The Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea

There were two major reasons for the Atlanta campaign: Atlanta was a major rail center, and a victory for the Union would ensure Lincoln's reelection. The Union succeeded in capturing Atlanta and it major influenced the outcome of the war to the Unions benefit. It ensured that Lincoln would be reelected into office and it increased Northern support for the war.

Sherman's march to the sea was risky because he and his army would be cut off from any supplies or methods of communication. When Sherman made his way through the state to Savannah, his men gathered food from the Georgians and the burned everything when they left. This war strategy was known as hard war, total war, or scorched. The Union Army also destroyed the Atlanta railroads, and the effect of the damage done to the state,the city, and the Confederacy caused cracks in leadership.