After taking Atlanta, General William T. Sherman planned to take his army across Georgia. He felt like defeating and controlling Georgia would help the North to win. Washington allowed him to make this move.
Dividing into two armies, Union troops moved their way to the Atlantic Coast. They did not maintain a supply line like they had done when they moved down to Atlanta. They decided to live off of and destroy the land. Everything that was in their path was in danger. They left Atlanta on November 15, 1864. A month later they got to the coast. Next, they attacked and took Fort McAllister, 12 miles from Savannah. Sherman then prepared for a siege of Savannah. Savannah surrendered a week later. Sherman offered, by telegraph, the city of Savannah and its 25,000 bales of cotton to President Lincoln. It was Sherman’s Christmas present to the president..
How did Sherman’s army make the ‘March to the Sea?’ His army traveled from Atlanta to Savannah. As they went they foraged the land for their food. They no longer had a supply line.
Each brigade was ordered to gather and have a three-day supply of food. His troops destroyed bridges, tunnels, and railroads. Railroad ties were torn out, stacked, and burned. The metal rails were placed on top of the burning ties until they were red hot. The hot rails were then twisted into what became known as “Sherman’s neckties.” Sherman told the Southerners that as long as they continued to fight he would make them pay dearly.
Sherman’s march across Georgia had a powerful effect. It made the people of Georgia angry and scared. His army took the food that had been stored for winter. They kept and used what they wanted and burned the rest. They also destroyed the ability of the people of Georgia to produce food and to stay at war. While he did not level towns, he did destroy buildings where there was resistance. Sherman wanted to break the South’s will to fight.
After getting to Savannah, Sherman kept on with his march. He got the okay to march through South Carolina. He did the same thing there that he had done in Georgia. Then his army continued its march of destruction into North Carolina. As a result of Sherman’s march through the South, the people of the Confederacy wondered if they could win. More and more they did not think they could do it.
Text Credits:
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/shermans-march-sea;
Sherman’s strategy- https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/scorched-earth;