Chronological History of the American Civil War

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in the area, but he did not accomplish much else. The Union victory resulted in an estimated 225 Union casualties and 197 Confederate. Major General William T. Sherman (U.S.) creeps closer to Savannah, Georgia with skirmishes at: Jenks’ Bridge on the Ogeechee River, and Cypress Swamp, near Sister’s Ferry, Georgia. A lone Confederate, is instantly killed, shot dead with 6 rifle balls passing through him, as he tries to burn the Moselle Bridge, on the Southwest Branch Pacific Railroad, near Franklin, Missouri. Thursday, December 8, 1864 : Major General Benjamin F. Butler (U.S.) and 6,500 Union men are transported down the James River to Fortress Monroe, Virginia to join the naval expeditionary force assembling there for the planned assault on Fort Fisher. His goal is to close the last remaining open Confederate port at Wilmington, North Carolina. Sherman’s (U.S.) “March to the Sea” moves to Ebenezer Creek, and near Bryan Court-House, Georgia. Confederate Cavalry captures the town of Tuscumbia, Missouri, where they disarmed and paroled 25 Yankees stationed there. General Grant makes it clear, that he supports the President’s wish that Hood (CSA) should be attacked immediately, by Schofield’s men. Either that, or he wants Schofield replaced. The Union commander in Nashville, was General Thomas, a subordinate of Schofield. He telegraphs Grant, that his cavalry had no horses and that any attack not supported by the cavalry was doomed to failure. Friday, December 9, 1864 : Lincoln attends theater accompanied by

Senator Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) and a foreign minister. Because he went without a guard, Marshal Ward H. Lamon (pictured), a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, offers his resignation, because Lincoln does not take proper precautions against assassination. According to the local correspondent to the Boston Journal, Nashville is experiencing very cold weather and several inches of snow. The ground is frozen and slippery, and “the men find it impossible to move about.” The city is quiet. This makes all forms of fighting nearly impossible. Both the U.S.S. Otsego and the tugboat, Bazely are sunk, by Confederate torpedoes on the Roanoke River, near Jamesville, North Carolina.

Saturday, December 10, 1864 : Skirmishes start near Savannah, Georgia, as Major General, William T. Sherman (U.S.) opts not to attack the fortified Confederate positions under Lt. General William Hardee (CSA), but instead to lay siege to the city. The Rebels flooded the rice fields around Savannah, so only a few narrow causeways provided access to the city. Sherman’s army was running low on supplies, and he had not made contact with supply ships off the coast. His army had been completely cut off from the North, and only the reports of destruction provided any evidence of its whereabouts. Sherman sends Captain William Duncan (U.S.) to locate a Union gunboat that carries him to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Supply ships are sent to Savannah, and Duncan continues on to Washington, D.C., to deliver news of the successful “March to the Sea” to Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. The Confederate steamer, Ida , on the Savannah, River is captured and burned and skirmishing begins at Springfield, Georgia. More fighting at Fort Holly (CSA), near Petersburg, Virginia, as Lieut. General Ulysses S. Grant (U.S.) keeps mounting more pressure on the Confederate defensive lines. Sunday, December 11, 1864 : The city of Savannah is fortified and defended by some 10,000 Confederates under the command of General William Hardee (CSA). The Rebels have flooded the rice fields around Savannah, so only a few narrow causeways provide access to the city. A