Farther down the coast, Welles continued: "...Rear Admiral Dahlgren was engaged with assisting in the transfer of the right wing of the army to Beaufort, S.C., and in the course of General Sherman's march northward that officer and his army were aided by all needful naval operations.
"On the night of the 12th and 13th of February a joint movement was made along the approaches from Bull's Bay to Mount Pleasant, with a view of embarrassing the military commandant at Charleston, blinding him as to the actual military design.... Other less extensive movements than that at Bull's Bay were made about that period.... They were intended simply to attract the attention of the rebels and aiding General Sherman in accomplishing his great purpose of moving toward Richmond....
"The morning of the 18th [of February] revealed the fact that Charleston was evacuated. Thus, without a final struggle, the original seat of the rebellion, the most invulnerable and best protected city on the coast, whose defenses had cost immense treasure and labor, was abandoned, and the emblem of unity and freedom was again reinstated upon the walls of Sumter."
--Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment