On Tuesday, November 22, 1864 the relentless juggernaut which was Sherman’s army occupied the Georgia state capital at Milledgeville. The Georgia state legislature fled after issuing a levy for troops. The first stage of Sherman’s plan to bring the war into the heartland of the Confederacy worked brilliantly. Georgia was powerless to oppose Sherman. With foragers operating far and wide along the paths of his army, the Union army took what it wanted and often looting and burned all in its path. It seemed Confederate defenders could only harass Sherman’s advancing columns and occasionally skirmish with the invaders. Confederate General William Hardee was appointed to oppose Sherman, an impossible task given that Hardee lacked sufficient troops and did not know the varying routes that Sherman’s advancing columns would take.
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.