Sherman's Mistress in Savannah

By Larry Martin

After their infamous 'March to the Sea', General William Tecumseh Sherman and his 62,000 man army occupied Savannah during December 1864 - January 1865. Sherman took as his army headquarters the mansion of Englishman Charles Green on Madison Square. Against this historical backdrop the novel introduces a young war widow, Belle Anderson, who becomes the general's willing mistress. She discovers true sexual freedom and something else -- a bordello operator who stalks her at night and threatens to expose the affair. "Sherman's Mistress" interweaves the fictional story with many historical characters of the period, including Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Savannah Mayor Richard Arnold, diarist Fanny Yates Cohen, blockade runner Gazaway Lamar, Major Henry Hitchcock, and Union Generals John Geary and Jefferson C. Davis.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Larry Martin
• Release date: Sep 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301984633

Larry Martin

I've been writing books for over 30 years. I am now retired from the practice of pulmonary medicine. One of the several non-fiction books I wrote years ago was about the medical aspects of scuba diving ("Scuba Diving Explained"). With that background, I crafted a novel about the death of a young woman scuba diver. "The Wall: Chronicle of a Scuba Trial" is my 15th book and fourth novel. (See list at http://www.lakesidepress.com/books.html.) The novel covers the 5-day (fictional) trial over the woman's disappearance during a Grand Cayman wall dive. Who is responsible? The corporation that owns the dive outfit (and its divemaster), or the victim herself? Was it suicide or nitrogen narcosis? Witness the courtroom battle of experts and decide for yourself.

Book preview

Preface

Sherman’s Mistress in Savannah is a work of historical fiction. The history part revolves around the occupation of Savannah by General William Tecumseh Sherman and his Union army December 1864 - January 1865. Characters in the story include many real people besides Sherman: Brig-General John W. Geary, Major Henry Hitchcock, Mayor Richard Arnold, Josephine Clay Habersham, Fanny Yates Cohen, Lt. Cornelius Platter, Englishman Charles Green, businessman Gazaway Bugg Lamar, Reverend Garrison Frazier, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and others. Though of necessity all dialogue is invented, the general outline of events is a matter of historical record. Many of these people left written documents, such as Sherman’s Memoirs, the correspondence of war generals, and the diaries of Cohen, Platter and Hitchcock. In the book passages from historical documents are in boldface and surrounded by a solid black border.

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Text in boldface and bracketed by asterisks above and below is from an historical document. Grammatical and spelling errors are original. The source of each historical document is in the Reference List.

* * * * *

To distinguish historical from fictional documents created for the story, the latter are bare: without boldface or bracketed by asterisks. Fictional documents include letters, newspaper articles and diary entries.

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The principal fiction involves Belle Anderson, Belle’s family, and her unique relationship with General Sherman during the Savannah occupation. Gustav Heinz and Savannah Gardens, Sophie, Captain Parker, Sarah Malone and Elizabeth Elliott are entirely fictional, as are several minor characters. However, when Belle interacts with historical figures some of the invented dialogue acknowledges facts of the era, e.g., Sherman’s Field Orders, Fanny Cohen’s diary, Josephine Habersham’s family tragedy, Henry Hitchcock’s military role. (An appendix lists all the Civil War-era historical characters mentioned anywhere in the book.)

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Civil War fiction is a popular genre, with many titles to choose from: Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, E.L. Doctorow’s The March, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, John Jakes’ Savannah: Or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln, James Reasoner’s Savannah, and others. The war lasted four years, resulted in the death of 620,000 soldiers, abolished slavery and saved the Union. Within those years took place hundreds of battles and major events that could serve as canvas for painting the emotions, thoughts and dialogue of historical figures, and for the creation of new characters. If the history is made interesting, the reader can learn something while enjoying the author’s story. And there is always this to ponder: the story may seem implausible, but it is not impossible.

