Some six weeks after having acclaimed Sherman's generalship in the capture of Atlanta[1253], the _Gazette's_ summary of the military situation was that: "...

if the winter sees Grant still before Petersburg, and Sherman unable to hold what he has gained in Georgia, the South may be nearer its dawning day of independence than could have been expected a few weeks ago, even though Wilmington be captured and Charleston be ground away piecemeal under a distant cannonade.

The position of the Democrats would urge them to desperate measures, and the wedge of discord will be driven into the ill-compacted body which now represents the Federal States of North America[1254]." But on December 17, W.H.Russell again changed his view and foretold with accuracy Sherman's movements toward Savannah.

Not so the _Times_, privately very anxious as to what Sherman's campaign portended, while publicly belittling it.

December 2, it was noted that Sherman had not been heard from for weeks, having left Atlanta with 50,000 men.