History of the United States in Words of One SyllablePierson, Helen Wall
History
History of the United States in Words of One Syllable
Pierson, Helen Wall
United States -- History -- Juvenile literature
Sher-man had a hard work to do; for he must take his troops
through the land of the foe, by their strong forts, through
hill and dale and pass. He meant to cut off their chance to
get food, and to break up the rail roads. He first took the
town of At-lan-ta, and from that point set out on the "March
to the Sea," which has won him so much fame. He had to feed
his troops for the most part on what he could find in the land
he went through. He took Sa-van-nah and wrote to Lin-coln, "I
beg to give you the gift of the town of Sa-van-nah, with all
its guns and stores."
Then he took up his march once more through swamp and bog, or
up the high steep hills and rocks. The cold days had come, but
on they went, through storms of sleet and snow, or in the face
of floods of rain, with a foe on all sides. Such a march had
not been known in all the wars of the past. Long will the fame
of that March to the Sea live in our land. He had found, as
he said, that all the men in the South had been drawn out to
aid the troops, and that there were no more left, and the land
was a "mere shell."
Charles-ton gave up at the end of a long siege; but it was set
on fire in all parts by its own folk, so that it might not be
worth much when it fell in our hands.
The last move was made by Grant on Rich-mond. He felt that one
more blow would bring the war to a close. He sent out word to
Sher-i-dan, "When day dawns push round the foe, and get to his
rear." Two days more our troops were in the streets of Rich-mond.
When Lee found he could not hold his place, he sent word by
the wires to Jef-fer-son Da-vis at Rich-mond. Da-vis was the
man the South had made their chief, and he was in church when
the news came to him. He read these words: "My lines are cut
at three points. Rich-mond must be left to night."
Da-vis left the church, and the news spread at once that the
town was lost. There was fright on all sides, and the streets
were soon full of men who knew not what to do. The means for
flight were small, and a poor cart and horse would have brought
a large sum of gold. The ships were set on fire or blown up,
and some of the stores of the town were in a blaze. Oh, what
a night! All sought to fly, but few had means to go.
The next day some black troops were the first to march in the
town. This was the real end of the war. Gen-er-al Lee did all
he could to save his men; but they were so faint with want of
food that they could not march, and so weak they could not hold
their guns. So he gave up all at last to Gen-er-al Grant, and
the whole South had to yield.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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