Lawrence Martin

Cleveland, Ohio

December, 2012

Prologue

* * * * *

October 9, 1864 - Telegram

To: Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT, City Point, Virginia

From: W.T. Sherman, Major-General, in the Field, North Georgia

It will be a physical impossibility to protect the roads, now that Hood, Forrest, Wheeler, and the whole batch of devils, are turned loose without home or habitation. I think Hood's movements indicate a diversion to the end of the Selma & Talladega road, at Blue Mountain, about sixty miles southwest of Rome, from which he will threaten Kingston, Bridgeport, and Decatur, Alabama. I propose that we break up the railroad from Chattanooga forward, and that we strike out with our wagons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah. Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless for us to occupy it; but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people, will cripple their military resources. By attempting to hold the roads, we will lose a thousand men each month, and will gain no result. I can make this march, and make Georgia howl! We have on hand over eight thousand head of cattle and three million rations of bread, but no corn. We can find plenty of forage in the interior of the State.

* * * * *

With Atlanta in flames, Sherman departed November 16. He felt confident Union General George Thomas could handle John Bell Hood’s rebel army north of Atlanta. Sherman would take his 62,000 troops south. He expected no strong resistance. There was Fightin Joe Wheeler’s cavalry, and a few thousand Confederate militia scattered about, but most of the south’s fighting force was with General Hood, or with Robert E. Lee in Virginia. Sherman thought his plan brilliant, and thankful he was finally able to get Grant and Lincoln to go along. He would, as he telegraphed his good friend Grant, make Georgia howl. He planned to march to the sea and destroy everything in the way that could aid the enemy.

He would feint to Augusta and Macon, making the Confederates station forces in both places. Only his closest circle knew Savannah was the intended destination. These were to become trademarks of his march: feints this way and that; and physical destruction of property. Plus, the Uncle Billy appellation of his adoring troops.

The army was spread across a width that varied from 25 to 60 miles, in two distinct wings. The right wing, comprising the XV and XVII Corps, was under command of General Oliver O. Howard while the left wing, consisting of the XIV and XX Corps, was under General Henry W. Slocum. In addition to these infantry several thousand Union cavalry, under Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, rode on horseback.

Officially, Sherman’s troops were to burn or destroy anything that might be of use to the Confederacy — barns full of cotton, mills, train depots; and all rail lines. Famously, his men ripped up rails, heated the centers and twisted them around tree trunks so they were forever unusable. Sherman’s bowties, they were called.

Advance troops — foragers or bummers as they soon became known — were to take any stores that could be used to feed the army. They were given loose instructions: don’t physically harm civilians; take anything we can use for food, including livestock. But divorced from the main army, they felt free to pillage and steal far beyond what was needed to feed the army. Unofficially, private homes sometimes went up in flames (particularly if there was resistance), and the bummers stole far more than needed to feed the men. In this role they were often abetted by plantation slaves, who would lead bummers to the family silver hastily buried beneath fences, or in the cabbage patch.

All family heirlooms were fair game. The army didn’t need candlestick holders, but they were taken anyway. One group of bummers even returned with a piano, promptly ordered left by the wayside. Rape was not unheard of, but overall few civilians were actually killed or physically harmed during the March. Sherman’s intent was to harm Georgians economically and psychologically. He wanted the south to know the costs of war first hand.

Occasionally bummers met up with bands of Confederate troops; if captured, they would be summarily shot or hanged. These events were apparently infrequent enough that the bummers felt little inhibition.

Fires and theft and plunder. It didn’t take long for Sherman to gain a reputation rivaling Attila the Hun. The southern newspapers warned he would ‘rape, kill, pillage anything in his way — he must be stopped, and our boys will do it’. There were skirmishes to be sure, but Sherman lost fewer than 600 men on the march. In a bit of wishful thinking, Southern newspapers reported that he was in fact retreating south and would soon be overrun by Confederate forces.

