Personal Recollections of Sherman's Campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas

by George W Pepper

  CHAPTER XVII.

  The Campaign to the Sea — Splendor of the March — Movements of the Left Wing — Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps — The Corps and Divisions which Participated in the Memorable March — The First Day's Journey — Stone Mountain — A Natural Curiosity — Third Day Reach Madison — A Handsome Town — The Residence of Joshua Hill, the Staunch Unionist — The Miserable Condition of the People — Milledgeville Reached — Flight of the Governor and the Legislators — Pressing on the Capital— Ludicrous Scenes — The Jew and the General — Where is Sherman Gone? — Savannah the Objective Point — The Bummers.

  Sherman's triumphal march to the sea is the most stupendous movement of this or any other age. Never, perhaps, did the name of any one of our great Generals so widely and deeply stir the public mind. The wheels of commerce, hard to stay as the sun upon his march, stood still; the strife’s of party, restless as the sea, and unmanageable as the winds, were calmed; people of all countries and tongues were drawn to one spot.

  The spectacle was most inspiring, as the stream of the long, long procession came flowing out of the Gate City with their flags waving in the winds of Heaven, and swords and bayonets glistening in the sun. The splendid regiments of Slocum's column, moved as if on parade, with waving banners and strains of martial music. The whole programme comprised a magnificent pageant, beautiful to behold. The bronzed countenances of the men who carried muskets, were suffused with one expression and the thoughts and feelings were so much alike, that it might be said the hearts of thousands were as the heart of one man.

  The order for the expedition was issued on the 8th of November from Kingston, northwest from Atlanta, around which place the army was again concentrated. In this order Sherman says: "It is sufficient for you to know that it involves a departure from our present base, and a long and difficult march to a new one. All the changes of war have been considered and provided for as far as human sagacity can." On the 9th of November, the following order was issued for the guidance of the army in foraging:

  "For the purpose of military operations this army is divided into two wings, viz.: The right wing, Major General O. O. Howard commanding, the 15th and 17th Corps; the left wing, Major General H. W. Slocum commanding, the 14th and 20th Corps. The army will forage liberally on the country during the march. To this end each brigade commander will organize a good and efficient foraging party, under command of one or more discreet officers. To regular foraging parties must be entrusted the gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the road traveled. As for horses, mules, wagons, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and without limit."

  Sherman, starting out from Atlanta with his army at this season of the year, is an event of the largest suggestiveness. He proposed, after gathering sufficient supplies at Atlanta, to abandon the railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and start with a movable column on a winter tour of the Cotton States. Two of his army corps will be left at Chattanooga to watch Hood's move merits, while the rest of the corps will cut loose from all lines of supply and push across the States of Georgia, and the Carolinas. He will take with him such supplies as can be carried conveniently, and when these are exhausted, will live upon the country. Of his destination nothing is known. Before him lies the broad expanse of the Gulf and Atlantic States, and he can shape his march to suit his own inclinations. To his right is Mobile, around which the Gulf forces are concentrating; to his left is Andersonville, a pen in which are rotting thousands of gallant soldiers; and not an immeasurable distance to the South, and East, are Savannah, Charleston, Wilmington, and Richmond.

  On the 15th, Atlanta was evacuated, and the campaign begins. The hills which had been white with tents were made desolate, and nothing save the smoldering fires of the doomed city remained to mark the course of the advancing hosts. It begins to be seen that Sherman means business. The two distinguishing qualities, Conception and Execution, are found to exist in an eminent degree in the great leader. The General commanding, the staff, and the private soldiers fare alike. The broad canopy of Heaven, the great blue tent which God first spread out over the Garden of Eden, is the only one they know by night, and the forward movement which strikes into the very vitals of the rebellion is the feature of the coming day. More action and less waiting, is the motto of their never wearied leader, and endeared to them from the fact that he participates in all their hardships. The soldiers go cheerfully to the accomplishment of their mission. This auspicious opening— the terrible castigation given the fierce legions of Hood, in and around Atlanta, maintains well the ever hopeful confidence of the army, and gives assurance of the glorious triumphs that awaits our arms in the coming struggles.

  The following is a full list of the Corps and Division Commanders of the four corps which made the march to the sea:

  Fourteenth Army Corps— Gen. Jeff. C. Davis.

  1st Division— Gen. Charles C. Walcott

  2d Division— Gen. James Morgan.

  3d Division— Gen. A. Baird.

  Fifteenth Army Corps — Gen. P. J. Osterhaus.

  1st Division— Gen. Charles R. Woods.

  2d Division— Gen. William B. Hazen.

  3d Division — Gen. John E. Smith.

  4th Division— Gen. J. M. Corse.

  Seventeenth Army Corps — Gen. Frank P. Blair.

  1st Division — Gen. Manning F. Force.

  3d Division — Gen. M. D. Leggett.

  4th Division — Gen. Giles A. Smith.

  Twentieth Army Corps — Gen. Joseph A. Mower.

  1st Division — Gen. A. S, Williams.

  2d Division — Gen. John W. Geary.

