Background Information

  Sherman began his “march to the sea” on November 16.  While on the march, the Union forces were to live off the land and destroy Georgia’s resources, on which the Confederate armies were dependent.  To accomplish this, Sherman was forced to divide his troops in two columns. On their journey through Macon, one of the columns ranged within 50 miles of the Confederacy’s Andersonville Prison.

The Union Commander informed Sherman later on that he had destroyed $ 100 million worth of food and other resources.  Sherman defended his destruction as a way of bringing the sad realities of war to the heart of Georgia. Neither Confederates nor Georgia would have enough time to recover and change the outcome of the war.

On the way through Savannah the Union picked up 14,000 African Americans but only half completed the march. On April 9, 1864, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his small force that he still commanded at Appomattox Courthouse. Other Generals followed his actions.