Thousands of newly freed slaves joined the march. The Emancipation Proclamation had made them legally free (in the eyes of the United States) as of January 1, 1863. Now that Sherman had arrived, they were defacto free. They left plantations along the route to join the marching soldiers. Sherman did not encourage it, but he also did not physically stop them. The blacks were more often a hindrance, since they had to be fed. Able-bodied Negroes were put to work right away, building roads or bridges, hacking wood, sometimes cooking. But many more — the children, the elderly, the infirm — had nothing to contribute. It is not known how many newly-freed slaves joined and then straggled off, but in the end Sherman arrived in Savannah with several thousand upcountry Negroes. Sherman’s commanders had some latitude in dealing with ex-slaves, and later in the march Brig. General Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to the Confederate president) would precipitate a tragedy for Negroes following his corps.

By late November all Savannah was aware of Sherman’s relentless march southeastward. Fearing the worst, and realizing that local Confederate troops were inadequate to the defense, Mayor Richard D. Arnold issued a call to arms:

* * * * *

Mayor's Office,

Savannah, November 28th, 1864.

Fellow Citizens: — The time has come when every male who can shoulder a musket can make himself useful in defending our hearths and homes. Our city is well fortified, and the old can fight in the trenches as well as the young; and a determined and brave force can, behind entrenchments, successfully repel the assaults of treble their number.

The general commanding this division has issued a call for all men of every age, not absolutely incapacitated from disease, to report at once to Captain C. W. Howard, at the Oglethorpe Barracks, for the purpose of organizing into companies for home defense. I call upon every man not already enrolled in a local corps to come forward at once and report to Captain Howard. Organization is everything. Let us emulate the noble examples of our sister cities of Macon and Augusta where the whole male population is in arms. By manning the fortifications we will leave free the younger men to act in the field. By prompt action a large local force can be organized from our citizens above the military age, and from those who have been exempted from field service.

No time is to be lost. The man who will not comprehend and respond to the emergency of the times, is forsworn to his duty and to his country.

R. D. ARNOLD, Mayor

* * * * *

Sherman himself reached the outskirts of Savannah December 8, in the town of Pooler. He knew Union ships must be waiting for him in Ossabaw sound, and that they could not meet his troops because of Fort McAllister. This fort guarded a point of the Ogeechee River so well that multiple naval attacks since 1862 had failed to breach its walls. Being an earthen-walled fort (unlike Fort Pulaski, which was built of brick), McAllister was able to absorb large shells with little damage, so the walls could be quickly rebuilt.

On December 9 the tragedy referred to above took place at Ebenezer Creek, some 30 miles from Savannah. At the time General Davis’s several-thousand-man XIV Corps was hotly pursued by Confederate cavalry under command of General Joseph Wheeler. Wheeler could not stop the army but he could play havoc with smaller regiments, and Davis’ troops were vulnerable. In order to maveuver the creek — 10-feet deep, icy cold and 165 ft. wide — U.S. army engineers had to lay pontoon bridges, and then take them up for the next creek crossing.

Davis ordered all Negroes accompanying him to wait in the rear, lest they be hit by enemy snipers as they crossed. After all his troops made passage Davis ordered the pontoons lifted quickly, before any blacks could cross, leaving a sizable but unknown number stranded. Soon Wheeler’s cavalry came up to the abandoned Negroes. Many of them jumped into the creek and drowned while trying to swim across, while others were captured. Meanwhile, Davis beat a hasty retreat south, but not before at least one officer made notes of the sordid affair and vowed to write his congressman.

Meanwhile, on the night of December 9 three Union soldiers silently paddled a small skiff down the Ogeechee River, with intent to reach the Union fleet and announce Sherman’s arrival. Because of strong tides and necessity of traveling only at night they did not reach a Union ship until the morning of December 12: the very first communication between Sherman’s army and the navy. Apart from signaling that Sherman had arrived to Savannah, the soldiers also told of his intention to take out Fort McAllister as soon as feasible.

In December 1864 Savannah was defended by about 10,000 Confederate troops, under the command of General William J. Hardee. Hardee’s superior was none other than General P.T.G. Beauregard, of Fort Sumter fame. It was Beauregard who commanded the attack on Ft. Sumter April 12, 1861 - thus precipitating a war that Sherman was determined to end. Beauregard quickly realized that any spirited defense of Savannah would destroy Hardee’s army, and only delay an inevitable surrender. Therefore he commanded Hardee: If you have to choose between Savannah and your army, save the latter.

