EVACUATION OF SAVANNAH
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N 32° 04.915 W 081° 05.650
17S E 491113 N 3549519
EVACUATION OF SAVANNAH
Located in park at Bay St. and Jefferson St.
Waymark Code: WMW9H
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 10/24/2006
Views: 57
"On Dec. 14, 1864, Fort
McAllister having fallen the day before, opening the Great Ogeechee River to
Union shipping and rendering Savannah untenable, Lt. Gen. W. J. Hardee, CSA,
decided to evacuate the city to save it from a destructive bombardment and to
extricate his besieged army. River craft being unequal to the task, and no
pontoon bridging being available, an engineering expedient was adopted.
Directed by Lt. Col. B. W. Frobel, CSA, pontoon type bridges were laid by
sailors of the CS Navy and details from the Georgia Militia. Using large
"cotton flats" for boats, car wheels for anchors and planks from the city
wharves for flooring, a bridge was laid from the foot of West Broad Street to
Hutchinson Island, another across Back River to Pennyworth Island, and a third
across Little Back River to the South Carolina shore.
On the 19th, orders were issued giving priorities and times of withdrawal. The
heavy guns were spiked and carriages and ammunition destroyed. At dark, the
garrisons of Whitemarsh Island were withdrawn into the city and evacuated via
the bridges.
At dark on the 20th, the garrisons of Causton's Bluff, Thunderbolt and the
Savannah River batteries gathered at Fort Jackson and were transferred by
steamer to Screven's Ferry; but the main garrison -- infantry, cavalry, light
artillery and wagons -- crossed on the bridges. Well before dawn, the
rear-guard had cleared Hutchinson Island, the bridge from West Broad had been
cut adrift, and the troops were marching via the Union Causeway to Hardeeville.
025-52 Georgia Historical Commission 1957""
Type of Marker: Highway
Marker #: 025-52
Date: 1957
Sponsor: Georgia Historical Commission
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