  3d Division— Gen. J. T. Ward.

  Stone Mountain, which we passed on the Decatur road, has an adventurous interest from its extraordinary height. It is two thousand feet high, and seven miles in circumference. This being the greatest elevation, almost the entire surrounding country is brought under the eye. Far to the west, mountain rises beyond mountain until it presents an ocean-like appearance— a vast verdant sea frilled into ten thousand billows. It is said by some travelers to be of a conical — by others, more of an oval shape. It is of gradual and easy ascent; and, while to one looking from its base, it seems to terminate in a point, its summit is in reality broad, and covered with fortifications of very great antiquity.

  This mountain, whose prevailing characteristic is the sublime and terrible, is distinguished at the same time by the greatest variety of aspect — presenting scenes of savage grandeur and wildness, such as Salvator Rosa would have delighted to paint; and others of the most sweet and placid beauty, fitted for the pencil of a Claude to copy — whilst in other pots they are combined. Fissures, caves, bold projecting crags, patches of verdant pasture, gaps and rapines — all these are grouped and scattered as if in luxuriance — in the wildest and most sportive luxuriance— by the hand of God. From the summit is presented a view of extent and grandeur unexampled and inconceivable; the immensity of the vision is such that one's mind is completely lost in it. The eye embraces within its extensive range, scenes of terrific grandeur and richest loveliness.

  It is said that an Irish Colonel once clambered up to the top of this mountain, with a few boon companions, and after gazing for some time upon the fearfully grand and sublime scenery, he stretched himself to his utmost height and exclaimed at the top of his voice:

  "Attention, the universe! By Empires, to the right about, wheel."

  I defy any mortal man to look on this scene without feeling the power of its grandeur. Each object in itself is rich in beauty, and not less full of individual interest; all conspire to form a panorama, unrivalled for the beauty and grouping, and perfection of its elements.

  On the third day we reached Madison, a very fine town, which, in the days of peace and prosperity, must have been a delightful place for a residence. It is situated on the Augusta line, and is the Capital of Morgan County. The extensive stores, public buildings, and plantations, which form its environs, give it the appea
rance of beauty, wealth and comfort. One is forcibly struck with the appearance and situation of this handsomely built, neat, and respectably inhabited town, and with the fine plantations surrounding it, all which contrast so strongly with the bleak tract just travelled through. There are several splendid churches in the place. The soil around Madison is rich, and the land well cultivated.

  This region of country before the war was peopled with a numerous population, simple in their habits, industrious and active, and not less happy in their associations. There were a few Union men in this town I cannot forbear mentioning the name of the good and tried Joshua H. Hill. He was once arrested by the rebels for his fealty to the Union. The devils incarnate told him they would sweat the Lincoln fever out of him. Hill was always an old line Whig, and continued a staunch Unionist, when it was very dangerous to avow such sentiments. If we are not mistaken, he was among the two or three representatives of the extreme South who still continued to linger in Washington, when the rest of their colleagues had packed off to Dixie, to serve in the cause of Jeff. Davis and his experimental Confederacy.

  In the Georgia Convention, recently held at Milledgeville, Hill delivered a noble speech, in vindication of his Union sentiments and his conduct to the Davis regime, during the war. We insert the closing sentence of this magnificent speech:

  "In standing by the Union of the States, I risked more than the loss of goods or political preferment. For sooner than raise my hand against the Government, I would have thought it happiness to die."

  The language of Milton may be aptly applied to this fearless defender of the Union:

  "Faithful friend,

  Among the faithless, faithful he and his,

  Among innumerable false, unmoved,

  Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,

  His loyalty be kept— his love— his zeal —

  Nor numbers, nor example with him wrought,

  To swerve from duty, or change his constant mind

  Though single. From amid them forth he passed

  Longway through hostile scorn, which he sustained,

  Superior, nor of violence feared aught."

  Resuming the march towards the Capital of the State, we pass through one of the richest and best farmed districts; and the appearance of many of the houses evidently shows that the occupants have had both skill and capital. The fine old plantations, prolific orchards, and the beauty, richness, and culture of the soil, has altogether a more respectable appearance than the generality of Southern territory. The citizens show their taste in their handsome dwelling houses, splendid churches, and neat school houses.

  Hundreds of miserable looking men and women, Negroes and the lower class of whites, would flock to our ranks, telling tales of distress, and uttering savage imprecations on the authors of the rebellion. It was enough to puzzle a saint, or to bother Job. As to my deductions, there will be a thousand different opinions. The country in this section is rough, the houses and the general appearance of the people, wretched, and only a small part of the soil seems to be under cultivation. The melancholy and terrible condition of the people was evinced by the large number of deserted mansions and cabins that we saw on the journey.

  One of the most horrible effects of the war in the South is the sundering of family affections and social ties, which has taken place in all ages, in beleaguered cities and countries. In the course of our journey, we heard of many instances of this kind: and I saw many perpetrators of deeds of cruelty, which at ordinary times would have excited the universal horror of the community. At the present crisis, our feelings called forth are rather those of compassion than indignation; for we in the North can form no idea of the disruption of family associations in the South. A noted Unionist, whom we met here, had two sons and all his male relatives in the Rebel Army. He has devoted himself with great energy and eloquence to the Union. His personal and pecuniary sacrifices have been enormous. He described to us, in strong terms, the amount of tyranny displayed by the Davis Regime, and the difficulty of getting rid of it.

