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SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO

and North Carolina and join the armies operating against Richmond as soon as he could and by the route he deemed best. Sherman hastened his preparations; General Grover's division of the 19th corps was detached from the Army of the Shenandoah and ordered to Savannah as a garrison, and General Foster, commanding the Department of the South, was instructed to follow Sherman's inland movements by seizing in succession Charleston and other points on the coast, which might be abandoned. Ammunition, rations and clothing were accumulated, and 14 Jan. 1865 the 17th corps, General Blair, took transports at Savannah for Hilton, S. C., and moved to Beaufort, thence to Pocotaligo, on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, thus threatening Charleston. Later the 15th corps, except Corse's division, joined the 17th. The left wing, 14th and 20th corps, under General Slocum, with Corse's division and Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved up the Savannah River, 40 miles, to Sister's Ferry, thus threatening Augusta. When Slocum arrived at Sister's Ferry the river had overflowed its banks and submerged the adjacent lowland, and there was a delay of some days before the waters had fallen sufficiently for a crossing. On 1 February, when the general movement began, the army was composed of two wings: the right wing, under Gen. O. O. Howard, consisted of the 15th corps, Gen. John A. Logan, and the 17th corps, Gen. F. P. Blair; the left wing, under Gen. H. W. Slocum, consisted of the 14th corps, Gen. J. C. Davis, and the 20th corps, Gen. A. S. Williams. The cavalry division, under General Kilpatrick, moved with the left wing, as also, at first, Corse's division of Logan's corps. The strength of the army 1 February was 53,923 infantry, 4,438 cavalry and 1,718 artillery, in all 60,079 men with 68 guns. There were about 600 ambulances, 2,500 wagons and provisions for 20 days, mostly of bread, sugar, coffee and salt. Beef cattle were driven and it was expected that a good supply of cattle, hogs and poultry would be gathered on the march. The disposition of the forces from Sister's Ferry on the left to Pocotaligo on the right menaced Augusta, Columbia and Charleston and left the Confederates in doubt as to the true point upon which Sherman was to move. The Confederates, under General Hardee, whose headquarters were at Charleston, and who had about 16,000 men, occupied the line of the Salkehatchie River, while Wheeler's cavalry operated on the heads and flanks of the advancing column. On 1 February the movement began. Howard's right wing marched from Pocotaligo for the Beaufort and Rivers' bridges of the Salkehatchie for the purpose of pushing on to the Edisto River, thus flanking Charleston. There was a sharp engagement (3 February) at Rivers' bridge, in which two divisions of Blair's corps waded breast deep through the swamp and carried the bridge with a loss of 88 killed and wounded, the Confederate loss being 52 killed and wounded. The Confederates, driven from the line of the Salkehatchie, retreated to Branchville, behind the Edisto, burning the bridges behind them. The left wing, under Slocum, marched through Barnwell, and on 10 February both wings were in the vicinity of Branchville on the Charleston and Augusta Railroad. Kilpatrick on the left went as far

