The Incident at Ebenezer Creek

The Incident at Ebenezer Creek. . , As the army of Union Major General William T. Sherman marched to the sea in late 1864 many runway slaves followed. Each infantry core had a few hundred to several thousand slaves trailing behind. Federal soldiers were largely living off the land by foraging farms and plantations. Having extra mouths to feed was a burden. Union Major General Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to the Confederate president), who had opposed emancipation, ordered that as his 14th Corps crossed Ebeneezer Creek all slaves were to be held back while the pontoon bridge was removed, leaving the slaves stranded on the creek’s north bank. On December 6 and 7, 1864, over 13,000 soldiers in the Federal 14th Corps marched southeast from Jacksonborough on the Augusta road. Their route included a causeway through a cypress swamp leading to Ebeneezer Creek. Both the swamp and nearby Savannah River were at flood stage, thus the area could only be traversed via the causeway. Confederates had destroyed a 100-foot bridge over the creek. So near sunset on the 7th the 58th Indiana Regiment began constructing a pontoon bridge. It required most of two days to construct the bridge and for the 14th Corps to cross. On Friday the 9th, the bridge was dismantled. , Realizing they were being left behind the slaves panicked. Several men built a wooden raft to ferry, women, children, and the elderly across the creek while other slaves attempted to swim. Some made it safely across; tragically an uncertain number drowned. A number of Federal soldiers returned to the creek to help survivors onto the creek’s south bank. After Confederate cavalry arrived many remaining on the north bank were captured and returned to slavery. Sergeant Timothy H. Pendergast of the 2nd Minnesota Infantry Regiment wrote in his diary, “this barbarous act has created a deep feeling against [General Davis] in this division, and it is hoped that the circumstance will be represented to the President as to cost him his commission.“ , A few weeks later a letter written by another federal soldier to his Congressman that described the incident appeared in a newspaper read by U.S. Secretary of war Edward M. Stanton. Stanton made an unannounced trip of inquiry to Savannah, arriving by ship on January 11, 1865 (after the city’s capture). General Sherman defended General Davis‘ order to remove the pontoon bridge because it was needed elsewhere. Davis also claimed his order was “a military necessity“ to avoid slaves being caught-up in a battle. Despite some protest the manner was quietly dropped. However, the incident was a factor in issuing Special Field Order No. 15 awarding former slaves (“freedmen”) 40-acre tracts along the coast.