Sherman always contended that the war should have closed on July 4, 1863. The fall of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg sealed the doom of the rebellion, and the Southern leaders should have recognized that fact and accepted the situation. But even now, with Atlanta and Savannah captured, Hood's army destroyed, and a pathway driven by the Union army through the heart of the South, they were still stubborn and resolved, as they expressed it, to hold out till the last man died in the last ditch. It was inevitable that this attitude should be exasperating to the National leaders. Sherman himself doubtless felt a certain grim determination, since the South wanted more war, to give it war to its heart's content, and to carry the war through South Carolina, the cradle of the rebellion. His army at Savannah was in good condition. In twenty-seven days it had marched more than three hundred miles, with losses of five officers and fifty-eight men killed, thirteen officers and two hundred and thirty-two men wounded, and one officer and two hundred and fifty-eight men missing. Seven thousand slaves had joined the march to the coast. Twenty thousand bales of cotton had been burned and three hundred and twenty miles of railroad destroyed, including all the stations, engine-houses, turn-tables, etc. Ten million pounds of corn had been captured and an equal amount of fodder; more than 1,200,000 rations of meat, 919,000 of bread, 483,000 of coffee, 581,000 of sugar, and 137,000 of salt. Nor had the demoralization of the enemy been less than the material loss inflicted upon him. Not only had the army swept the pathway thirty miles wide through the heart of Georgia, but it had sent out detachments in this direction and that, menacing many points which it did not actually strike. For four weeks, therefore, all of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina suffered painful suspense, not knowing whither the army would march next. For this reason, also, it had been impracticable for the rebels to mass any considerable force against Sherman, even had such a force been at their command, for they did not know where to meet him. It is not to be wondered at that universal rejoicing was caused at the North by the results of this campaign, nor that those who had once distrusted Sherman as a man of erratic judgment, now lavished upon him exuberant confidence and praise. Not even Grant himself was more applauded. It was from the depths of an appreciative heart that the President wrote to Sherman as follows: "EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 26, 1864. "_My Dear General Sherman_ "Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift--the capture of Savannah.