Friday, August 30, 2013

Major General William T. Sherman to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, October 9, 1864

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
In the Field, Allatoona October 9, 18647.30. p.m..
(Received 11 a.m. 10th.)

Lieutenant-General GRANT,
City Point, Va.:

It will be a physical impossibility to protect the roads, now that Hood, Forrest, and Wheeler, and the whole batch of devils, are turned loose without home or habitation. I think Hood's movements indicate a diversion to the end of the Selma and Talladega Railroad at Blue Mountain, about sixty miles southwest of Rome, from which he will threaten Kingston, Bridgeport, and Decatur, Ala. I propose we break up the railroad from Chattanooga, and strike out with wagons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah. Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources. By attempting to hold the roads we will lose 1,000 men monthly, and will gain no result. I can make the march, and make Georgia howl. We have over 8,000 cattle: and 3,000,000 of bread, but no corn; but we can forage in the interior of the State.

 W. T. SHERMAN,
 Major-General, Commanding

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 3 (Serial No. 79),  p. 162

No comments: