David Owen
July 29, 2016
If they had the knowledge of the incident in 1864 at a place called Ebenezer Creek, even the most hardcore white Americans, Southern or Northern, could have lost their prejudice in mind, heart and behavior once and for all. But they probably didn’t see the account of it that make it into the newspapers.
Song, Incident at Ebenezer Creek Jack Hardy © 1982:
What happened:
On December 9, 1864, during the American Civil War, U.S. General Jefferson 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 January 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.
source: http://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/march-to-the-sea-ebenezer-creek/
Video:
photo source: http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/shermans-march/photos/287324/
photo source: https://legallegacy.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/december-9-1864-ebenezer-creek-massacre/
additional reference: http://www.historynet.com/betrayal-at-ebenezer-creek.htm
additional reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Creek
Lyrics, Incident at Ebenezer Creek, song by Jack Hardy © 1982
Dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.
the creek lies swollen before us
the bridge is a slippery span
the guard with the springfield rifle
is barring our freedom plan
for days we have followed the wagons
with all we own on our backs
that long blue winding dragon
with fire and death in its track
but the pontoon bridge is gone
for us these bummers meant freedom
the promise made good at last
that four-score-seven-year promise
why then do they turn us back
they have warned us not to follow
too close behind their guns
that the fighting up front is heavy
when it hasn’t even begun
but the pontoon bridge is gone
some say the avenging angel
has turned upon his own
that all this talk of freedom
is just sherman’s marching song
and some are pleading jesus
asking what have they done wrong
running up and down the river bank
flailing their arms in song
but the pontoon bridge is gone
and sherman’s troops have gone
some soldiers disobey orders
to help build rafts of logs
but they sink as oft as float
and time is running out
rumors of wheeler’s cavalry
to ship us back to the farm
or shoot us here right where we stand
helpless and unarmed
but the pontoon bridge is gone
and sherman’s troops have gone
the camp lies now in embers
newspapers all been read
talk of a change in washington
of a dream shot through the head
some say ebenezer
is a cursed name for a creek
some say jefferson davis
is a blessed name to speak
but the pontoon bridge is gone
and sherman’s troops have gone
and freedom now has gone