Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
September 18, 1897



26th Wisconsin
Chapter 14

At Milledgeville, our army found Southern newspapers, and learned from them something of the consternation and panic which had filled the minds of the rebel leaders from the time Shermanís invading army had left Atlanta. Some of the papers foolishly tried to make their readers believe that "Sherman's Tanks" were fleeing for their lives to the sea-coast; and all demanded that the invaders should be assailed, ìfront, flank and rear;î that all bridges in their front, should be destroyed and their routes obstructed; that all provisions should be destroyed in advance so that the "barbarians" would starve, and that no mercy should be shown them. Some of the great (?) generals and statesmen issued appeals -- from a safe distance -- to the people of Georgia. These documents must make very mortifying reading for surviving rebels who had anything to do with issuing them and for their descendants. As they are specimens of the Southern literature of that time, and make very interesting reading, two of them are here given. The bombastic parlor knight, Gen. G. T. Beauregard, the man who gave the orders to fire upon Fort Sumter, wrote from a safe distance as follows:

"CORINTH, Miss., Nov. 18, 1864.

TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA: -- Arise for the defense of your native soil! Rally around your patriotic Governor and gallant soldiers! Obstruct and destroy all the roads in Shermanís front, flank and rear, and his army will soon starve in your midst. Be confident. Be resolute. Trust in an overruling Providence, and success will crown your efforts. I hasten to join you in defense of your homes and firesides. G. T. BEAUREGARD."

But he didn't "hasten" very much, and was careful to keep out of Sherman's reach.

Senator B. H. Hill, of Georgia, wrote:

"RICHMOND, Nov. 18, 1864.

TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA: -- You have now the best opportunity ever yet presented to destroy the enemy. Put everything at the disposal of your generals; remove all provisions from the path of the invader, and put all obstructions in his path. Every citizen with his gun and every negro with his spade and axe, can do the work of a soldier. You can destroy the enemy by retarding his march.

Georgians, be firm! Act promptly, and fear not! B. H. HILL, Senator

I most cordially approve the above. JAMES A. SHELDON, Secretary of War"

The people of Georgia did not "ariseî nor ìrally" to any great extent and Sherman's march was not obstructed nor detained by the ìPatriotic (?) Governorî and his soldiers. The citizens and many of the soldiers of the south were by this time heartily tired of the war, and needed more than such bombastic appeals to cause them to continue the struggle with anything like a live spirit. The patriotism (?) of the early days of the war had been knocked clean out of them, and thousands of the citizens of Georgia looked upon Shermanís invading and triumphant army as a welcome harbinger of peace.

After having destroyed the Arsenal and its contents, together with a number of public buildings which could have been easily converted to hostile uses, the Left Wing of Sherman's army left Milledgeville on the 24th of November, and crossing the Oconee near the city, marched southeasterly on the east side of that river; while the Right Wing followed the Savannah railroad from Gordon to some distance east of the Oconee, crossing that stream some twenty miles south of Milledgeville. Gen. Sherman now accompanied the Twentieth Corps, which marched on the direct road to Sandersville, and reached that place simultaneously with the Fourteenth Corps on the 26th. The advance guard had a lively skirmish with a brigade of rebel cavalry at Sandersville, and Gen. Sherman himself saw some of the rebel soldiers set fire to large stacks of fodder in a field nearby. He immediately ordered that some unoccupied dwellings near the burning stacks should be also fired, and upon entering the town, told the citizens that if the enemy attempted to carry out the threat to burn the food and fodder in his route, he would retaliate by burning everything else. This threat had the desired effect, and with the exception of one or two minor cases, the people did not destroy the food and fodder, for they saw clearly that it would bring ruin upon themselves.

