Atlanta Campaign: The Bloody Struggle for Georgia During the US Civil War

"The Atlanta Campaign (7 May to 2 September 1864) was a major military campaign in the western theater of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It saw a large Union force under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman invade Georgia, constantly outmaneuvering the Confederate Army of Tennessee, until he came to the strategically significant city of Atlanta. After several bloody battles, Sherman captured Atlanta on 2 September, delivering one of the final death blows to the Confederate States."

"Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Union armies, hoped to break the fighting strength of the Southern Confederacy with a series of coordinated offensives across multiple fronts - while he remained in Virginia to square off against Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Grant entrusted command of the western theater of operations to his favorite subordinate, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman."

"Grant instructed Sherman to invade Georgia and capture the city of Atlanta, a major supply and railroad center, the fall of which would seriously cripple the Confederate war effort. Sherman was also ordered to destroy the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by General Joseph E. Johnston, and to "get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their resources" (quoted in Foote, 318)."

In the spring of 1864 both Union and Confederate forces prepared for another intense campaign season. Ulysses S. Grant planned coordinated offensives across multiple fronts and assigned William T. Sherman to lead operations in the western theater. Grant ordered an invasion of Georgia and the capture of Atlanta, a major supply and railroad center, and directed destruction of the Confederate Army of Tennessee and enemy resources. Sherman planned to use railroads from Chattanooga but was prepared to live off the land if necessary. Sherman assembled an invasion force of 98,000 men organized into three separate armies and began preparations to move into Georgia.

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