Savannah was well protected from the Savannah River. Ft. Pulaski fell to Union forces April 1862, but it was some 15 miles downriver from the city and troops stationed there were no threat. The main effect of losing Ft. Pulaski was the ensuing naval blockade, which had effectively crippled Savannah’s commerce for two and a half years. Very few blockade runners made it past Fort Pulaski. But only three miles downriver from Savannah was the older Fort Jackson, still fully in Confederate control. Also, several Confederate ironclads patrolled the river close to Savannah. Thanks to Fort Jackson and the gunboats, there had been no attempt to attack Savannah from the river, and none was imminent. Sherman’s threat lay solely in massive land forces, and they were now south and west of the city.

Sherman’s plan was to take Fort McAllister, resupply his troops, then lay siege to Savannah. Since his army outnumbered Hardee’s 6 to 1, the outcome was inevitable and just a matter of time. But he dare not bypass Ft. McAllister and attack Savannah without first resupplying his troops. They were tired, ill-clothed and hungry; for the several days prior to reaching Savannah they had subsisted on rice three times a day. All this could be remedied if the Union ships could move up the Ogeechee past Ft. McAllister.

Ft. McAllister had 250 men and several big guns, all of which faced the river; only two sizable weapons faced the rear, where Sherman was sure to attack. Sherman picked Brigadier General William B. Hazen’s division of the XV Corps for the attack, to begin the afternoon of December 13. Hazen was a seasoned general with an excellent track record. Sherman and aides were able to view the fort from across the Ogeechee River, on the roof of a local rice mill. Two miles distant, between the fort and Ossabaw Sound, lay a Union ship outside the fort’s gun range. The ship signaled Sherman at 4:30 pm, December 13. Has the fort been taken? Sherman had his semaphore man signal back: Not yet, but it will be in a minute.

Hazen assigned a total of 4000 men to the task — nine regiments, with 3000 to siege the fort and another 1000 kept in reserves. At 4:45 pm his troops stormed the fort, running through swampy soil beset with land mines and abatis. The assault caused many casualties before the earthen walls could be breached, but the result was never in doubt. With overwhelming force the Union troops took the fort in just 15 minutes. Hazen’s troops suffered 92 deaths and casualties, whereas the Confederates had but 50. Sherman saw it all from his rooftop perch some two miles away. His party rejoiced in victory when they saw the Union flag rise above the fort. Sherman would later write his wife Ellen that taking the fort was the handsomest thing I have seen in this war. He climbed down from his observation post and asked for volunteers to row him across the Ogeechee to the fort.

With Fort McAllister won, the taking of Savannah would be just a matter of time. Within 4 days his troops were resupplied and sufficiently rested for the coming siege. On December 17 Sherman sent the following message to Confederate General Hardee.

* * * * *

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, In the Field, near Savannah, Ga.,

December 17, 1864.

General William J. Hardee, Commanding Confederate Forces in Savannah:

GENERAL: You have doubtless observed from your station at Rosedew that sea-going vessels now come through Ossabaw Sound and up Ogeechee to the rear of my army, giving me abundant supplies of all kinds, and more especially heavy ordnance necessary to the reduction of Savannah. I have already received guns that can cast heavy and destructive shot as far as the heart of your city; also, I have for some days held and controlled every avenue by which the people and garrison of Savannah can be supplied, and I am therefore justified in demanding the surrender of the city of Savannah, and its dependent forts, and shall wait a reasonable time for your answer, before opening with heavy ordnance. Should you entertain the proposition, I am prepared to grant liberal terms to the inhabitants and garrison; but should I be forced to resort to assault, or the slower and surer process of starvation, I shall then feel justified in resorting to the harshest measures, and shall make little effort to restrain my army—burning to avenge the national wrong which they attach to Savannah and other large cities which have been so prominent in dragging our country into civil war. I inclose a copy of General Hood's demand for the surrender of the town of Resaca, to be used by you for what it is worth. I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

W.T. Sherman, Major-General

Headquarters Department South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Savannah, Georgia, December 17, 1864.