  In accounting for this horrible condition of affairs, it is just and fair to ascribe it all to the mercenary slaveholders. They were haughty, improvident, intemperate and full of hate to the poor whites and blacks. One word as to the origin of this fell hate. Among the multitudes of profundities which distinguish the pages of Tacitus, there is not one more sagacious or pertinent to the present case, than his declaration that "men hate those wham they have injured." This is the utmost stretch, of philosophy on the point — it reaches the bottom at once. The quenchless hatred of the slaveholders to the blacks is founded solely in their boundless injuries toward them. The fires of their Pandemonium hate are always fed by the remembered cruelties they have perpetrated and do still perpetrate on millions of the helpless. Walking in so fierce an atmosphere of crime, the hearts of evil doers are reduced to an alternative— they must either burn against themselves or their victims.

  They resembled the images of a frightful dreamy rather than living men, women and children. Their voice is peculiar. They speak in a low, puling, whining tone that is most distressing to hear. In fact, the poor of this section are as ignorant, filthy and wretched as can be found anywhere in the world. They are the dirtiest people I ever saw. The hands and faces of many of them were positively loathsome and thick with dirt. This indifference to cleanliness may be ascribed in part to the war; but, I am persuaded that they never had great love for soap or water at any time. Throughout the whole route there seemed to be much destitution and misery.

  The state of the habitations of the poor in many parts of Georgia, is a libel on the humanity of their more wealthy superiors. A fine dressed lawn, surrounded with miserable cabins and hovels of the poor, nothing can reflect more discredit on the character of the dominant class, than such a contrast. The lordly mansion and park want their most beautiful appendages, when filthy and unwholesome huts are substituted for clean and comfortable cabins; and pleasure grounds are nick-named, when at every step of your progress, and at each opening of the prospect, your eyes are pained by dwellings for laborers not half so convenient as the wigwam of the savage.

  As we drew nigh to the first town, we were met by a party of the most miserable looking beings I ever beheld. Bare-footed and bare-legged, with scarcely as many tatters hung round them as covered their naked limbs; some of them, in fact, sans cullotes, with misery and wretchedness pictured on their countenances, these ''sons of the sod, poor white trash," deserters, many of them, from the rebel army, trudged along their weary way, having more the appearance of a set of malefactors, going to execution, than men returning to their wives and families.

  THE CAPTURE OF MILLEDGVILLE.

  Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia, was occupied on the 20th of November, by a small detachment of the left wing, under General Slocum. Milledgeville is a rather pleasant city, and is situated on one of the numerous eminences which are scattered throughout this devious region of country. It is refreshed by the Oconee River. The town is irregularly built and can boast of only one good street; but, on some of the squares, which branch off in various directions, there are many fine buildings. The hills, adjacent to the town, attain a considerable elevation, and afford good views of the surrounding country and rivers. The capital is a picturesque edifice of stone — encircled by a ten acre square, containing, in the more sheltered places, some handsome trees, together with two neat churches.

  Governor Brown, after urging the citizens to seize muskets and defend their homes, fled to parts unknown. He was in such haste to run from the detested Yankees that the carpets were cut from the floors of his house.

  In the hospitals we found over two hundred sick and wounded rebels. Five hundred stand of arms and scores of pikes were seized. The Penitentiary was set on fire by some Negro or soldier, and twenty convicts, all in striped uniform, made their escape. Tuesday afternoon was employed by the working men of the army, in preparing for a grand advance, but thousands of the troops pushed their investigations into
the utmost recesses of the city; every house was liberally patronized.

  Pursuant to notice, four hundred citizens of Georgia, dressed in blue, met in the State House, for the purpose of reconstructing the sovereign State of Georgia. Committees were appointed to draft resolutions, and after an exciting discussion, Georgia was restored, and reinstated in the Union.

  THE JEW AND THE GENERAL.

  Near Milledgeville, a Jew, who saw a pile of cotton about to be given to the flames, hurried to the General, exclaiming:

  "General, you don't mean to say that you are going to burn that there pile of cotton?

  "Certainly!"

  "Ah, mein Gott! what a pity! three hundred bales!"

  "Four hundred, friend Isaac," said the General, amusing himself at the poor Jew's expense.

  "An de cotton as high as fifty cents a pound?"

  "Sixty-five in New York," replied the general, piling, up the agony still higher.

  "O, mein Gott! mein Gott!" exclaimed the Jew, wringing his hands and looking most affectionately at the tempting pile, which his avaricious mind had already converted into a regular mint of gold dollars. "Come, men, fire it!" exclaimed the General, and the men snatched up the brands from the fire, and were about thrusting them into the pile. This was too much for the Jew;was all his anticipated wealth thus to end in smoke? and raising his hands he exclaimed: