Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea

Atlanta Campaign

Sherman's Atlanta campaign was a sires of battles fought up in northern Georgia and around the city of Atlanta, it was imperative that they captured Atlanta and had a major victory or Abraham Lincoln would not have been re-elected. During the summer of 1861- 1864 Union Major General William T. Sherman lead an army through the state of Georgia, his main goal was to take the city of Atlanta. By 1861 Atlanta had grown from a small railroad center into a major city that was like the heart pumping blood through the veins, the veins being the railroads and the heart being Atlanta where all the supplies used were transported out of on the railroads to the confederate army. Sherman fought many battles as he stretched out towards Atlanta, and  ended the Atlanta campaign with a siege on Atlanta till the confederates surrendered and Atlanta was owned by the Union on September 1864.

Sherman's March to the Sea

After Sherman took Atlanta he sent President Abraham Lincoln a telegram telling him "happy birthday, I give you Atlanta!" this gave the North hope that the tides were turning and Abraham Lincoln could win this war. Sherman and a Bunch of commanders gathered there in Atlanta and debated on what should be done next, Sherman suggested that they evacuate Atlanta and burn it to the ground making it less appealing to be recaptured and if it was it would be useless, also in that meeting it was decided that Sherman would lead an army down through Georgia all the way to Savannah, one of the major sea ports. Later on November 15 1864 Sherman and his men set out across Georgia, he used a war commonly called total war (or scorched earth) when ever he came to any farms, houses, or buildings he would raid them of their possessions and would take their food which he used to feed his armies. Aside from the main point of the war being to take northern Georgia and Savannah Sherman was also aiming to damage people psychologically, he figured that by raiding peoples homes and farms they would feel unsafe and would beg the leaders and their family members to quit fighting and come home and it worked, people started abandoning the war and started going home. Sherman's march proved successful and ended on December 21 1864 with the capture of major cities Macon, Augusta, and Savannah (along with a bunch of smaller places. Sherman's march not only gave the union more land but it gave the union confidence that they might actually win the war, and so they set them selves towards the path of victory.    

Union Blockade on Georgia's Coast

During the Civil War ports and shipping were a major part of delivering supplies to troops and one busiest and important port to the Confederacy was the port of Savannah. Savannah was constantly shipping goods to Confederate troops so the Union figured that if they were to take the ports of Savannah they would be able to prevent goods from being shipped and would also defuse the threat of the Confederacy attacking by sea. By 1862 the Union had placed ships blocking almost every major Confederate port including Savannah where they also took coastal islands and bases. After the loss of a bunch of major ports the president of the Confederates Jefferson Davis appointed Robert E. Lee in charge of navel command where he proved to be a very good general by fending off the Union navy; he was about to fend the Union off entirely when there came a threat from the land, it was Sherman's March to the sea and they were coming in fast so in order to stop a siege on Savannah they had to abandon the blockade and leave to fight Sherman.   

The Battle of Chickamauga

The battle of Chickamauga took place near Chattanooga, and Chickamauga creek, the battle took place on September 18-20th 1863 and is known as being the second bloodiest battle with casualties higher than 34,000. The union leader for this battle was Major General William S. Rosecrans who was attempting to advance southward; the confederate leader for this battle was General Braxton Bragg who was attempting to prevent the Union from advancing farther south. The reason for the union wanting Chattanooga was because it was a major rail junction and gateway to the deep south, after a series of battles Rosecrans finally forced Bragg's to retreat back into Chattanooga where he reinforced thinking that that was the next place Rosecrans was going to attack and that is where he messed up because Rosecrans had considered that they would be defending Chattanooga so he moved his troops down around Chattanooga and was behind the enemy with the capability of attacking the enemy and the enemy territory. Instead of attacking Chattanooga from behind Rosecrans went through the enemy territory in split up groups, eventually Bragg found out about this and he was terrified but he also heard about the Union army being split into many groups so he sent after the separated troops but only attacked a couple times and missed many opportunities to attack which was one of the causes they did not win the battle, but Rosecrans had also made a mistake, he was lead to belive that there was a gap within his lines so he broke one of the other groups to fill this "gap" opening a real gap and the confederates used that to their advantage and led a massive attack. Finally both sides met fully at Chickamauga creek and a battle erupted, many people were killed or wounded and the battle finally ended inconclusive. 

The Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg

The battle of Gettysburg took place on July 1-3, 1863 in Pennsylvania,  it is known as one of the battles with the most casualties which totaled up to around 51, 112. The south fought the battle of Gettysburg for two main reasons, one was to gain control of the land and make the union bring their troops off of the front lines and to Gettysburg giving Lee the advantage needed to take the north. The Confederate force of 75,000 men start advancing up towards Gettysburg, Lee's strategy for this war was to bring the fighting out of the south and back up into the north, also to scare and threaten cities such as Harrisburg, Washington D.C. At the start of the battle the Union was forced to retreat, many of people fled especially free African Americans who where afraid of being capture, although many people hid or fled there where a few who risked family and home helping union troops, one of these brave Northerners was Fannie Buehler, she took in many wounded Union troops into her house and treated to their wounds, sadly though in the end she was killed for helping the soldiers. Union troops arrive that night and begin setting up barricades on Cemetery and Gulps hill giving them the higher ground advantage. When the time came Lee and his commanders decided that they were going to charge up the middle, they figured that if they were to send a few men around to the flanks of the battle field that the Union would move out to the flanks and Lee's men could just charge up the middle. The Union commander George Meade realized what they where doing and did not move; Lee's men charged right up the middle into enemy fire, they also had the lower ground causing many casualties for the Confederates allowing a union victory.     

The Battle of Gettysburg Video (Viewer discretion advised)

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was a order issued by President Abraham Lincoln after the battle of Antietam and it stated that any slaves within the rebel countries shall be freed if that state is captured but if the state were to surrender they would be spared their "property". The main goal of The Emancipation Proclamation was to scare the south, Abraham Lincoln figured that if the knew that their slaves were going to be taken away if they did not surrender that they would be so scared of losing "property" that they would lay down their arms and rejoin the union. Although the proclamation appears to be trying to give saves their freedom that was not the point of the proclamation, it say that the slave holding states still in the union (Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, and Kentucky) would all be allowed to keep their slaves and that the proclamation did not apply to them. Unfortunately for the union the Emancipation proclamation did not scare the south out of war but instead increased their reasons to fight, although it did sway it's civilians which could turn the tides of the war.   

The Battle of Antietam

Antietam

The battle of Antietam, also known as the battle of Sharpsburg, took place on September 17, 1862 in the state of Maryland. The lead generals of this war were George B. McClellan who fought for the union, and Robert E. Lee who fought for the confederates; their leadership would have to be more than astounding for this battle would determine whether or not the confederates had what it takes to fight and win the war or if they were outmatched by the north. The reason the war was fought near a small town was because in an earlier battle on of the union soldiers found the confederates battle plan and realized that the confederates were planning an attack on many of the major cities and they were taking a route through the tiny town of Sharpsburg Maryland. The armies met at Antietam creek were the fighting broke out all over from the creek all up to Miller's corn field, while general McClellan charged from the front Joseph Hooker's men charged the flanks of the confederate army. In the end the war ended with a victory that was inconclusive with union casualties at 12,400 and confederate casualties at 10,316. This war was important because it kept other countries like Great Britain, Spain, and France out of the war and gave Abraham Lincoln the confidence to pass the Emancipation proclamation.