Will Moore's
Site of Knowledge
The Union Soldiers were savages during there march to Savannah, they raided farms and plantations killing all the livestock and taking all the bread and potatoes they could. They later became known as "bummers" because whatever they couldn't carry along with them on foot they would burn ("Sherman's March"). General Sherman wanted to cause as much damage as he could, he wrote in his journel that "I want it to hurt to sucede." (William T. Sherman) Three weeks after leaving Atlanta, Sherman's troops arrived in Savannah on December 21, 1864. Upon arriving the city was unguarded as the Confederates had fleed from their positions. General Sherman offered the city to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
As the calender turned to 1865, Sherman's men left Savannah and marched North through South Carolina to Charleston ("Sherman's March"). The soldiers continued to burn and loot whatever crossed there path as they headed to Charleston. When they arrived in Charleston in April. the Confederacy had surrendered and the civil war was done with.
Sherman's March
Union General William Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a tyrade through the state of Georgia. The march took place from November 15- December 21 in 1864, it was a 285 mile march from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia ("Sherman's March"). Union General William T. Shermans objective was to frighten the citizens of Georgia into abandoning the confederate cause. The soldiers did not destroy any of the southern towns however they did loot and burn both the livestock and houses of the civilians ("Sherman's March"). Sherman's March was is referred to as a "scorched earth policy" as the soldiers burnt everything between them and the sea (Alan Brinkley).
General Sherman's most significant victory during the march came when they captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864 ("Scorched Earth"). It was a important victory because Atlanta was a railroad hub and the industrial center of the Confederacy ("Sherman's March"). The rail lines supplied food and ammunition to Confederate soldiers across the South. Given that Atlanta was a area of great Confederate pride and strength, the loss dealt a great blow to the confidence of the South.
After the lose of Atlanta the Confederate army went West splitting into Tenessee and Alabama. General Sherman did not want to ditch the original mission of marching to Savannah to chase the Confederate army, so he split his men in half sending some with Major General George Thomas to meet the Confederates in Nashville while Sherman took the rest of him men with him to continue marching to Savannah ("Scorched Earth"). General Sherman believed that the Confederacy got its strength not from its army but from the overwhelming support and supplies from southern sympathetic whites. Sherman believed that if he destroyed the factories, farms, and railroads that supplied the Confederate soldiers with supplies that he would destroy the Confederates will to fight.
Sherman's troops marched toward Savannah in two groups often engaging in brief battles with Confederate soldiers. One skirmish in particular occured in Griswoldville where the Union soldiers spanked the Confederates causing them to retreat south ("Sherman's March"). The retreating soldiers burnt bridges, chopped down trees, and destroyed bridges before the Union army could reacht them.
Union General William Sherman's march to Savannah although brutal and controversial was effective. He crushed Confederate morale and made it nearly impossibe for the Confederacy to fight at full capacity because they were lacking supplies and a fighting spirit ("Sherman's March"). General Sherman's march likely fast-forwarded the end of the war and insured a victory for the North.
