On this Day in American History 150 years ago the strategic city of Savannah, Georgia is surrounded at the conclusion of Shermans March to the Sea, -December 20th, 1864 ~On December 20, he led his men across the Savannah River on a makeshift pontoon bridge. The next morning, Savannah Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out to offer a proposition: The city would surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Gearys promise to protect the citys citizens and their property. Geary telegraphed Sherman, who advised him to accept the offer. Arnold presented him with the key to the city, and Shermans men, led by Gearys division of the XX Corps, occupied the city the same day. ~On the heels of the devastating route of the Army of Tennessee, Shermans march of destruction through the heart of Georgia ends. He offers U. S. President Lincoln the following communication............... I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. ~The South now lies split in three pieces and the end of the Southern Confederacy is at hand.......
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 19:46:57 +0000
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