Atlanta Campaign, Links

May 7–September 2, 1864

This collection of Secondary Sources contains links to websites that provide more information about the Atlanta Campaign of 1864.

William T Sherman at Atlanta, Photograph

General William T. Sherman on horseback at Federal Fort No. 7 in Atlanta. Image Source: Library of Congress.

Secondary Sources for the Atlanta Campaign

This collection of Secondary Sources for the Atlanta Campaign is from what we believe are reputable online sources. If you click on any of the links below, you will leave American History Central. We do not certify the accuracy of the information, nor endorse points of view expressed on the site to which you are navigating.

Atlanta Campaign — American Battlefield Trust

In early May 1864, Federal forces under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman began battling the Confederate Army of Tennessee. At stake was Atlanta, major manufacturing center and railroad hub. Sherman had 110,000 men in three armies around Chattanooga. Facing them at Dalton, eighty miles north of Atlanta, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had 53,800 officers and men present for duty. Within the month the Confederates received 15,000 reinforcements, making Johnston’s army at the time the South’s largest. Despite his large numbers, Johnston’s plan hinged on taking a strong defensive position and waiting for the enemy to attack him.

Source: Battlefields.org

Atlanta Campaign — History Channel

In the summer of 1864, during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65), Union General William T. Sherman faced off against Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston and John B. Hood in a series of battles in northern Georgia. Sherman’s goal was to destroy the Army of the Tennessee, capture Atlanta and cut off vital Confederate supply lines. While Sherman failed to destroy his enemy, he was able to force the surrender of Atlanta in September 1864, boosting Northern morale and greatly improving President Abraham Lincoln’s re-election bid. With Atlantaunder Union control, Sherman embarked on his March to the Sea, which laid waste to the countryside and hastened the Confederacy’s defeat.

Source: History.com

Atlanta Campaign — Georgia Encyclopedia

By early 1864 most Confederate Southerners had probably given up hopes of winning the Civil War (1861-65) by conquering Union armies. The Confederacy had a real chance, though, of winning the war simply by not being beaten. In spring 1864 this strategy required two things: first, Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s army in Virginia had to defend its capital, Richmond, and keep Union general Ulysses S. Grant’s forces at bay; and second, the South’s other major army, led by Joseph E. Johnston in north Georgia, had to keep William T. Sherman’s Union forces from driving south and capturing Atlanta, the Confederacy’s second-most important city.

Source: Georgia Encyclopedia

Atlanta Campaign — The American Civil War

In the Western Theater during 1864, the principal operation was the Atlanta Campaign followed by Sherman’s “March to the Sea” Savannah Campaign. By the first week in May, Union forces from the lower Tennessee to the Virginia coast were in motion. They were participants in a coordinated offensive devised by Gen.-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant. One of the most strategically significant of these operations involved a movement south from Chattanooga by the armies of the Military Division of the Mississippi, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. These 98,000 men and 254 cannon (divided among Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, and Army of the Ohio under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, and 4 cavalry divisions) constituted, Sherman felt, “one of the best armies in the world.”

Source: The American Civil War

Atlanta Campaign — Atlanta Campaign, Inc.

The Atlanta Campaign, Inc. is a non-profit, living history organization based in Georgia. Their goal is to perpetuate public awareness of, and stimulate interest in, the historical significance of the American Civil War.

Source: Atlanta Campaign, Inc.

Atlanta Campaign: A Virtual Tour — Civil War Album

In the summer of 1864 things did not look good for Abraham Lincoln. On August 28th, he wrote, “This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be reelected.” Lt. General U. S. Grant was stalled in front of Petersburg, after several months of horrific fighting with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. And Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had managed to delay Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s aspirations for the conquest of Atlanta by the western Federal armies.

Source: Civil War Album.com

Atlanta Campaign — U.S. History

In the spring of 1864, while Grant was in The Wilderness, William T. Sherman and 90,000 Union soldiers moved southward from Chattanooga toward Atlanta. A smaller Confederate force, about 60,000 men, was under the command of Joseph E. Johnston. Their role was to slow the Union advance and to try to disrupt the lines of supply as Sherman went farther into Southern territory.

Source: u-s-history.com

Atlanta Campaign — Son of the South

Source: Son of the South

An account of the Atlanta Campaign from the memoirs of William T. Sherman.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Article Title Atlanta Campaign, Links
  • Date May 7–September 2, 1864
  • Author
  • Website Name American History Central
  • Access Date October 1, 2023
  • Publisher R.Squared Communications, LLC
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update March 15, 2023

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