It was at Sandersville that a negro reported to Sherman that he had been at Tenille Station, six miles south, that day and when asked by Sherman if he had seen any Yankees there, answered, "Yes. Fust dare comed along some cabalry-men, an' dey burned de depot; den comed along some infuntry-men an' dey tored up de track, an' burned it, an' juss when I left dey sot fire to de well!" The Fifteenth Corps was at Tenille Station that day, the advance of the Right wing. The boys threw a lot of loose lumber into the railroad well and set it on fire. The fire burned away the plank curbing and let the well cave in. This is how the Yanks "sot fire to de well." They were very thorough in the destruction of the railroads.

From Sandersville, the Twentieth Corps marched directly east via Davisboro to Louisville, crossing the Ogeechie river enroute, and on the 3rd of December, was at Buckhead Church, four miles north of Millen, where Sherman was with the Seventeenth Corps. The Union prisoners had been hustled out of the prison pen at Millen, and away to other prison pens before our troops reached the place. The Fourteenth Corps was at Lumpkin Station on the Augusta and Savannah railroad, and the Fifteenth was south of the Ogeechee, at Scarboro. On the 1st of December, near Waynesboro, some thirty miles north of Millen, occurred one of the most spirited cavalry battles of the war, which ended in the disorderly flight of the rebel cavalry under Gen. Wheeler. Gen. Hudson Kilpatrick commanded the victorious Union cavalry, and chased the boasting Wheeler and his men for several miles, as fast as they could go.

Sherman's four corps now turned south and marched directly toward Savannah, the Fifteenth Corps on the right bank of the Ogeechee, and the other three between the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers destroying the Augusta and Savannah railroad as they went. Although they had encountered much wet, cold and disagreeable weather, which caused our boys a great deal of suffering, all had gone well with Sherman's army so far, and the boys were in the best of spirits. But the constant marching over the rough roads had worn out many of the men's shoes, and by this time, there were fully 10,000 barefooted boys in blue and their humane commander, Gen. Sherman, issued orders that they should be allowed to ride, provided they furnish their own horses and mules. In a few days, there was a cavalcade of barefooted horsemen ambling along in the rear of each brigade or division, mounted upon all sorts of horses and mules, a large majority in ragged uniforms or citizensí clothes, and forming a motley array, but all happy and contented in the firm faith they had in their leader and the ultimate success of the movement.

By this time, the foragers were all mounted and well drilled in their work. Every morning they were up at 4 o'clock and were on the road long before daybreak and far in advance of their respective columns. On leaving camp, they went along at a mad gallop until some distance -- three or four miles -- from camp, and then the different squads began to turn out on the cross-roads and byways, all racing as though participating in a Derby, so eager were they to get in the lead and reach the forage first. After a hard ride of six or eight miles, they are in a section of the country that had not been reached the day before, and the foremost squad turns off of the road to search the first plantation reached, while the rest gallop on to find and search other places. The first squad to reach the buildings on a plantation had a right to all the forage found there, and if there was more of it than the first squad needed, or could carry away, the next to come could have the balance.

When a store of forage had been found, a guard was placed over it, a picket was thrown out to prevent a surprise by rebel cavalry or guerrillas, and then conveyances were hunted up in which the forage could be conveyed to the next bivouac of the corps. Sometimes old farm wagons were found, but more often two-wheeled carts had to be used and quite frequently the family carriage, often a great, lumbering, silver-mounted affair, was pressed into service. Horses, mules and sometimes cows were harnessed to the loaded vehicles, and the strange outfits started for the main road and their respected bivouacks.

Sometimes the Johnnies would make a dash in considerable force, and try to drive off or capture a squad of foragers, but they seldom met with much success, for the squads of Yankees were so thickly scattered over the country that they were often able to ride to their comradesí assistance. Those skirmishes with the enemy were often very exciting affairs, and sometimes were enlarged to the dignity of a battle, as was the capture of the city of Fayetteville, N.C., by our foragers, as described in the "History of the Ozaukee Rifles." A number of the "Bummers" were killed or captured at different times, and later the rebel leaders issued an order that no quarter should be given the Union foragers, but after Sherman had commenced to retaliate by shooting man for man, they gave up that barbarous policy.