On Friday, September 2, 1864 William Tecumseh Sherman informed the Union War Department in Washington, D.C. of the capitulation of Atlanta, Georgia. “Fairly won” read the short but triumphant message Sherman sent to Washington. In the early morning hours of September 2 Slocum’s Union corps had been the first to enter evacuated Atlanta, and Slocum immediately sent word to Sherman, who with his army was moving toward Lovejoy Station to attack Hood’s retreating Confederates. Sherman immediately withdrew his forces into Atlanta to reorganize, rest, and to plan. Sherman, Atlanta’s conqueror, now had to establish his control over Atlanta’s citizenry. John Bell Hood also utilized Sherman’s temporary withdrawal into Atlanta to rest and replenish his own beleaguered army, as he attempted to anticipate Sherman’s next move against the Confederate homeland.
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.