* * * * *

General Hood’s demand refers to a note sent by the Confederate General to his Union counterpart in the besieged Georgia town of Resaca, October 12, 1864.

* * * * *

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF TENNESSEE

In the Field, October 12, 1864.

TO THE OFFICER COMMANDING U. S. FORCES AT RESACA, GA.:

SIR: I demand the immediate and unconditional surrender of the post and garrison under your command, and should this be acceded to, all white officers and soldiers will be paroled in a few days. If the place is carried by assault no prisoners will be taken.

Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. B. HOOD, General.

* * * * *

Sherman saw fit to inclose a copy of Hood’s demand with his letter to Hardee, to show that his threat (no prisoners) was no worse than a Confederate General’s. The next day General Hardee replied:

* * * * *

HDQRS. DEPT. OF S. CAROLINA, Georgia, AND FLORIDA,

Savannah, GA, December 17, 1864

Major-General W.T. Sherman, commanding Federal Forces near Savannah, Georgia

...Your demand for the surrender of Savannah and its dependent forts is refused. With respect to the threats conveyed in the closing paragraphs of your letter (of what may be expected in case your demand is not complied with), I have to say that I have hitherto conducted the military operations intrusted to my direction in strict accordance with the rules of civilized warfare, and I should deeply regret the adoption of any course by you that may force me to deviate from them in the future. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. J. Hardee, Lieutenant-General

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, in the Field, near Savannah, Georgia, December 18, 1864- 8 p.m.

* * * * *

The two generals were anything but obedient servants. In any case, Sherman had the upper hand and Hardee knew it. Hardee shared the messages with Mayor Richard D. Arnold, and also that Beauregard had instructed him to save the army, i.e., evacuate. He would begin evacuating his troops the evening of Tuesday, December 20. Sherman did not know this. Fort McAllister had been valiantly defended against impossible odds, so Sherman assumed Hardee was likely of the same mindset for Savannah. Sherman wanted to prevent Hardee’s army from escaping, but at the same time did not want to split his men over both sides of the Savannah River. General Foster, Commander of the South in Hilton Head, had sufficient forces to block Hardee’s exit into South Carolina. Sherman decided to meet with Foster to coordinate an attack, and on December 19 traveled by boat to Hilton Head. The distance was but 20 miles by sea and could be accomplished, weather permitting, in under 4 hours.

Except for the Savannah River, all other exits were blocked by Union soldiers. Hardee had already ordered a series of 3 pontoon bridges to be built over the river so his troops could walk to South Carolina. The first bridge went from the foot of West Broad St. to mid-river Hutchinson Island, the second to a smaller island and the third to the river’s north bank, i.e., South Carolina. The bridges were covered in straw to minimize the noise of marching troops and rolling wagons. Hardee intended to fool the Yanks until all of his men were safely across.

Part 1

1864

Chapter 1

[Tuesday, Dec 20 - Wednesday, Dec 21, 1864]

What’s going on? asked Henry Brigham. Why do you need the alderman at City Exchange this hour?

Gentlemen, the situation is dire, replied Mayor Arnold. Hardee has begun his evacuation.

How can that be Richard? I hear guns in the distance. Surely we are being defended.

Surely not, Arnold shot back. "Hardee began evacuating one hour ago. The gun fire is to cover their retreat. Go down to Anderson’s Wharf on West Broad after you leave here. You’ll find a pontoon bridge over to Hutchinson Island, and then another bridge to South Carolina. That’s why I called you in now. It’s just 9 pm. By 3 am our troops will all be gone from the city and you won’t hear any more Confederate shelling. The [ironclad] Savannah has been scuttled and Fort Jackson by now should be empty of all soldiers. The only troops remaining in Savannah will be the sick, the infirm, and those who faked illness to stay behind. Probably many of those, I’m afraid."

How do you know all this?

