From Savannah, Georgia on Thursday, December 22, 1864 William Tecumseh Sherman sent his famous message to President Abraham Lincoln: “I beg to present to you, as a Christmas present, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton.” Sherman had reason to celebrate. After seven months of surviving in the enemy’s heartland, he had taken Savannah with minimal losses to his army. Sherman’s invaders had an estimated 103 killed, 428 wounded, and 278 captured or missing; those figures constituted slightly more than one percent of his force. Sherman scarcely could believe his good luck. To his wife he confided, “Like a man who has walked a narrow plank I look back and wonder if I really did it.”
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.