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The Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia.Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John Bell Hood.
However, the capture of Atlanta made an enormous contribution to Union morale and was an important factor in the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln. Sherman realized that garrisoning Atlanta long-term would be a waste of troops, and that eventually the city would need to be abandoned. [30]
The campaign began on November 15 with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta, recently taken by Union forces, and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. His forces followed a " scorched earth " policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy ...
In the Western Theater, Union forces were placed in the Military Division of the Mississippi, commanded by Major General William T. Sherman, who had orders to capture Atlanta. During the three-month Atlanta Campaign , Sherman outflanked Joseph E. Johnston 's Army of Tennessee out of one position after another until the two forces reached Atlanta.
On the same day, Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood, one of Sherman's division commanders reported that a captured Atlanta newspaper disclosed that Opelika was captured. Sherman was pleased because the news suggested that the raiders were successful. The Battle of Peachtree Creek was fought near Atlanta on July 20. [13]
After Sherman captured Savannah, he was ordered by Grant to embark his army on ships to reinforce the Union armies in Virginia, where Grant was bogged down in the Siege of Petersburg against Robert E. Lee. Sherman proposed an alternative strategy. He persuaded Grant that he should march north through the Carolinas instead, destroying everything ...
A map showing Sherman's March to the Sea from November to December 1864. In November 1864, Sherman stripped his army of non-essentials, burned the city of Atlanta, and left it to the Confederates. He began his famous Sherman's March to the Sea, living off the land then burning plantations, wrecking railroads, killing livestock, and freeing slaves.
The Skirmish at Pace's Ferry [1] was an engagement fought on July 5, 1864, near Pace's Ferry, Atlanta, Georgia, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. [2] Union troops of Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard seized a key pontoon bridge over the Chattahoochee River , enabling Federal troops to continue their offensive to capture the ...