonel (later General) T.W. Brevard writes to his father, General T.W. Brevard regarding the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. His letter reads in part:

  

The re-election of Lincoln gives us the certainty of four more years of war . . . made constantly necessary by . . . bloody and wasting campaigns . . . [and by the] European Governments [who do not] depart from the[ir] non-intervention policy . . . The Northern people are completely in subjection to the Washington Government. No ruler is more absolute than Lincoln . . .  We . . . long ago ceased to hope for foreign intervention. There is no earthly chance for terms of agreement . . . for Lincoln makes it a condition precedent . . . that we shall lay down our arms and abolish slavery. We stand therefore at the expiration of nearly four years of bloodshed in the face of a powerful military despotism armed with every possible warlike appointment and equipment, determined . . . upon our subjugation, and we have no choice but to fight for it to the bitter end. Long ago I said . . .  that the great danger . . . in our struggle was the possible depression and arrest of fortitude on the part of our people . . . in the event of Lincoln’s re-election . . . That test has come upon the country and may God grant the people of the South strength and grace to . . . meet the issue honestly and defiantly. 

Thomas Jefferson Moses is a Union soldier engaged in Sherman’s March to the Sea. In a quick diary entry he writes:

To day we marched 20 miles. We come through Jackson a prety nice town. To day our regiment was train guard. We marched very hard to day.

November 16, 1864---The Richmond 'Times-Dispatch': "It is impossible for Sherman to make a move of any moment"

NOVEMBER 16, 1864:                

The Richmond Times-Dispatch publishes an editorial (reprinted in part) explaining in detail to its readers why General Sherman cannot possibly be marching through Georgia. The newspaper's assurances give, in retrospect, a clear picture of the terrible state of communications in the Confederacy in the late Fall of 1864:

The Yankee newspapers are, just now, filled with a deal of nonsensical speculation as to Sherman's movements. All unite in stating that he is about to execute a grand move, but none of them agree in what it is to be. The most popular, because the most absurd and sensational idea is, that, having laid Atlanta in ashes, he is marching across the country to Charleston,  four hundred miles distant. We have no official information of Sherman's designs, but we are in possession of authentic information which convinces us that the Yankee newspapers are as far wide of the truth in their speculations on the subject as they usually are in their pretended statements of facts . . . 

As to Atlanta, that Sherman should order its evacuation is not unlikely; but if he does so, it is simply an acknowledgement that he is unable to protect the railroad between that point and Chattanooga, and that its capture, which sent such a thrill of joy throughout the United States, has proved a barren victory . . . 

Sherman's transportation is in a woeful state. Persons lately from his lines say that mules drop dead daily in their tracks. The country around Atlanta, and the vacant lots in the city, are fetid with decaying horse and mule flesh. A prisoner made the statement that it was almost an impossibility to get a mouthful of hay or oats, and their draught animals were dying of starvation. He expressed surprise at the splendid condition of our horses . . . 

Thus it will be seen that it is impossible for Sherman to make a move of any moment; and he is believed to be in a desperate condition. With no stock, and no railroad transportation, he is powerless, and all his efforts will be futile.