Sherman always contended that the war should have closed on July 4, 1863. The fall of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg sealed the doom of the rebellion, and the Southern leaders should have recognized that fact and accepted the situation. But even now, with Atlanta and Savannah captured, Hood's army destroyed, and a pathway driven by the Union army through the heart of the South, they were still stubborn and resolved, as they expressed it, to hold out till the last man died in the last ditch. It was inevitable that this attitude should be exasperating to the National leaders. Sherman himself doubtless felt a certain grim determination, since the South wanted more war, to give it war to its heart's content, and to carry the war through South Carolina, the cradle of the rebellion. His army at Savannah was in good condition. In twenty-seven days it had marched more than three hundred miles, with losses of five officers and fifty-eight men killed, thirteen officers and two hundred and thirty-two men wounded, and one officer and two hundred and fifty-eight men missing. Seven thousand slaves had joined the march to the coast.
Twenty thousand bales of cotton had been burned and three hundred and twenty miles of railroad destroyed, including all the stations, engine-houses, turn-tables, etc. Ten million pounds of corn had been captured and an equal amount of fodder; more than 1,200,000 rations of meat, 919,000 of bread, 483,000 of coffee, 581,000 of sugar, and 137,000 of salt.
Nor had the demoralization of the enemy been less than the material loss inflicted upon him. Not only had the army swept the pathway thirty miles wide through the heart of Georgia, but it had sent out detachments in this direction and that, menacing many points which it did not actually strike. For four weeks, therefore, all of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina suffered painful suspense, not knowing whither the army would march next. For this reason, also, it had been impracticable for the rebels to mass any considerable force against Sherman, even had such a force been at their command, for they did not know where to meet him.
It is not to be wondered at that universal rejoicing was caused at the North by the results of this campaign, nor that those who had once distrusted Sherman as a man of erratic judgment, now lavished upon him exuberant confidence and praise. Not even Grant himself was more applauded. It was from the depths of an appreciative heart that the President wrote to Sherman as follows:
"Executive Mansion,
"Washington, D. C., Dec. 26, 1864."My Dear General Sherman
"Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift—the capture of Savannah.
"When you were about to leave Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling you were the better judge, and remembering that 'nothing risked nothing gained,' I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours, for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, as it should be taken, it is indeed a great success.
"Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but in showing to the world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing forces of the whole—Hood's army—it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great light.
"But what next? I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide.
"Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, officers and men.
"Yours very truly,
"A. Lincoln."
With characteristic generosity Sherman, in his official report on the campaign, gave due credit to his subordinates for their work. He said:
"Generals Howard and Slocum are gentlemen of singular capacity and intelligence, thorough soldiers and patriots, working day and night, not for themselves, but for their country and their men. General Kilpatrick, who commanded the cavalry of this army, has handled it with spirit and dash to my entire satisfaction, and kept a superior force of the enemy's cavalry from even approaching our infantry columns or wagon trains. All the division and brigade commanders merit my personal and official thanks, and I shall spare no efforts to secure them commissions equal to the rank they have exercised so well.
"As to the rank and file, they seem so full of confidence in themselves that I doubt if they want a compliment from me; but I must do them the justice to say that, whether called on to fight, to march, to wade streams, to make roads, clear out obstructions, build bridges, make 'corduroy,' or tear up railroads, they have done it with alacrity and a degree of cheerfulness unsurpassed. A little loose in foraging, they 'did some things they ought not to have done,' yet, on the whole, they have supplied the wants of the army with as little violence as could be expected, and as little loss as I calculated. Some of these foraging parties had encounters with the enemy which would, in ordinary times, rank as respectable battles."
Concerning the general situation of affairs in the South, or in that part of it, Sherman wrote:
"Delegations of the people of Georgia continue to come in, and I am satisfied that, by judicious handling and by a little respect shown to their prejudices, we can create a schism in Jeff. Davis's dominions. All that I have conversed with realized the truth that slavery as an institution is defunct, and the only questions that remain are what disposition shall be made of the negroes themselves. I confess myself unable to offer a complete solution for these questions, and prefer to leave it to the slower operations of time. We have given the initiative, and can afford to await the working of the experiment.