The Role Of General Sherman In The Spring Of 1864

Sherman lead Union forces into battle to take control of the city of Atlanta, Georgia. This was part of a plan known as the Atlanta campaign that was constructed by Sherman under Commander in Chief Ulysses S. Grant. According to Facts on File, Inc. “Plans for the capture of Atlanta, the Confederacy’s largest railroad hub… were first formulated in February and March 1864” (2009). This was about four to five months before Sherman had led the union into Atlanta. Sherman’s plan which was revealed in April, was described to destroy railroads in order to cease the transportation of supplies that confederate troops needed, as well as make Joseph E. Johnston’s army of Confederate soldiers retreat back to Atlanta forcing them to surrender. A month after on May 5, 1864 Union soldiers attacked Confederates at Dalton, Georgia and attacked Resaca four days later. On May 12 Johnston led his soldiers to meet the Union army at Resaca where his army would battle Union soldiers from May 13 to May 15. Although Confederates had driven Union soldiers back on the second day of battle, after Johnston received reports telling him of the Unions success in gaining position he decided not to attack on the following morning and instead retreated his soldiers to Calhoun and Adairsville. Following this evacuation, Confederates were supposed to ambush Union soldiers on Cassville road, they were all positioned by May 19 in the morning, but the army retreated and waited for Union soldiers to attack

During the Civil War a special bond of common respect and relationship of the most

men, Sherman started on his famous march of 400 miles (645 kilometers) "from Atlanta to the sea." For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut himself off from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what they could get from the country through which they passed. They covered a path 60 miles (95 kilometers) wide in their march, and in that path everything that they could not use but that might prove of use to the enemy was ruthlessly

Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman observed to a Southern friend that, "In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. . . .You are bound to fail." While Sherman's statement proved to be correct, its flaw is in its assumption of a decided victory for the North and failure to account for the long years of difficult fighting it took the Union to secure victory. Unquestionably, the war was won and lost on the battlefield, but there were many factors that swayed the war effort in favor of the North and impeded the South's ability to stage a successful campaign.

Union general William T. Sherman led nearly 60,000 men on a 285 mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864. Sherman’s motive behind this march was to intimidate Georgia’s civilians into renouncing their loyalty to the Confederate cause. While Sherman’s men did not eradicate any of the towns they passed, they stole livestock, food, and burned the houses and barns of the individuals who tried to fight back. The Union was “not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people,” Sherman explicated; as a result, they needed to “make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.”. (history.com)

The Civil war was a make or break war for America and it was essential that the Union stayed whole. William T. Sherman understood the possibility that if the South won that the United States would no longer exist. He took action and went to the extremes necessary to ensure the union stayed whole. The south portrays William T. Sherman as a villain of the Civil War because of his harsh tactics, but without his willingness to go to such extremes the war would not have ended the same way. William T. Sherman saved the Union because he recognizes that the Civil War would be impossible to win without strident tactics, exceptional battle strategies, and unrelenting determination which would bring the war to a conclusion.

On September 1, 1864 Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, Commander of the Military Division of Army of Mississippi with his Union troops, had successfully captured Atlanta from the Confederate Army led by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood. At that time Atlanta considered as the heart of the South for the Southerns and for the Confederate Army. On the other hand “Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant General in chief of the U.S. Army believed that the Civil War would come to an end only if the Confederacy 's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken” . So after the south had lost their most important railroad junctions and their important productive manufacturing centers, Sherman would now fight the last battle to make it more difficult for the southern Confederacy.

Introduction: Sherman’s March was a military campaign that started in Georgia and was formed November 15 until December 21, 1864. ( “Shermans March to Sea”). Sherman’s March was also known as the Savannah campaign only because the March ended in the capture of port Savannah. ( “Sherman’s March to Sea”). The March was led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. (“Sherman’s March to Sea”).Sherman’s March had many negative effects on the north and south, but it ended as a win for the north. (Union army). It was classified as a win for the union(North) because it is known for its boldness as well as the utter destruction on the South, both to its industry as well as military targets, effectively destroying the Confederate’s capacity to wage war. (History Net).

Before the fall of Atlanta, various battles resulting in Union defeat had left crushed hopes for the Union, General Sherman even having to stand down from his attacks on Kennesaw Mountain and Pigeon Hill when he foresaw their defeat. Despite this, he remained resilient and due to Atlanta’s role as a significant rail and supply hub for the Confederacy, the Union targeted the city and General Sherman consequently cut through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah in a blaze of flames after evacuating its citizens, crushing the Confederate army’s supplies and morale. His success not only ensured Abraham Lincoln’s reelection but also wreaked havoc across vital Confederate railroads, damaging the Confederacy’s war efforts beyond repair. The reelection of Abraham Lincoln boosted the spirits of the Union and secured Union victory in the nearby

An important series of battles, during the American Civil War, the March to Atlanta, took place in northern Georgia. The Union forces were led by General Sherman with General Johnston commanding the Confederate forces. The Union troops had two objectives, to defeat Johnston’s army and to take the city of Atlanta (Mitchell). The Confederate had three objectives, to defeat the Union armies, to defend Atlanta, and to extend the war for as long as possible (Mitchell). By delaying General Sherman’s arrival in Atlanta, the Confederate armies hoped that the North would believe that the war was too expensive and ultimately blame President Lincoln. The effects of the march to Atlanta would be long term, as the fall of Atlanta unified the Republican

The taking of the railroads proved to be overwhelming as the Confederacy had a vastly superior Calvary group, which hindered the plan of cutting off the supply lines. In order to combat this problem, Sherman would maneuver his troops to a flanking position and would lead to the capture of one of the railroad station and pushed the Confederate soldiers back. The capture of Atlanta was a significant factor in determining the

In order to end the Civil War, the Union and Confederacy needed strong leaders. These leaders were William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant. Their successes and failures helped lead to the Union victory.

William Sherman believed that capturing Georgia would be effective and psychological as fighting. Sherman then has his troops circle Atlanta in July, forcing Hood to abandon Georgia on September 1, 1864. He captures Georgia the next day which was a major part of “Sherman’s March Towards Sea” because Atlanta had railroads and was the industrial center of Georgia. Another reason Sherman burned Georgia to the ground is because Atlanta had warehouses that stored most of the Confederate Army's food. Burning most of

General William T. Sherman is not as well known today as say, Lincoln or Grant. All American Historians know of Uncle Billy. Before the outbreak of the war, General Sherman gave a speech about how long, bloody, and ugly this Civil War was going to be. Sherman could not have been more correct in his prediction. Four years of war and 620,000 Americans lost their lives by wars end. Sherman’s scorched earth policies would be controversial in nature, but Sherman knew it was the only way to get the Confederate States to surrender. Even been quoted to saying things like “War is hell” and “They will pay for what they have done to the Union”.

The video starts by stating multiple events that happened in 1864, putting the 4th year of the Civil War into worldwide context. During this year, the United States would be the first nation to hold an election during a civil war; Lincoln's chance at winning the election of 1864 was very low because of the 3.5 years of war. The video then focuses on the major generals of the war, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, by mentioning their lives before and during the war. Grant and Lee's first encounter was in the Battle of the Wilderness, where the undergrowth was so heavy that the enemy's movements could only be seen until the 2 sides were right infront of each other; the battle caused many casualties to both sides and was inconclusive. Major