Hardee met with me twice, Monday night and again this morning. He showed me the order. It’s from General Beauregard. Hardee is to defend Savannah, but if it’s between Savannah and the army, save the army. Our men are needed in South Carolina, where Sherman is sure to go next. He says Sherman has well over 62,000 battle-ready troops. They were resupplied after we lost Ft. McAllister. Hardee has but 10,000.

What did he tell you to do? asked George Wylly.

Pray.

Pray? You’re the doctor, Richard. Surely you have a better remedy.

Yes, Richard, what do you propose? asked Christopher Casey, a middle-aged, paunchy alderman. He puffed on his cigar as if this affair didn’t concern him as much as the others.

We must meet with General Geary. His division is closest to the city, and is poised to enter. He’s with General Slocum’s Corps. Geary will march as soon as he realizes our troops are gone. Sherman may have already given orders to burn the downtown, but we must implore him not to. If we can just get him in peacefully, so he can see what we have, see that he is truly welcome and will not be snipered, I trust they will spare us.

Henry C. Freeman, unmarried and with no close family, spoke up: Sherman has burned everything so far: Atlanta, Milledgeville, farms, homesteads. He’s torn up the railroads. The man is a monster. You have read the papers. We should join Hardee and get the hell out, I say.

A lot of that’s hearsay, we don’t know what he plans to do here. We really have nothing strategic of value except the cotton.

Maybe hearsay, said Casey, but I do hear a lot of people say it. A plantation owner came into the shop just yesterday. His place near Millen was pillaged, then burned to the ground. He saw it all from a redoubt. Nothing he could do. He skedaddled here with this wife and two kids. I don’t think he made any of it up. He said it was like that all around Millen; plantations that owned slaves have been stripped bare, the slaves gone and in most cases the houses burned. And we know for a fact Sherman uprooted all the citizens of Atlanta before burning it to the ground. Sherman’s been on his goddamn March since middle November. It’s now December 20th. That’s five weeks of burning, pillaging, stealing, raping."

It’s war, Chris. And we’re out of bargaining chips, or fighting chips, or any chips.

We should get in line with Hardee, blurted out Freeman

And your wives and children? Arnold asked of the other aldermen. What of them? And your property? I’m not talking about your slaves, they are no longer your property, at least not after Sherman gets here. How many of you even own slaves?

Four of the eight raised a hand.

Well, if not already, they will be free by tomorrow morning. Unless you don’t understand Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He pronounced the document with sarcasm: e-Man-ci-PA-shun Pro-cla-MA-shun.

But what of your homes, your horses? continued Arnold. Give it all up? I say there is a better way. I say as the last of our troops cross over the river, that we rush to meet Geary, catch him before he has a chance to do any damage. I propose to formally surrender the city.

"How can you surrender? Last I heard that’s a military tactic."

Arnold ignored the comment. As painful as it may seem gentleman, we have no other choice. I will go alone if I have to, but I sincerely wish us to be unified in this matter, to represent the city government. We may be vilified by the citizens, at least in the beginning, but soon they will come around and be thankful if we can save Savannah.

Freeman did not respond and the others murmured agreement. None of them really wanted to march across a wooden pontoon bridge into the marshes of South Carolina.

Good, then we are agreed. Let’s meet here at one o’clock. All the carriages are gone, taken by the troops. So we will have to go out on our own horses. George [Wylly] and Edward [Wade], you two came by foot tonight. Do you have a fresh horse you can bring? Yes, they said.

OK, that will make eight of us altogether. I have a good idea where Geary is camped, out on Augusta Road. We best ride from here to Anderson’s Wharf together. As soon as the last troops enter the bridge, we’ll head out to meet Geary. I think we’ll find Union blue in no time and they can take us to him.

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The night was cold, about 45 degrees, and rainy. The city officials rode their horses down Bay Street to West Broad, then to the pontoon landing. Hundreds of troops were milling about, waiting their turn. Straw had been placed on the pontoons to minimize the sound of footsteps. General Hardee was already in South Carolina. The ranking officer approached Mayor Arnold.

Dr. Arnold, are you planning to cross over?

No, we are going to search for General Geary after you leave, to negotiate something. How many are going across?

