After Atlanta
After the battle at Atlanta, Sherman regrouped his forces and headed for the sea. Hood, the general Sherman defeated at Atlanta, moved in to Tennessee. He planned to cut off the Union supply lines. Sherman sent Thomas with a detachment of troops to stop Hood while Sherman continued on. Sherman destroyed Atlanta, then headed east towards Savannah. He left a 300 mile long, 60 mile wide strip of destruction. He estimated 100,000,000 dollars in damage, 20,000,000 of which went towards feeding and housing his men.
With a trail of freed slaves behind him, Sherman soon decided to head north and take the Carolinas. Again he left a trail of destruction, and when he reached Bentonville, crushed the Confederate army and conquered the Carolinas. There he joined forces with Schofield and reported, "The army is in superb order".