On this Christmas Eve mere days after Savannah’s subjugation to the United States, the city’s Second Baptist Church, an African American congregation, long serving as a center of religious, social and political life for black citizens, is abuzz in a new way. Generations of slavery now behind them, black residents bask in their new found…
With Savannah safely in Federal hands, the Union Navy today begins an assault upon Fort Fisher, a Confederate fort guarding the coastal city of Wilmington, North Carolina. The Battle of Fort Fisher lasts for four days. Today the Union attempts to destroy the fort’s walls by detonating a gunpowder-laden ship. This failed effort is followed…
With Savannah safely in Union hands, a victorious General William T. Sherman telegrams U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with a simple message: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and also about 25,000 bales of cotton.” The capture of the port city…