With Sherman’s Union invaders in near proximity to the sea, strong Confederate defenses outside of Savannah, Georgia presented his army with a real dilemma. Without quickly making physical contact with the Federal fleet, the insufficiency of supplies, especially forage for his horses, would soon cripple his own army. And, a stationary army surviving off the land would quickly consume all local resources. Confronted by eighteen thousand men guarding five causeways into Savannah, Sherman on December 10, 1864 ordered his cavalry to reconnoiter Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River, which blocked the obvious path between his army and the Federal fleet. What Sherman did not know was that the Confederate War Department had already urged General William Hardee at Savannah to withdraw into South Carolina and unite with other Confederate forces.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.