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Aiken and threatened Augusta. From Branchville the railroads in every direction were thoroughly destroyed, and the army started for Columbia, each of the four corps taking a separate road. Howard went by the Orangeburg road, and on the 16th his head of column approached Columbia, which was occupied by Gen. C. L. Stevenson's division of infantry, and Butler's and Wheeler's divisions of cavalry, in all about 5,000 men. Stevenson fell back to Winnsboro, leaving Wade Hampton, commanding the cavalry, to follow. On the 17th the 15th corps marched through the city and encamped beyond it on the Camden road. During the night the greater part of the city was accidentally burned. Slocum, advancing by Barnwell and Lexington, destroyed the Charleston and Augusta Railroad for several miles, and, after menacing Augusta, received orders to cross the Saluda River, at Mount Zion's Church, above Columbia. During the night a bridge was constructed and next day Slocum and Kilpatrick crossed, passed over Broad River and on the 21st arrived at Winnsboro, destroying on the way several miles of railroad north and south of Alston. Sherman, with the right wing, marched from Columbia, on the 20th, on the direct road to Winnsboro, and threatened Charlotte, N. C. He destroyed the railroad between Columbia and Winnsboro, and joined Slocum at the latter place. On the day that Sherman occupied Columbia, General Hardee evacuated Charleston, after destroying the public buildings, two iron-clad steamers, cotton and other property, and with about 14,000 men moved to Cheraw, on the Peedee River, and thence by a long march to Fayetteville, N. C. Next day Charleston was occupied by the Union troops of General Foster, who found 450 abandoned guns. The city had been fired, churches and private residences burned and everything presented a scene of desolation. Sherman, in his march, had made a clean swath of 40 miles, burning bridges, wrecking railroads and devouring nearly everything. Each family was left a reasonable amount of food, but all horses, mules and wagons were taken. From Winnsboro, Slocum destroyed the railroad as far north as Chester, threatened Charlotte, and then, forcing to the left the Confederates who were concentrating to dispute the march on Charlotte, the entire army turned eastward for Fayetteville, Slocum crossing the Catawba River at Rocky Mount and joining Howard, who had marched by roads farther south, at Cheraw (3 March), where were found 24 guns, 3,600 barrels of gunpowder and large supplies of stores, public and private, sent from Charleston for safe-keeping. Hardee made no opposition to the occupation of the place, and retreated to Fayetteville, leaving Wade Hampton's cavalry to cover his rear and burn the bridges behind them. On the 6th Sherman resumed his march on Fayetteville, by four different roads, and reached it on the 10th, Hardee again retreating without a show of defense, leaving Wade Hampton to skirmish with Sherman's advance and burn the bridge over the Cape Fear River. Kilpatrick, covering the movement on Sherman's left and rear, was surprised on the night of the 9th by Hampton's cavalry and pretty roughly handled, being driven from his camps and losing all his guns, which, however, he regained. He lost 183 men,

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of whom 103 were captured. The march through South Carolina had been greatly delayed by almost incessant rains and the swampy nature of the country. Nearly all the way the army was compelled to corduroy the roads before the trains could be moved, in some instances the first corduroying was out of sight before the trains had all passed, and another road was laid over it. All this was done cheerfully by the men, working in icy water up to their knees. Before reaching Fayetteville it was heard that General Terry had taken Wilmington, and the day after the arrival of the army a Union steamer came up Cape Fear River, confirming the news and bringing mails and dispatches. Having thoroughly destroyed the arsenal buildings, foundries and machine-shops at Fayetteville, the army crossed Cape Fear River on the 13th and 14th for Goldsboro, the objective point of the campaign, where it was to unite with Generals Schofield and Terry, who were marching on that place from Newbern and Wilmington. It was now known that Gen. J. E. Johnston had been ordered to delayed Sherman's advance, and Sherman estimated that he had 37,000 men for the purpose. Apprehending that Johnston would seek an opportunity to strike him on the last stage of the march, Sherman ordered Slocum on the left to send his trains under a strong guard by an interior road on his right, and to keep at least four divisions with their artillery on the left well in hand, to meet an attack. Under this order Geary's and Baird's divisions were detailed to guard the trains. Slocum, preceded by Kilpatrick's cavalry, advanced on the direct road to Averasboro, to make a feint on Raleigh, and Kilpatrick was then to strike the railroad near Smithfield. Sherman says he "proposed to drive Hardee well beyond Averasboro and then turn to the right by Bentonville for Goldsboro." On the 15th Hardee was retiring from before Slocum, having for his rear-guard a brigade composed of artillery troops that had garrisoned Charleston, under command of Col. Alfred Rhett. During the evening Kilpatrick, in skirmishing with this rear-guard, near Taylor's Hole Creek, took some prisoners, among whom was Colonel Rhett.

