On Tuesday, December 13, 1864 at Savannah, Georgia Union troops of the Fifteenth Corps under the command of W.B. Hazen charged Fort McAllister, despite mines and other obstacles in their way, and successfully took the last impediment between Sherman army and the Union fleet. Union attackers suffered only two dozen men killed and 110 wounded in the successful attack; as important as McAllister was to Savannah’s defense Union forces were shocked to find only 230 men defending the fortification. McAllister’s fall opened river communication with the Union fleet offshore and doomed the city of Savannah. After operating for weeks in the interior of Georgia, Sherman’s army now re-established contact with the North and the Union War Department. One week later Savannah would be evacuated by its Confederate defenders.
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.