War Diaries (nonfiction)
War Diaries is a set of quotations written in diaries during wartime.
List of War Diaries
Work in progress
Henry Hitchcock
December 22, 1864 (Thursday)
Early in the morning General Sherman enters Savannah, stops at Pulaski House to secure lodging and establish his Savannah headquarters. Major Henry Hitchcock wrote about this first day in a letter to his wife on Christmas Eve (Marching with Sherman, pp. 198-199):
"We went first to the "Pulaski House," the hotel where Capt. Sherman used to stay when on duty here many years ago. Very soon a number of the leading citizens called to pay their respects, amont them a brother of Gen. Hardee, --Dr. Arnold, the Mayor,-- etc., etc., and were all very kindly received. Besides, came Mr. Chas. Green, a wealthy banker, a British subject, who has the finest house in the city, and not only invited but urged the General very earnestly to take up his quarters there -- which he finally consented to, on condition that we suply our own mess and set our own table. We "occupied and possessed" it at once and are now in it. It is a fine house, two-story double, larger than your Mother's, and very handsomely furnished before the war --- looks a little warn now. In the wide hall are some very handsome pieces of statuary, banana trees, growing in tubes, etc., and several fine pictures in the varous rooms, books of engravings, etc."
In the afternoon of December 22, 1864, as recorded in Sherman's Memoirs, published 1875:
"Within an hour of taking my my quarters in Mr. Green's house, Mr. A.G. Browne, of Salem, Massachusetts, United States Treasury agent for the Department of the South, made his appearance to claim possession, in the name of the Treasury Department...".
During this discussion, Browne suggests that Sherman send a telegram to president Lincoln offering him the city of Savannah as a Christmas present. Sherman writes out the message (below), which is then sent by ship to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, from where it is wired to the white house. (Click on photo for larger image):
Sherman Telegram to Lincoln "To his excellency President Lincoln. I beg to present you as a Christmas Gift the City of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and also about 25,000 bales of cotton".
December 24, 1864 (Friday) Sherman issues Special Field Order No. 139:
"Savannah, being now in our possession, the river partially cleared out, and measures having been taken to remove all obstructions, will at made be made a depot for future operations:"
Whereupon Sherman followed with specifics about possession of public buildings, fact that no rents were to be paid, and also orders for the stationing of troops in and about the city. On the same day Sherman also issued Special Field Order No. 143, stating:
"During war, the military is superior to civil authority, and where interests clash, the civil must give way; yet, where there is no conflict, every encouragement should be given to well-disposed and peaceful inhabitants to resume their usual pursuits."
"...Not more than two newspapers will be published in Savannah; their editors and proprietors will be held to the strictest accountability, and will be punished severely, in person and property, for any libelous publication, mischievous matter, premature news, exaggerated statements, or any comments whatever upon the acts of the constituted authorities; they will be held accountable for such articles, even though copied from other papers."
Fanny Yates Cohen
December 25, 1864: Fanny Yates Cohen, a 24-year-old Savannah woman, writes in her diary:
"Christmas is here again...A season of sadness & gloomy retrospection for us of the South, one of joy & gayety to the people of the North. This is the saddest Christmas that I have ever spent and my only pleasure during the day has been in looking forward to spending my next Christmas in the Confederacy."