The Atlanta Campaign
After boosting Union morale by occupying the vital Confederate railroad center of Atlanta, Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman, who had assumed command of the western armies after Grant’s promotion to general-in-chief, proposed a daring operation to which Grant and Lincoln somewhat hesitantly agreed. Leading 62,000 troops divided into two main columns, Sherman embarked on a “March to the Sea.” He intended to make the Confederates “howl” by having his men confiscate or destroy all materials useful to the Southern war effort as they marched across nearly 300 miles of hostile Georgia toward the port city of Savannah. This detailed map of the southeastern portion of the country shows fortifications and the lines of march of the 4th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 20th U.S. Army corps and cavalry.
After boosting Union morale by occupying the vital Confederate railroad center of Atlanta, Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman, who had assumed command of the western armies after Grant’s promotion to general-in-chief, proposed a daring operation to which Grant and Lincoln somewhat hesitantly agreed. Leading 62,000 troops divided into two main columns, Sherman embarked on a “March to the Sea.” He intended to make the Confederates “howl” by having his men confiscate or destroy all materials useful to the Southern war effort as they marched across nearly 300 miles of hostile Georgia toward the port city of Savannah. This detailed map of the southeastern portion of the country shows fortifications and the lines of march of the 4th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 20th U.S. Army corps and cavalry.