Savannah, Georgia, February
8, 1862.
I wrote you the day I left Coosawhatchie. I have been here
ever since endeavoring to push forward the works for the defense of the city.
Guns are scarce as well as ammunition. I shall have to bring up batteries from
the coast, I fear, to provide for this city. Our enemies are trying to work
their way through the creeks and soft marshes along the interior of the coast,
which communicate with the sounds and sea, through which the Savannah flows,
and thus avoid the entrance to the river, commanded by Fort Pulaski. Their
boats require only seven feet of water to float them, and the tide rises seven
feet, so that at high water they can work their way and rest on the mud at low
tide. I hope, however, we shall be able to stop them, and my daily prayer to
the Giver of all victory is to enable us to do so. We must make up our minds to
meet with reverses and overcome them. But the contest must be long, and the
whole country has to go through much suffering. It is necessary we should be
humble and taught to be less boastful, less selfish, and more devoted to right
and justice to all the world.
SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of
Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 158-9
No comments:
Post a Comment