Fields of Glory: A History and Tour Guide of the War in the West, the Atlanta Campaign, 1864

In early May 1864 Union armies left their winter encampment near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and began a march to Atlanta. Four months later — on September 3 — William T. Sherman wired Abraham Lincoln, Atlanta is ours, and fairly won!"

The fall of Atlanta was not just one more Union victory. It was pivotal to the outcome of the entire Civil War and also to Lincoln's reelection. With the fall of Atlanta, Confederate morale plummeted. The South's most significant manufacturing center was destroyed...