Slaves seeking freedom perish

Rico's friend Kema (she of the on-line Slavery Museum) forwards this article by Tim Isbell:

Union troops marching through the Georgia countryside meant area slaves could finally escape bondage and join the march to freedom. At Ebenezer Creek, slaves were forced to risk death by swimming the creek to freedom or be captured by Confederate cavalry and returned to slavery.
As William T. Sherman's Union army marched from Atlanta to Savannah, local slaves viewed the general as the deliverer of freedom.
Thousands of slaves left the fields and plantations to see the Union general. With little to no true Confederate resistance, Sherman's March to the Sea was one of liberation for slaves. Since bloodhounds were used to track runaway slaves and escaped Union prisoners, Sherman ordered bloodhounds shot on sight to end one means of tracking those on the run.
Sherman advised the slaves to stay home and await the end of the war, but the slaves chose to follow Sherman's army. The protection of the Federal army meant freedom.
One soldier wrote:"Thousands of these poor people left their humble homes and trudged along, with no idea of where they were going, except that they were on the highway from slavery to freedom."
The addition of all these slaves caused a military problem for Sherman. Until he reached Savannah and could receive supplies from Federal ships, Sherman's army was living off the land. Foraging had proven successful so far, but the addition of the slaves meant there were added mouths to feed.
As the Union army reached Ebenezer Creek, located twenty miles from Savannah, the throngs of slaves following Sherman's army led to tragedy.
Jefferson C. Davis, a Union general, grew impatient with the situation of slaves following the army. Davis (photo), who was from Indiana, was best known for sharing the same name as Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.
Davis had also murdered another Union general, William "Bull" Nelson, after an argument in 1862 after the battle of Shiloh. Since the Union needed fighting generals, Davis escaped imprisonment for the death of Nelson.
At Ebenezer Creek, 650 slaves were following Davis' corps. As the Union soldiers crossed a pontoon bridge, the slaves were held back as the rest of the army crossed the swamp. Davis ordered the bridge removed to keep the slaves from crossing. The guards who had held the slaves back stepped on the bridge and cut it loose from the bank. The bridge was pulled across the hundred-foot swamp, leaving the slaves stranded on the other bank.
Some slaves tried to swim across while others ran up and down the banks screaming and shaking in terror. Some Union soldiers felled several trees into the creek. Slaves made a crude raft from the fallen trees. Using a rope made of blankets, the slaves pulled the raft across the creek and back. The raft could only carry six people and it frequently tipped over.
There is no definitive number of how many slaves drowned at Ebenezer Creek. Slaves left on the opposite shore were recaptured by Wheeler's cavalry and marched back to slavery.
Sherman did not punish Davis for his actions, calling the tragedy at Ebenezer Creek a 'military decision'.

Rico says that, just because it was a military decision doesn't make it nice, or right...