With his army literally at the gates of Atlanta, William Tecumseh Sherman still faced a determined force of Confederate defenders. On Wednesday, July 27, 1864 the Union general took steps to further isolate Atlanta, sending out several cavalry expeditions to destroy the railroads south of the city. Alexander McCook’s Union cavalry raided the Atlanta and West Point and the Macon and Western railroads for the next four days, engaging in several skirmishes, while Kenner Garrard’s Federals raided toward the South River and George Stoneman’s Union cavalry threatened Macon, Georgia. Hood’s army, primarily focused on holding the city of Atlanta, was too undermanned to effectively prevent such Union raids. The numerical superiority of Sherman’s army was soon about to overwhelm the defensive skills of John Bell Hood’s Confederate army.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.