Today the Atlanta campaign begins as troops under the command of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, numbering nearly 100,000 in totality, pour southward through Ringgold Gap, aiming for the Western and Atlantic Railroad that runs south to Atlanta. Confederate General Joe Johnston‘s forces numbering about 50,000 stand between Sherman and Atlanta. Sherman’s goal is to…
Anxieties North and South are high. The moment of truth is mere days to come. The United States and Confederate States, both weary of war, steel for yet another season of bloodshed and anguish. This most uncivil of wars was never expected to last this long. The public is nervous, politicians are wary, and soldier…
Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, yet headquartered in Chattanooga, is making final preparations for the beginning of his spring campaign against Atlanta. Today he sends a coded telegram ordering the requisition and deployment of a manned gun-boat to “patrol the river below Bridgeport to Decatur to cover McPherson’s movements.” General James B. McPherson commands the…