Battle of Averasboro.- On the morning of the 16th opposition to the march was quite stubborn, and Kilpatrick, forcing back the Confederate rear-guard, came upon a line of intrenchments, on a narrow neck of swampy land, between Cape Fear and South rivers, and covering the road to Bentonville, along which Sherman intended that Slocum's wing should march to Goldsboro. Kilpatrick's cavalry was moved to the right and Jackson's and Ward's divisions of Williams' 20th corps were deployed in front of the Confederate line, and the two divisions of the 14th corps ordered up on Williams' left. Case's brigade was sent by Williams to the left to gain the flank and rear of the Confederate line, and succeeded in striking it in flank and sweeping it from position, capturing McBeth's Charieston battery of three guns and 217 of Rhett's artillery acting as infantry. Jackson's and Ward's divisions advanced and came upon the Confederates in another line of works about 400 yards in rear of the first. Kilpatrick was sent to the right to seize the Bentonville road, but his leading brigade was driven back by a furious attack of

McLaws' division, upon which the Union infantry advanced directly against Hardee, who also was advancing, and drove him inside his works, and Slocum went into bivouac in his immediate front. During the night, which was stormy and very dark, Hardee retreated, leaving 108 dead and 68 wounded on the field. His entire loss, as estimated, was about 650, of whom 175 were captured. Slocum's loss was 77 killed and 477 wounded. Next morning Ward's division pursued Hardee a short distance beyond Averasboro and ascertained that he had retreated toward Smithfield.

Sherman was now under the delusion that no serious opposition would be made to his march on Goldsboro. “All signs," he says. "induced me to believe that the enemy would make no further opposition to our progress, and would not attempt to strike us in flank, while in motion." Under this impression his commanders were instructed to march their troops in the easiest manner and by the nearest roads to Goldsboro. The left wing marched from Averasboro on the direct road and on the night of the 18th, after driving back Hampton's cavalry to a position selected by Hampton for a battle, the 14th corps in advance, encamped 25 miles from Goldsboro and five from Bentonville, at a point where the road from Clinton to Smithfield crossed the one to Goldsboro. Two divisions of the 20th corps were camped 10 or 12 miles in rear, while Geary's and Baird's divisions were on other roads, with the trains still farther to the south. Howard's two corps were to the south and east, their advance at Lee's Store, more than a day's march distant. Sherman had been with Slocum and the left wing since the 14th and very early on the morning of the 19th started to join Howard, several miles to the east and south, to concentrate his forces and unite with Slocum at Goldsboro, where he expected to meet Schofield and Terry. He had no suspicion that General Johnston with a strong forcę was then in Slocum's immediate front, and supposed that the only opposition to be met would be from cavalry. When about to leave Slocum he expressed the opinion that Hardee had fallen back to Raleigh and that Slocum could reach Neuse River the next day, in which opinion Slocum concurred. But General Carlin, commanding a division of the 14th corps, and who was nearest the enemy, had observed matters that indicated a large force in front prepared for battle, and sought to impress his own convictions upon Sherman, who made light of them, said nothing but cavalry was in front and rode away to join Howard.

On 23 February Gen. J. E. Johnston had been assigned to the command of all the forces that could be collected to make head against Sherman. At this time Hardee was moving toward Fayetteville, N. C.; Beauregard was directing the march of C. L. Stevenson from Winnsboro to Charlotte; Cheatham, with his division of Hood's army, had come from Augusta, Ga., and was moving toward Charlotte, but on the west side of the Congaree and Broad rivers, and A. P. Stewart, with about 1,000 men of Hood's army, was marching for Charlotte. Johnston's first task was to concentrate these troops, which was done at Smithfield, N. C., where he was joined by Hoke's division from Lee's army at Richmond, which had unsuccess

SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO

fully engaged General Cox, near Goldsboro (see KINSTON, BATTLE OF), and also by S. D. Lee, with about 3,000 men of Hood's army. In all Johnston had about 20,000 men. He had as subordinate commanders Generals Bragg, Hardee, A. P. Stewart, S. D. Lee, Wade Hampton and others of high rank, who had long been the pride and ornaments of the Confederate armies.

