Marching Through Georgia

B Y the middle of the fourth year of the Civil War, in 1864, the Union forces had grown far superior to the Confederates in numbers and resources. The Northern armies numbered eight hundred thousand men, while the Southern had barely half that many. The Confederates were therefore largely compelled to keep on the defensive.

It was thought that the Federal army could now crush the Confederates by one great effort. General Ulysses S. Grant had shown himself the most successful commander on the Northern side, and he was made lieutenant-general and given entire direction of the campaign. He decided to march towards Richmond, and ordered General William Tecumseh Sherman to take Atlanta.

Sherman had an army of veterans, and advanced rapidly south. By the middle of July, 1864, he was in front of Atlanta. The Confederates tried to break through his lines, but were thrown back. On July 22nd Sherman ordered an attack on the city, and the fighting lasted for two days, with both armies losing many men. The Union troops could not take Atlanta by assault, and so settled down to tire out the Confederates. For almost a month daily skirmishes followed, and on September 2nd, the Southern armies evacuated the city.

When he had possession of Atlanta, Sherman decided on a manœuvre which was to have a great effect on the war. He planned to destroy Atlanta, and march through the state of Georgia, capturing one or more of the large seaport cities. He burned Atlanta, and set his army on march for Savannah on November 16, 1864.

This was the famous "march to the sea," which divided the Confederate country and despoiled the homes and farms of Georgia. The army left a track of ruin forty miles in width. Sherman had determined to do his utmost to end the war, and he considered this method a necessary evil. The South was alarmed. The Confederate General Beauregard tried to check Sherman's army, but that veteran army overcame all opposition, and on December 22, 1864, marched into Savannah, which the Confederates had abandoned. Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah."

Sherman's army had marched two hundred and fifty miles from Atlanta to the sea. January 15, 1865, they started north into South Carolina, and soon had added the cities of Columbia and Charleston to their captures. Meantime Grant was gradually overcoming Lee's army in Virginia, and the war was soon brought to a close. Sherman's march through Georgia had contributed greatly to the speedy end of the conflict.

The song "Marching Through Georgia" became one of the most popular of the Union songs of the war. Wherever Sherman's veterans gathered that song was sure to be heard.

Marching Through Georgia

by Henry Clay Work