In the late afternoon of Thursday, September 1, 1864 Confederate General John Bell Hood, fearing a direct attack by William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union forces, ordered the immediate evacuation of Atlanta, Georgia. Extensive munitions and supplies could not be removed, so to prevent their falling into enemy hands, fires and explosions soon rocked Atlanta’s railroad depot and yards. Hood had failed to protect Atlanta; he was now intent on saving his army for another day. Outside of Atlanta, at Jonesborough Federal units under the command of Union Generals Thomas and Scofield clashed with Hardee’s Confederate corps for the second day in a row; by nightfall Hardee’s weakened corps reunited with Hood’s forces at Lovejoy Station, Georgia. Just after midnight, Union forces began to occupy Atlanta, the South’s largest city.
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.