THE CAPTURE OF FORT MC ALLISTER, GA.
December 13, 1864.
The railroad bridge called King’s Bridge, across the Ogeechee, leading to the fort, had been burned by the rebels, and was now reconstructed in an incredibly short time. On the 13th of December the Second division of the Fifteenth corps, under the command of Brigadier-General Hazen, crossed the bridge to the west bank, with orders to carry Fort McAllister by assault. This work was a strong enclosed redoubt, manned by two companies of artillery and three of infantry, in all about two hundred men, and mounting twenty-three guns, en barbette, and one mortar. General Hazen deployed his division about the fort, with both flanks resting upon the river, posted his skirmishers behind the trunks of trees whose branches had been used for abattis, and, about five P. M., assaulted the place with nine regiments at three points.
General Sherman witnessed the assault from a rice-mill on the opposite side of the river, and had the satisfaction of perceiving, at the same moment, a United States gunboat in the distance, which, shortly afterward, responded to his signal from the mill. Hazen had brought no artillery, for the ground was too swampy to sustain it, and he placed his reliance on the dash and bayonets of his men. All the guns of the fort opened upon his single line as it advanced. At the same time, the torpedoes, which had been buried plentifully in all the approaches to the position, began to explode, killing and Wounding more than the guns. The assailants had first to surmount the thick abattis, which they had no sooner done than they poured into the fort a fire so deadly as to silence its guns. A ditch, bristling with spikes, was the next fearful obstacle to overcome. The Union soldiers scrambled out of this, and clambered into the fort in swarms. A terrible, close, crowded conflict now ensued. The garrison fought desperately; many of the men were bayoneted at their guns, and the officers for a time refused to surrender. But the Union troops continued to pour in on all sides, and the fort was soon after surrendered to the victors.
On the following day the rebel prisoners were compelled to remove all the torpedoes about the fort. The Union loss in this gallant affair was twenty-three killed and eighty-two wounded; that of the enemy fourteen killed, twenty-one wounded, and one hundred and ninety-eight soldiers and thirteen officers made prisoners.
An important advantage gained by the capture of Fort McAllister was the opening of communication with the supply ships which the government had prudently held in readiness for the wants of Sherman’s army.
THE CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH.
December 21, 1864.
The Union lines now closely encircled Savannah. Its supplies were cut off, and the Federals were night and day working themselves closer to the city. Some thirty-pound Parrott guns were landed from the fleet, and placed in position, and preparations were made for assaulting the enemy’s works on all sides. On the 17th of December General Sherman demanded of Lieutenant-General W. J. Hardee the surrender of Savannah, and, on the following day, an answer was returned by Hardee refusing this demand, coupled with an assertion of his ability to hold his position for an indefinite time. He sustained this boast by opening a wasteful and furious bombardment, with shot and shell, on the Union lines.
The next night, the 20th of December, Hardee evacuated Savannah. He ferried his men quietly across the river, and escaped by the Union causeway, carrying with him all the able-bodied negroes, under guard, into South Carolina.
General Geary was the first to discover the movement, and to enter the deserted works. Mayor Arnold rode out and surrendered the city to him. General Geary was afterward entrusted with the command of Savannah, and afforded general satisfaction to its citizens, who were well pleased with the moderation and equity of his administration.
General Hardee had burned the shipyard and a rebel ram there which was nearly completed. The iron-clad floating battery, Georgia, was sunk by her commander, and the iron-clad Savannah, after indulging in some wanton firing upon the captured city, was blown up, the explosion visiting the city like an earthquake.