Battle of Bentonville.- On the 17th General Johnston had become satisfied that Sherman was not marching on Raleigh. He heard on the morning of the 18th that Sherman was marching on Goldsboro, and was informed by Wade Hampton that the 14th corps was in his immediate front, that the 20th corps was several miles in rear on the same road, while Howard's two corps were on roads some miles to the south, and he determined to crush the 14th corps before the 20th could come to its support, and then fall upon the 20th. He ordered Hampton to hold Slocum's head of column in check until he could march from Smithfield, 16 miles distant, and join him to give battle on ground that Hampton had selected, and to which he was forced back that evening, which was at a point about three miles south of Bentonville. In order to attack the head of Slocum's column early next morning, Johnston immediately marched his army from Smithfield, intending to bivouac that night between Bentonville and the road on which Slocum was moving. But the distance was greater than expected, the roads bad, and but a small part of the column reached Bentonville that night, the main column bivouacking some distance in the rear. As soon as Hardee's troops reached Bentonville next morning they were marched by the left flank, Hoke's division leading, to the ground selected by Hampton, on the eastern edge of an old plantation, extending one and one-half miles to the west, lying principally on the north side of the road, and surrounded east, south and north, by dense thickets of black-jack. As there was but one narrow road through the thicket, the deployment of the troops consumed a weary time. Hoke's division was formed with its centre on the road, its line at right angles to it, on the eastern edge of the plantation, and its left extending some 400 yards into the thicket to the south. Two batteries, the only artillery, were on his right, commanding the ground in front to the extent of the range of the guns. The troops belonging to the Army of Tennessee were formed on the right of the artillery, their right strongly thrown forward, conforming to the edge of the open ground. Meanwhile, and before these dispositions had been completed, the battle had opened. Very early in the morning Hampton had thrown forward his cavalry, and when Carlin's division of the 14th corps began its march at 6 o'clock it became almost immediately engaged with the Confederate cavalry, which offered such a stubborn resistance that Carlin deployed his entire division and brought up his artillery, and one brigade was sent to the left to develop the Confederate line, and as the resistance increased Morgan's division was moved to Carlin's right as a support, and the entire line was ordered to go forward, and was soon severely engaged, convincing Slocum that he had something more than cavalry in his front,

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of which fact he was soon further convinced by a deserter from the Confederates, who informed him that Johnston was in his immediate front, and that the talk in the Confederate camp was that Slocum was to be crushed.

Slocum prepared for defense by throwing up works, ordered Williams, commanding the 20th corps, to throw his train to the right and hasten up, and sent a messenger to Sherman with the information that Johnston's army was in his front. Carlin's division in advanceing struck Hoke's division and after some severe fighting was repulsed, upon which Johnston ordered Hardee to charge with the right wing, Stewart's Army of Tennessee troops and Taliaferro's division, and General Bragg to join in the movement with his brigades successively, from right to left, each making the necessary change of front to the left in advancing. Hardee led his men forward and drove Carlin back just as the advance of the 20th corps came up, one brigade of which was sent to Carlin's support, and was driven back with him, and another put in the gap between Carlin and Morgan just as the Confederates reached the line, the remainder of the corps forming on Carlin's left. The Confederates had become somewhat broken up in advancing through the woods, and when they received a telling fire from behind the slight entrenchments that had hurriedly been thrown up they fell back. On the right Morgan's division of the 14th corps, with its supports, held its ground against Bragg's persistent attacks. The Confederate assaults were repeated several times. until a late hour, each assault finding the Union line better prepared to receive it. Johnston had given the 14th corps a heavy blow, but had failed to crush it, and determined not to renew the attack, but only to hold the ground until his wounded could be removed. The battle of the 19th was fought by about 16,000 men of the 14th and 20th corps on one side and about the same number of Confederates on the other.

