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William Sherman was an Ohio Soldier. The Union soldiers thought he was mentally unstable, but Grant supported him. In November of 1864, Sherman 62,000 men on a __march to the sea__ to capture Savannah, Georgia. He ordered that Atlanta be evacuated and then proceeded with burning it. Sherman and his men left a 300 mile long path of destruction across Georgia. Along the way, they destroyed bridges, factories, and railroads, slaughtered live stock, and took grain.

John Bell Hood threatened to cut off Sherman's supplies. Sherman didn't act against him, he considered the threat an empty one that didn't matter. Sherman's plan was to have 30,000 men defend Nashville. He ignored Hood and went from Georgia to South Carolina with the 62,000 men to meet with supply ships to prepare for other movement. Sherman divided his army into 2 sections: marching abreast and stretching 60 miles in width. They collected people along the way, such as slaves and women with babies.

They arrived in Savannah to find the confederate force flee. That left them able to walk in freely without a fight. Sherman took a message to Lincoln that read, "I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah." Sherman's estimations were that about 200 miles of railroad track were desroyed, $20 million of property with military value destroyed, and $180 million of other property destroyed.

Works Cited:

America: Pathways to the Present

The Civil War for Dummies by: Keith D. Dickson