Sherman's March to the Sea

 Ulysses S. Grant ordered

William Tecumseh
Sherman to lead the
Union army in Tennessee
to take Chattanooga.

 Union secured

Chattanooga in
November 1863

 Sherman planned to

attack Atlanta, GA, a
major Confederate city.

 Sherman began his attack on

Atlanta in May 1864.

 The city was a center for

southern supplies, factories,
and railroads.

 Experienced Union soldiers

marched into GA.

 The Confederates fought back

all summer; however Sherman’s
larger army finally captured
Atlanta in September.

 Sherman sent a message to Lincoln by telegraph.

 Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.”

 Lincoln welcomed this news. He was running for

reelection in 1864 and worried about losing.

 He needed victories like Atlanta to gain voters’

support.

 From Atlanta, Sherman’s

soldiers marched to
Savannah.

 This march became known as

“Sherman’s March to the
Sea.”

 Along the way, they

destroyed anything
southerners needed for war.

 They stole food, wrecked

railroad tracks and factories,
and killed animals.

 After reaching Savannah, Sherman’s army turned

north, once again ruining everything in his path.

 One woman described how the soldiers “roamed

about setting fire to every house …”

 Sherman used total war to make southerners so

tired of fighting that they would give up.

 Total War: the strategy of destroying an enemy’s

resources.

Union general, William T Sherman brought death and
destruction to the South. In his Atlanta Campaign he
moved his army south into Atlanta. When the Union
troops finally took over Atlanta, they burned it.

Then, they headed to Savannah on what is called the “March to the Sea.”

Sherman wanted to destroy the South so that they couldn’t fight. His men destroyed railroads,
bridges, homes, crops, stores along the way. He
then headed to destroy South Carolina.

He reached Savannah just before Christmas of 1864 and sent Lincoln a telegram presenting the city as a gift. He headed for South Carolina to continue his destruction.

By April of 1865, the confederate army was
suffering. General Lee surrendered to General
Grant in the town of Appomattox Court House, VA
instead of celebrating, most soldiers on both sides
quietly went home. The Union won the Civil War.