At Savannah, Georgia during the early morning hours of Tuesday, December 20, 1864 Hardee’s Confederates who had unsuccessfully prevented Sherman from establishing valuable lines of communication and resupply with the Union Atlantic fleet withdrew from the city. When Federal forces realized that Hardee had evacuated, they quickly moved to cut off his escape route across the Savannah River. Union pursuers were unsuccessful, and Hardee’s Confederates moved into the southern part of South Carolina to concentrate with other Confederate forces. Hardee left behind 250 heavy guns and stores of cotton, but he successfully evacuated Savannah with 10,000 of his men when Confederate engineers constructed an ingenious pontoon bridge constructed of some 30 rice flats across the Savannah River. Savannah’s loss was a severe blow to the Confederate war effort.
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.