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1864] Capture of Savannah. 527 piling together and burning the ties, heating the rails red-hot in the middle, and twisting them round trees. The advance of the left wing was directed to threaten Augusta, that of the right to threaten Macon, diverging again however to pass between them and unite at Milledgeville, the capital of the State, from which the Confederate State officials and legislature precipitately fled. Two brigades of cavalry under General Kilpatrick, operating as occasion required with either wing, easily kept off the slight demonstrations of the enemy. The audacity of Sherman's advance at first created great consternation; and the authorities printed proclamations and orders in excited language, exhorting the people to rise en masse to "assail the invader in front, flank, and rear by night and by day." But the appeal was vain. No effective force gathered to oppose Sherman's triumphant march. It was not even molested by guerrillas. While the troops were sullenly received by the whites, they were everywhere greeted by the negroes with demon- strations of satisfaction and welcome. Often their coming was hailed as O a providential deliverance ; and it was with difficulty that Sherman could prevent the blacks following in such numbers as seriously to embarrass his march. Moving eastward from Milledgeville on November 24, Sherman crossed the Ogeechee, and on the high land between that and the Savannah river pursued a south-easterly course directly toward the city of Savannah, the outer defences of which he reached on December 10, easily driving before him a Confederate division and some irregular forces, about 10,000 in all. Hardee, an educated and accomplished soldier, held Savannah, a site by nature difficult of approach, well fortified, and defended by a garrison of 15,000. But , Sherman promptly stormed Fort McAllister on December 13 ; this gave him command of Ossabaw Sound, through which he communicated with the Federal fleet, and sent to Washington a dispatch that his march had been most agreeable, that he had not lost a waggon on the trip, that he had utterly destroyed over 200 miles of rails, and consumed stores and provisions that were essential to Lee's and Hood's armies. " The army is in splendid order," he added with pardonable pride, " and equal to anything." The investment and preparations for the capture of Savannah were immediately begun, Admiral Dahlgren, in command of the Federal fleet, heartily co-operating. Hardee's position was soon rendered untenable, and on December 22, 1864, Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln, " I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty -five thousand bales of cotton." At Savannah Sherman received a dispatch from Grant, written twelve days earlier, in which he was directed to establish and fortify a strong base on the coast, leaving his artillery and cavalry, with enough infantry to hold the place and make local incursions, and to move by sea and join Grant before Richmond, with the remainder of his army. This