When Capt. Joseph B. Foraker delivered to Sherman the message from Slocum that he had run up against Johnston's whole army, Sherman was incredulous, but he sent word to Slocum to hold on, ordered the 15th corps, which was well to the rear, to turn at once toward Bentonville, and the 17th corps to move in the same direction. Hazen's division of the 15th corps reported to Slocum during the night and was placed on the right. Early in the morning of the 20th Geary and Baird, each with two brigades, arrived on the field. Baird was placed in front of the works and moved out beyond the advanced position held on the preceding day. The day was spent in strengthening the position and developing the line of the enemy, which brought on sharp skirmishing. The right wing under Howard came up late in the afternoon of the 20th and on the morning of the 21st. It had marched 20 miles over bad roads, skirmishing a great part of the way with the Confederate cavalry. There was heavy skirmishing during the day, but no general attack, and during the night Johnston retreated, crossing Mill Creek by the bridge at Bentonville and bivouacking on the night of the 22d near Smithfield. The Union loss in the battle was 191 killed, 1,168 wounded and 287 missing,

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an aggregate of 1,643. The Confederate loss was 239 killed, 1,694 wounded and 673 missing, an aggregate of 2,606.

On the 22d Sherman resumed his march on Goldsboro and on the 23d and 24th his entire army was assembled around the place and junction made with Schofield's and Terry's forces, which had occupied it two days before. (See GOLDSBORO, KINSTON, etc.). "Thus," writes Sherman, "was concluded one of the longest and most important marches ever made by an organized army in a civilized country. . . . The country generally was in a state of nature, with innumerable swamps, with simply mud roads, nearly every mile of which had to be corduroyed. In our route we had captured Columbia, Cheraw and Fayetteville, important cities and depots of supplies, had compelled the evacuation of Charleston City and Harbor, had utterly broken up all the railroads of South Carolina and had consumed a vast amount of food and forage, essential to the enemy for the support of his own armies. We had in mid-winter accomplished the whole journey of 425 miles in 50 days, . . . and had reached Goldsboro with the army in superb order and the trains almost as fresh as when we had started from Atlanta." Consult Official Records' (Vol. XLVII); Van Horne, History of the Army of the Cumberland' (Vol. II); Sherman, Memoirs (Vol. II); Johnston, Narrative'; The Century Company's 'Battles and Leaders of the Civil War' (Vol. IV).

SAVARY, sä-vä-rē, Anne-Jean-MarieRené, DUKE OF ROVIGO, French general: b. Marcq, department of Ardennes, 26 April 1774; d. Paris, 2 June 1833. In 1789 he entered an infantry regiment. He served under Custine, Moreau and Desaix, and accompanied the last named on the expedition to Egypt. After the battle of Marengo he was appointed adjutant to Bonaparte, and soon rose very high in his confidence. After rising to the rank of lieutenant-general he was rewarded, after the victory of Friedland, with the title of Duke of Rovigo. In 1808 the emperor sent him to Madrid, where he negotiated the arrangement by which the Spanish king and his son were kidnapped. In 1810 he succeeded Fouché as minister of police. On Bonaparte's return from Elba he gave in his adhesion to him, and was appointed inspector-general of gensdarmes. He was carried to Malta in 1815, but escaped after being a prisoner for seven months. While there he began his 'Memoirs. Later he stood trial at Paris as one who had contributed to Napoleon's return, but was acquitted. In 1831-33 he was military commander of Algiers.

SAVASTANA. See GRASSES IN THE UNITED STATES.

SAVE, säv, or SAU, sow, Jugo-Slavia, river tributary to the Danube, formed near Radmannsdorf from the waters of the Wurzen and Wochlein Save which have their source in the eastern slope of the Julian Alps, and flow southcast through Illyria, along the southern part of Styria into Croatia. At the frontier it becomes exceedingly tortuous, and finally flows through the Wocheiner See. The fall is rapid until the Leibach is received, and then the river becomes navigable, flowing through a narrow valley enclosed by mountains; it follows a circuitous route for about 540 miles

and joins the Danube at Belgrade. Its main tributaries are all on the right the Kulpa, Una, Vrbas, Bosna and Drina. In the lower part, forming the boundary between Austria and Servia, it flows through flat plains, often devastating them by inundation. It forms an important outlet for the produce of the districts through which it flows.

SAVERY, Thomas, English engineer: b. Shilstone, near Modbury, Devonshire, about 1650; d. London, May 1715. He became a military engineer and rose to be captain in 1702. He is known for his inventions, most important of which was a machine for raising water from mines, which was the first practical application of steam power to a mechanical purpose. A patent granted him in 1698 extended until 1733.

