Today in History:

396 Series I Volume XLVII-II Serial 99 - Columbia Part II

Page 396 OPERATIONS IN N. C., S. C., S. GA., AND E. FLA. Chapter LIX.

out around the Waynesborough and Atlanta depot and other Government shops and beyond the cemtery. The cemtery is below the city, in the edge of the suburbs. All the batteries have four guns on them. The authorities siad they would not let the city be burned, and for the reason they defend the city at Brier Creek and Branchville, and if repulsed, will surrender the city sooner than have it burned.

I remained in Augusta and out fifteen miles on the Waynesborough raod, at first one place and then another, for two weeks. Then I came to Warren County and remained until the 1st of January, 1865. I went to Milledgeville and remained there three days. During that time I say about 200 wagons or more, all going to Gordon to haul supplies to Mayfield to be sent by railroad to North Carolina and Virginia. They say if Branchville is taken the armies in that section of the country will suffer greatly for provisions. I saw about 1,000 or 1,200 infantry under General D. H. Hill and himself and staff pass through Milledgeville; they said they were going to West Georgia. On the 5th of January I came to Jefferson County, near the edge of Warren County; 20th of January I returned to Augusta in a country wagon with some neighbors. I crossed at Ellison's Bridge over Brier Creek. It is fortified on the north side. There is a long row of breast-works thrown up for infantry. About 100 yards from the swamp (the swamp is half a mile wide) I saw eight pieces of artillery standing beyond the infantry battery. There are about 1,000 or 1,200 soldiers there. General Thoma was in command at Ellison's Bridge when I crossed on 20th January. I returned to Jefferson County, and on the 30th January my son, twelve years old, and myself started out on foot for Savannah. Where I started was six miles beyond Fenn's Bridfge, in Jefferson County (which you burned on Sunday after you left Milledgeville), to Louisville, then to Waynesborough, then to Thomas' Bridge on Brier Creek. The next crossing below Ellison's Thomas' Bridge. It is torn up. There is a fortifications on the upper side only for cannon. They have nine guns mounted there and about 200 men. The pickets set me across the creek in a skiff. Then I took the lower Savannah and Augusta road and went to Mill Haven, eighteen miles. There is a pontoon birdge there. It is fortified with both artillery and infantry. There are about 1,200 or 1,500 soldiers here in all. They have an infantry breast-works thrown up on each side the road. The breast-works are very high, and beyond that I counted six pieces of artillery. The pickets told me they were looking for the Yankees hourly, and I had best put off going over home. Adter I crossed over I recrossed again and told them I was afraid to go any farther. Then I came ten miles up to Godfrey's Bridge. It is torn up also. There is a high breast-work for infantry, near one-fourth of a mile long, and just beyond that is the artillery. I saw nine pieces of artillery there. There are about 1,200 soldiers there. General Williams is in command. The pickets set me over in a skiff. I kept the lower road until I crossed Beaver Dam, a small creek. I took the Middle Ground road to Sylvania. At Sylvania there are 1,200 soldiers. General Iverson is in command. They are stationed there and sent out in squads of 25 or 100 to do picket duty. The last line of pickets is stationed on Copper Branch, ten miles from Whitesville and twenty miles from Sylvania. All his force is cavalry. All the soldiers in this part of the country are men from Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. They came to those points, they say, to prevent being out off from their homes and suppliees. General Ferguson is in command at Mill Haven. His men


Page 396 OPERATIONS IN N. C., S. C., S. GA., AND E. FLA. Chapter LIX.