Diary of Orrin Brown, at Savannah, Georgia
Thursday–Dec. 22nd
We had orders to be ready to march at 7 AM, we marched down to the Railroad and tore up the track and fixed the bridge so that our waggon train could pass over. I picked up 20 of the rebbels sand bags they will hold about 3 pecks apiece, they were filled with sand and piled up to make the fort or the embrasures for the canon, we then marched back to camp picked up our things and marched about a mile and went into camp a little nearer town, we had a pretty cold night and there is a cold West wind or N.W. a blowing today. Read 7 Chapters in Testament.
General William T. Sherman had pulled off a feat few considered possible, marching an army of thousands 300 miles behind enemy lines, living only off the fat of the land. After occupying the city, Sherman sent a telegram to the President, simply stating:
I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton.
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