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On July 20, Sherman ordered the bombing of Atlanta and hope to force Hood out of the city. This, however, led to a low number of casualties with the Confederates, and Hood refused to evacuate. Three of the railroads were cut by mid July and Sherman had tried two attempts to cut the last railroad supplying the Confederates. On August 25, Sherman withdrew his troops from Chattahoochee and began to march Southeast towards Jonesboro in order to cut the last railroad. On August 31, the Union Army began to reach the last railroads, and Hood was forced to order to attack. The Union was able to force the Confederates back. That same day, another group of Union soldiers, North of the battle, were able to cut off the railroads; therefore forcing Hood to evacuate the city.
Sherman had been chasing Johnston's army across Georgia. Johnston chose his position to protect his precious supply line which was the Western & Atlantic Railroad. One of Johnston's generals, John Bell Hood, lost 1,500 of his soldiers, so Sherman believed that Johnston's army was weakening. The Union attacks the Confederate Army's flanks and sent 8,000 Union soldiers to attack the center of the Confederate Army. This attempt to get rid of the Confederates failed as the Union lost 3,000 men, while the Confederates only lost 500. A decoy attack on the Confederates flank let Sherman and his army to attack the rear of Johnston's army. Johnston was forced to vacate his defensive line at Kennesaw Mountain and he retreated towards Atlanta where Sherman followed.
In 1864, the battles began to last longer with very few breaks in between, so the North decided they needed to take the war to the civilian population. General Grant took his army east to attack General Robert E. Lee. He left General William T. Sherman in command of the 112,000 men he left behind in Chattanooga. General Sherman then commanded his troops to attack Atlanta. This led into Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.
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The Battle of Atlanta
The South still had a chance of winning the war by protecting their territories from the Union. In order for the win-by-not-losing strategy to work General Robert E. Lee had to protect Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and General Joseph E. Johnston had to defend Atlanta. The point of the South's strategy was to prevent President Lincoln from gaining another term in office. The Southerners hoped that a new candidate would bring peace.
The first Union Troops entered Atlanta on September 2, 1864. Sherman's troops stayed in Atlanta for 2 months and took any resources needed for their March to the Sea later. Sherman fist ordered his engineers to knock down depots, cars,houses, factories, and foundries. They sent out the last of the needed supplies and had a hand drawn map of Atlanta that showed where main buildings were. Four days earlier, Union soldiers began to torch private buildings. Roughly 20 houses were destroyed that night. On the Unions final night in the city, November 15-16, Union troops began the unnecessary burning of Atlanta that resulted in much of downtown being destroyed by fire.
After the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, General Hood replaced General Johnston. Sherman then followed Hood's troops into Atlanta. Sherman was able to maneuver his cannons into a position that allowed him to fire at the center of Atlanta. This battle resulted in approximately 5,500 casualties on the Confederacy, and the Union lost 3,600 men, 12 cannons, and their trenches. The Battle of Atlanta was the Confederates greatest win of the Atlanta Campaign.
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