DECEMBER 19, 1864:
Putting the humbug on Christmas furloughs and cease-fires, Edwin M. Stanton, the Union’s Secretary of War
issues General Orders 301, directing that all men fit for combat be put into
the field to “aid the patriotic and gallant troops now smiting the reeling
enemy with victorious blows.”
The
Battle of Altamaha Bridge: While he
waits to enter Savannah, General William Tecumseh Sherman U.S.A. is not idle.
Today he sends troops to Doctortown to destroy the Altamaha Bridge over the
Ogeechee River, cutting off Savannah’s rail lifeline. The Confederate
defenders, using a rail mounted gun, drive off the Federal troops.
