The Other Christmas Gift

Confederate troops evacuating Savannah

​There have been two great evacuations of Savannah. The first was the British leaving after the Revolutionary War. Savannah residents were so happy to see the British depart that they started a holiday called Evacuation Day and even built a monument to commemorate the event. The holiday is no longer celebrated and the monument was destroyed in a wagon accident.

The second evacuation took place in lieu of General Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil War. Savannah was one of the leading Confederate cities because of its port, cotton, and international reputation. On January 31, 1861 secessionists seized Fort Pulaski from the Union government. The Fort had been built under the supervision of Lieutenant Robert E. Lee at the bequest of then President James Madison. The Fort was quickly restored to the Union side in a battle in December. At this point all ships entering or leaving were under Union supervision.

Although Union troops controlled access to the Atlantic Ocean they did not have control of the City of Savannah. The embargo would put severe stress on supplies and contact with the outside world. The city would stay Confederate until the faithful day when Sherman with his troops entered the city.
The second evacuation was the work of the Confederate troops leaving in haste before Sherman entered the city. They were under the command of Lt. General William Hardee. The leadership of Savannah decided to work with Sherman in order for him not to burn the city down as he had done with Atlanta and other places. Savannah had strong ties with Chicago, Boston, and New York leaders. Sherman also knew it would be helpful to have a port in the South on the Atlantic Ocean for the Union to use as necessary, so burning Savannah would not be a good military choice. It is also rumoured he had a mistress in Savannah and legend has it she talked him into not burning Savannah.
Hardee knew he must evacuate or he and his soldiers would become prisoners of war. Also the War was coming to an end but the end had not arrived yet and Hardee knew his troops might be needed
in another battle at another time.
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So Hardee scuttled the CSS Georgia and burned the CSS Savannah. The CSS Georgia laid at the bottom of the Savannah River for more than a 100 years. She has been raised as part of the Port of Savannah deepening project. Hardee notified President Jefferson Davis of the evacuation of 9,089 troops from Savannah into Carolina soil. The different garrison troops surrounding Savanah had been brought into the city the night before and crossed the Savannah River via pontoon bridge on December 21. Hardee unlike Sherman would have no city to offer as a Christmas prize. He only had the retreating troops to offer.

Sherman and his troops entered Savannah during on the morning of December 22. Sherman returned to his old haunt from a previous visit to Savannah: the Pulaski House. A resident of the city, Charles Green, offered Sherman the use of his own home as a headquarters. The residence was the Green-Meldrim House which today is a National Historic Landmark. Sherman’s soldiers were impressed by the homes, monuments and statues of Savannah. One solider wrote home saying: “Savannah is a beautiful city — the finest I have seen in the South. Thank God that I am yet alive, and
permitted thus to end it.”

These many years later Sherman’s March to the Sea is remembered but the evacuation of Savannah’s Confederate troops is seldom mentioned. Maybe President Jefferson Davis was not as pleased as President Abraham Lincoln with his Christmas gift. 

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Sherman reviewing his troops as they enter Savannah

Pulaski House