Key to Sherman’s destruction of Georgia was the elimination of Atlanta’s military, manufacturing, and communications facilities. The South’s largest city would essentially be destroyed with only private homes and churches exempted from burning. By Wednesday, November 16, 1864 Sherman left Atlanta a smoking ruin of a city, its economy and vitality in ruins, with her people desolate and bitter. As his forces moved into the Georgia countryside in four broad columns, there was limited skirmishing from militia and a few cavalry units. Behind enemy lines and operating on his own, Sherman would have been vulnerable to attack, if the Confederacy could have mustered sufficient forces against him. But the tide of battle had long turned against the Confederacy, and she lacked sufficient manpower to defend herself against Sherman’s campaign.
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.