Sherman Captures Atlanta
The fall of a key rail hub boosts Northern morale and helps secure Lincoln's re-election
Quick facts
- Location
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Union commander
- William Tecumseh Sherman
- Confederate commander
- John Bell Hood
- Date city fell
- September 2, 1864
What happened
William Tecumseh Sherman marched from Chattanooga toward Atlanta in May 1864 with roughly 100,000 men, facing a smaller Confederate army first under Joseph Johnston, whose cautious defensive withdrawals frustrated Confederate President Davis, and then under the more aggressive John Bell Hood after Davis replaced Johnston in mid-July. Hood launched costly attacks against Sherman at Peachtree Creek and Atlanta in late July, both of which failed and further thinned his army. Sherman then maneuvered to cut the rail lines supplying Atlanta, and on September 1 Hood evacuated the city rather than be trapped inside it, destroying military supplies as he left. Union troops occupied Atlanta on September 2, and Sherman ordered most of the city's civilians expelled before eventually burning much of what remained militarily useful before his troops departed in November.
Why it matters
Atlanta's capture came at a critical moment less than two months before the 1864 presidential election, undercutting Northern war-weariness and the Democratic peace platform, and it gave Sherman the base he needed to launch his March to the Sea.
How we know
The American Battlefield Trust's Atlanta campaign history and the National Archives' education materials on the campaign document Hood's attacks and the city's fall from official Union and Confederate reports.
Sources
- American Battlefield Trust. Atlanta Battle Facts and Summary · Reputable sourcebattlefields.org · The domain "battlefields.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- National Archives. The Atlanta Campaign of 1864: The Camera at War · Reputable sourcearchives.gov · The domain "archives.gov" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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