March to the Sea: Ebenezer Creek Historical Marker
Location
Phone
(912) 826-5745Hours of Operation
- Monday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Tuesday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Wednesday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Thursday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Friday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Saturday : 12:00am - 12:00am
- Sunday : 12:00am - 12:00am
One mile north of this historical marker, on Dec. 9, 1864, during the American Civil War, U.S. General Jeff. C. Davis crossed Ebenezer Creek with his 14th Army Corps as it advanced toward Savannah during General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. Davis hastily removed the pontoon bridges over the creek, and hundreds of freed slaves following his army drowned trying to swim the swollen waters to escape the pursuing Confederates. Following a public outcry, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton met with Sherman and local black leaders in Savannah on Jan. 12, 1865. Four days later, President Lincoln approved Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15, confiscating over 400,000 acres of coastal property and redistributing it to former slaves in 40-acre tracts. The marker was erected in 2010 for the Civil War 150 commemoration by the Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. (Marker Number 51-2.)
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