The "Lost Army"—Speculations, North and South, as to its Doings—Diary of an Officer—Keeping Thanksgiving Day—Howell Cobb's Plantation—The Negroes—A Quaint Philosopher—Strategy of the March—Howard's Brilliant Advance—Investment of Savannah—Capture of Fort McAllister—Fall of Savannah.
Volumes might be written about the march from Atlanta to the sea. It abounded in picturesque and dramatic incidents, and in pathetic scenes as well. Of real fighting there was scarcely any. There were no Rebel armies left to oppose Sherman's progress. The negroes welcomed the Union Army with fervent exultation, and the few loyal whites hailed its advent as a time of deliverance. The soldiers fared reasonably well. It was harvest time in the richest State of the South, and provisions were abundant on Sherman's line. There was no wanton pillaging, but foraging for the actual needs of the army was conducted on a generous scale. Grain, vegetables, bacon, fresh meat, poultry and all other supplies were taken from barns and houses. There were few conflicts between the army and the people. Now and then resistance would be offered to a foraging party, but with no serious effect. Occasionally, some soldiers would become disorderly and commit acts of violence and pillage, but such breaches of order were sternly repressed and punished whenever knowledge of them came to the ears of the higher officers.
So they marched on through the glorious Indian summer, more as if on a holiday picnic than on an errand of actual war. Meantime the North was wondering where they were. The only information of their movements came through Rebel sources, which were generally either ill-informed or untruthful. The Rebel authorities, indeed, were much mystified as to Sherman's real purpose. Their uncertainty is shown by the following extract from the columns of The Richmond Dispatch of November 18th, only a few days after the start:
"The only official information received by the press yesterday was that Sherman had destroyed the Northwestern and Atlantic railroad from Atlanta to Allatoona, the Chattahoochee bridge included. This movement is difficult to understand, except as explained by unofficial reports that were in circulation during yesterday. If they be true, the destruction of the railroad can be understood, though it will still appear a superfluous labor. The reports had it that Sherman, having burned Atlanta on the 15th, last Tuesday, had set out for Macon with three corps, amounting together to thirty-five thousand men, and that he had, on yesterday, reached Jonesborough, twenty-two miles south of Atlanta. If there is truth in these accounts, as we believe there is, Wheeler has much to answer for. It devolved upon him to watch Sherman and keep posted as to his movements. Only four days ago he reported him 'moving toward Bridgeport.' Now it is said, he reports him moving toward Macon, as above stated. We regret to say this latter report is corroborated by other evidence.
"Sherman will, we think, meet with opposition he does not calculate upon before he reaches the fortifications of Macon. These works, should he ever reach them, he will find of the most formidable character, and with the troops that before that time will be collected in them, they must give him a vast deal more trouble than he evidently counts upon. If the Georgians will battle for their trenches as the Petersburg Militia did last June for theirs, or the Richmond Militia did at Staunton River bridge later in the summer, Macon will be saved.
"In undertaking this expedition, Sherman is too prudent a man to rely upon subsisting his army on the country. It becomes interesting and important to consider what point he calculates upon making his base of supplies. His destruction of the railroad northwest of Atlanta proves that he has cut loose from the Chattanooga base. He must, then, be looking to some point on the Atlantic or the Gulf. We are disposed, for several reasons, to believe that Pensacola is the selected point; this, not because of its greater proximity than any other post to his present field of operations, but because it is ascertained that for more than a month very large supplies have been accumulated there. If he fail to take Macon at the first dash, he will probably run for Pensacola, and make it a new base of operations. It is not to be presumed that he carries with him supplies sufficient to enable him to enter upon a siege which shall occupy any considerable length of time.
"We have ventured the opinion that Sherman had Pensacola in view as a new base of supplies; but it is proper to say there are reasons why he might select some point on the Atlantic as being nearer at hand. Savannah, for instance, offers advantages, did its approach not involve the certainty of a great deal of heavy fighting.
"We look with intense interest to full and authentic news from Georgia."
The following appeared in The Richmond Whig of the same date:
"It was officially reported at the War Department last night that Sherman has torn up the railroad track between Atlanta and Allatoona, and has burnt the bridge over the Chattahoochee. We also have unofficial information that a part of Sherman's army, at last accounts, had reached Jonesborough, thirty miles south of Atlanta. A more extravagant and even more untrustworthy rumor advanced him to Selma. Another rumor, which we chronicle as the 'latest,' was, that he was advancing on Macon. While he can't possibly go to both places at the same time, we have a strong hope that, in a fit of desperation, he will essay a movement southward. The sequel will but develop that the evil one does not always protect his own."