SAVIDGE, Eugene Coleman, American physician and author: b. Maryland, 21 Oct. 1863. He was graduated from the University of France in 1888; from that of New York in 1889. He was for a time editor of the Expressman and is now attending gynecologist at Saint Mark's Hospital, New York. He has written 'Wallingford (1882); Life and Times of Brewster (1891); The American in Paris' (1895); (Selective Involution'; 'Philosophy of Radio-Activity) (1914); The Problem of Cancer'; 'Unclassified Dreams) (1915).

SAVIGNY, sä-vēn-yē, Friedrich Karl von, German jurist; b. Frankfort-on-the Main, 21 Feb. 1779; d. Berlin, 25 Oct. 1861. He studied chiefly at Marburg, became a lecturer there in 1800, and in 1803 professor of jurisprudence. In 1808 he was made professor of law in the University of Landshut, in Bavaria, and in 1810 obtained the chair of jurisprudence in the newly established University of Berlin, where he continued to lecture with uninterrupted success for 32 years. He was elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Science in 1811, was appointed a councilor of state in 1817 and in 1842 Minister of Justice for the revision of the law. He retired in 1848. His principal works are 'Geschichte des römischen Rechts im Mittelalter' (1815-31); 'System des heutigen römischen Rechts) (1840-48), to which 'Das Obligationenrecht' (1851-53) forms an appendix; Vermischte Schriften' (1850), a collection of essays which had appeared in legal periodicals. He brilliantly applied the historical method to the exposition of the Roman law. Consult the biographies by BethmannHollweg (1867) and Enneceerus (1879).

SAVILE, săv'il, or SAVILLE, George, MARQUIS OF HALIFAX, English statesman and writer: b. Thornhill, Yorkshire, 11 Nov. 1633; d. London, 5 April 1695. On the death of Cromwell he distinguished himself by his exertions in behalf of Charles II. In 1669 he was appointed a commissioner of trade, in 1672 became a member of the Privy Council, and in 1682 was created Marquis of Halifax and lord privy seal. Under James II he was made president of the council, but was dismissed from office because he opposed the repeal of the Test and Habeas Corpus Acts. From this time Lord Halifax continued in opposition, and contributed to the elevation of William III to the throne. was the author of Advice to a Daughter' (1868), and of a variety of political tracts, the principal of which are 'Maxims of State'; 'The

He

SAVILE SAVONAROLA

Character of a Trimmer'; 'Character of King Charles II; Anatomy of an Equivalent'; 'Letter to a Dissenter.'

SAVILE, SIR Henry, English scholar; b. Bradley, near Halifax, Yorkshire, 30 Nov. 1549; d. Eton, 19 Feb. 1622. He was educated at Oxford, became tutor in Greek to Queen Elizabeth, and in 1585 was made warden of Merton College and provost of Eton in 1596. He was knighted in 1604. In 1619 he founded two professorships in geometry and astronomy at Oxford, besides conferring several other valuable benefactions, both in property and books. Among his works the principal are his 'Commentaries on Roman Warfare' (1591); 'Rerum Anglicarum post Bedam Scriptores) (1596); 'Prælectiones tresdecim in principium elementorum Euclidis' (1621); and his edition of the writings of Saint Chrysostom (1610-13), in eight folio volumes, a work on which he is said to have spent £8,000.

SAVILLE, Marshall Howard, American archæologist: b. Rockport, Mass., 24 June 1867. He studied anthropology as a special student at Harvard University in 1889-94, and afterward engaged in field work under Prof. F. W. Putnam. He conducted a series of investigations of the remains of the Ohio Mound Builders, making some notable discoveries. He also made important explorations in Yucatan in 1890; in Honduras in 1891-92, 1915; in Mexico in 1899, 1902-04; in Ecuador in 1906-10, 1913; in Colombia in 1914; and in Central America in 1917. He was assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History in 1894-1902; and in 1902-05 curator of anthropology and Mexican and Central American anthropology there. Since 1903 he has been professor of American archæology at Columbia University. He is author of numerous monographs on anthropology and archæology.