We estimate about ten thousand altogether. We’re leaving a whole lot of guns and ammunition behind. General Geary should be happy with that. Wish we could help you, Dr. Arnold, but orders is orders.

I completely understand, Colonel.

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An hour later ties to the first pontoon were cut, letting it drift into the river. At that, Arnold and his party rode south on West Broad, then turned right on Augusta Road. Arnold carried a white flag and a letter of surrender in his saddle bag. In the rain the horsemen spread out some distance and became separated. Arnold and four others turned down a narrow lane, while the remaining three - John O’Byrne, Robert Lachlison and Christopher Casey — stayed on Augusta Road. Just when the separation became apparent the Augusta Road group ran into a roadblock manned by a dozen Union troops.

Who goes there?

We are here to surrender Savannah, said O’Byrne.

The Union Captain approached with a torch. Rifleman on each side stood ready to shoot

Yeh? Who is we? Dismount or risk being shot.

They all dismounted, not sure what else to do but raise hands in the air. We are Mayor Richard Arnold and seven of his alderman. Can you take us to General Geary? We want to surrender Savannah.

I only see three. Three ain’t eight. Where are the others?

They split off, took another road. The mayor is with them, but they will find us shortly.

Surrounded by bluecoats, the three hapless aldermen were marched 200 yards beyond the roadblock, to a small tent city.

Wait here. A bluecoat went into one of the tents and awakened the General, who promptly came out in coat and hat. He did not seem pleased.

I am Geary. Which of you is the mayor?

"O’Byrne explained the night’s events, that the mayor was temporarily separated from them, but that their intent - unanimous - was to surrender the city.

Well that explains the silence over the past half hour. Not a word nor any response from Hardee’s boys. Skipped to South Carolina, heh? So who’s defending your city?

No one, sir. The only Confederates you’ll find are those too ill to leave. That’s a fact.

Well, which direction did your infernal mayor go?

They gave him an idea, and he dispatched half a dozen soldiers to find Arnold and bring him to camp.

Thirty minutes later Arnold and the others rode in, surrounded by bluecoats on horseback. In his right hand the mayor carried a white flag on a short pole.

Geary yelled out. Flag’s not needed. Got your message. Mayor Arnold, I presume?

General, I am Dr. Richard Arnold, mayor of Savannah. Thank you for meeting with us. He dismounted and bowed, as if meeting a European potentate.

General Hardee has left the city and we are defenseless. We ask of you, protection of the lives and private properly of the citizens and of our women and children. We have no troops, no one to fight you. I think you will enjoy our beautiful city and our hospitality. You will see it is well worth preserving. I have prepared a formal letter of surrender, and with that he handed the letter to Geary.

* * * * *

SIR: The city of Savannah was last night evacuated by the Confederate military and is now entirely defenseless. As chief magistrate of the city I respectfully request your protection of the lives and private property of the citizens and of our women and children. Trusting that this appeal to your generosity and humanity may favorably influence your action, I have the honor to be, your obedient servant.

Richard D. Arnold, Mayor

December 21, 1864

* * * * *

Sir, may I meet with General Sherman?

Sherman’s not here, and that won’t be necessary. But you can lead us into Savannah. If it’s as you say, no harm will come to your city.

Arnold and his aldermen led a 1000-strong Union division up West Broad. Heads poked out of 2nd floor windows along the street, believing and not believing. They encountered a black freedman on the street, perhaps slightly inebriated, bowing profusely and yelling Praise the Lord, Sherman is come! The soldiers were led down Bay Street. When they left camp the sky was still dark with a wet drizzle. By the time they reached West Broad and Bay the sun was lighting up the morning sky.

It became apparent with daylight that looting had been going on all night. Word of the evacuation spread fast, and shops were being vandalized by lower class whites, but also some blacks, as well as Confederates soldiers who had stayed behind. Some of the looting was motivated by hunger, but there was no way to separate out the desperate from the despicable. Several times Geary dispatched a small contingent to put a stop to the looting. Each time Arnold chimed in with Thank you General, we are so glad you’re here. In truth, Arnold was glad. He shuddered to