The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

Sherman in Georgia 393

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

KENTUCKY VIRGINIA

TENNESSEE

NORTH

CAROLINA

SOUTH

CAROLINA

ALABAMA

GEORGIA

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Macon
Charleston
Wilmington
Fayettesville
Raleigh
Goldsboro
Andersonville
Chattanooga
(Nov 23–25, 1863)
Chickamauga
(Sept 19–20, 1863)
Savannah
(Dec 22, 1864)
Kennesaw
Mountain
(June 27, 1864)
Atlanta
(July 20–Sept 2, 1864)
Bentonville
(March 19, 1865)
Johnston surrenders
(April 18, 1865)
Area controlled by Union
Area controlled by Confederacy
Area seized by Union
Union advance
Union victory
(Dec 22, 1864)Date(s) of battle
Sherman Pierces the Heart of the South, 1864–1865After slogging through tenacious Confederate resistance in
the Appalachians, Sherman finally broke through and seized Atlanta in September, 1864; he then marched “to the
sea” to Savannah and in 1865 drove north through South Carolina and into North Carolina.
Table 14.1 Turning Points in the War
Pivotal Battles Date Outcome Consequence
Ft. Sumter April, 1861 Confederates fire on Ft. Sumter;
Union garrison surrenders
Civil War commences
First Bull Run July, 1861 Confederate victory Northerners sobered, Southerners exhilarated;
no swift ending to war likely
Shiloh April, 1862 Tactical Union victory 23,000 casualties stagger everyone: Was the
war worth such a high cost?
Antietam September, 1862 Lee’s advance northward halted Lincoln, confidence regained, issues Emancipation
Proclamation freeing slaves in rebel areas
Chancellorsville May, 1863 Lee defeats Union army that had
crossed into Virginia
Emboldened by victory, Lee invades North in
search of decisive victory
Gettysburg July, 1863 Confederate defeat; Lee retreats
to Virginia
Confederate hopes dashed
Vicksburg, July, 1863 Grant seizes control of lower
Mississippi River
Texas and Arkansas cut off from the
Confederacy
Wilderness and
Cold Harbor
May and June, 1864 Lee inflicts staggering losses on
Union troops
Though criticized as a butcher, Grant perse-
veres, backed by Lincoln: War becomes battle
of attrition
Sherman’s March November, 1864
through March, 1865
Sherman drives through
Georgia and South Carolina
Demoralizes South
Siege of Petersburg June 1864 through
April 1865
Lee’s defenses exhausted South surrenders