ING.

SAVIN, or SABIN. See JUNIPER.

SAVINGS BANK. See BANKS AND BANK

SAVIOUR, Order of the. See BRIGITTINES; ORDERS, RELIGIOUS.

SAVONA, sä-võ'nä, Italy, in the province of Genoa on the west coast of the Riviera, 26 miles southwest of Genoa, is one of the most important towns of that region. It is picturesquely situated amid vine-clad hills and orange groves. The Castle of Saint George (1542) is now a military prison; the other buildings deserving notice are a Renaissance cathedral, with the magnificent tomb erected by Sixtus IV to his parents; the Della Rovere Palace, now occupied by municipal officers; other churches, a lyceum, a technical and a commercial institute, other educational institutions, a fine theatre, and a large hospital. It is a centre of the iron industry, having foundries of all kinds, besides glass-works, potteries, tanneries, brickyards and sulphur mills. It is an important seaport. Its chief imports are coal, petroleum, iron, cereals, and the exports consist of tomatoes, wood and candied fruits. The harbor, which is good, is defended by a fort. Pop. 50,000.

SAVONAROLA, Girolamo, jē-rō'lä-mō sä-vō-nä-rō'lä, Italian religious reformer: b. Ferrara, Italy, 21 Sept. 1452; d. Florence, 23 May 1498. As a boy he was well acquainted with mediæval learning and his family intended that

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he should become a physician, but a disappointment in love turned his thoughts to the church, and in 1475 he left home secretly and joined the Dominican order. After passing a severe novitiate in the monastery at Bologna he was made a teacher there, and in 1482 was sent to Saint Mark's monastery in Florence where he became disgusted at the corruption in church and state, and began to attack the abuses in his sermons. His first success as a preacher was at Brescia in 1484-85. He fascinated the worldly Italians by his terrible denunciations of vice and wickedness, and returned to Florence with a reputation as a popular preacher. In 1490 he was made lector in Saint Mark's, and crowds came to hear him. A year later he was chosen prior of Saint Mark. Though his convent had been favored by Lorenzo di Medici, Savonarola refused to do homage to him, as was customary. Lorenzo tried in vain to conciliate the friar who continually preached against the abuses in state and church. In 1492, Lorenzo di Medici, the chief opponent to the work of Savonarola in Florence, died. In the political confusion that followed, and during the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII of France, Savonarola by his public services acquired great influence among the Florentines. He desired a democratic government for Florence, and, when in 1494 the people drove out the Medici, he opposed the schemes of the aristocracy to seize the government, called a mass-meeting of the citizens and practically assumed the dictatorship of Florence, superintending the formation of a government in which the people were to fear God and amend their conduct, and prefer public to private interests. A general amnesty was proclaimed, and a council modeled on that of Venice was chosen to administer the government. There was no doge as in Venice, but for three years Savonarola was dictator. His enthusiasm for liberty, his zeal in religion, and his eloquent sermons, caused light-hearted pleasure-loving Florence to become a city of Puritans. Thomas Aquinas and the Old Testament furnished the spirit of the laws. Though not of the Renaissance and hostile to its spirit, especially to the pagan influence derived from the classics, Savonarola was not an enemy to learning and fine arts, though in 1497 he encouraged committees of children and devotees to search the city for frivolous books, cards, profane songs and music, and works of art of evil tendencies, which were destroyed under the direction of the government. No good books or works of art were destroyed at this time, though the next year many were lost in a second "burning of the vanities." Savonarola aimed at reforming the Church in the same caustic way. With his moral reforms he closely knitted political schemes and doctrines, and several times preached vigorously against Pope Alexander VI, who first tried to conciliate him. Savonarola spurned his advances, and in 1496 was ordered to cease preaching, and to undergo a trial for heresy. Silent for a time, Savonarola was attacked by the Franciscans and began again to preach. In 1497 he was excommunicated and Florence was threatened with an interdict if she harbored him. For a year he defied excommunication and demanded that a general council be called to depose Pope Alexander. But he had presumed too much upon the support of fickle citizens. Many were weary of

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