The fighting 273RIGHT William Tecumseh Sherman rebounded from a
nervous breakdown to become Grant's most trusted
subordinate. His victory in this Atlanta campaign assured
Lincoln's re-election, and his revolutionary March to the
Sea and through the Carolinas helped bring the war to a
speedy conclusion. (Ann Ronan Picture Library)
BELOW Before Hood's army abandoned Atlanta, it
destroyed an ordnance train. The explosion and fire
caused massive destruction. (Library of Congress)
The presidential election
of 1864No doubt, Sherman knew just how
important the fall of Atlanta was to the cause
of reunion. More than a precious industrial
and transportation center, Atlanta signaled
the success of the commanding general.
Grant, and the Commander-in-Chief,
Lincoln. It could not have come at a more
vital time.
Both the Union and the Confederacy
understood the consequence of battlefield
decisions that year. The year 1864 would see
a presidential election, and by choosing
Grant as his commanding general, Lincoln
had linked his political future to Grant's
military' success. The Rebels, too, recognized
its significance. If they hoped to win
independence, they must extract a political
decision from antiwar forces in the North at
the polls. And the key to that would be
military success in 1864.
The year opened with Banks's Red River
fiasco, followed by stalemates in the two
major campaigns. Grant incurred staggering
losses in his campaigns in the east - some
60,000 casualties in seven weeks - and