On Dec. 8, 1864, the Right Wing of Gen. Sherman's U.S. army, consisting of the 15th and 17th Corps and having left Atlanta on Nov. 15th on its destructive March to the Sea, was moving through Effington County toward Savannah. Headquarters of the Right Wing under Maj. Gen. O.O. Howard, USA, was at Eden, and troops of the 17th Corps were destroying the Central RR beyond the town. The 15th Corps was marching down both banks of the Great Ogeechee River to pass south of Savannah and cut the Savannah and Gulf RR. On the 9th, Gen. Sherman established his headquarters at Pooler, 9 miles southeast, and by the evening of the 11th the Siege of Savannah had begun.