USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA

[SOURCES]
How did Sherman capture Savannah?

(A) A large battle that lasted 3 days

(B) ** The town was empty, since they knew Sherman was coming.

(C) Savannah was not part of the Confederacy

(D) The Confederacy gave up on the war.

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -General William T. Sherman captured Savannah in December 1864 and presented the city along with 25, 000 bales of cotton to President Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present.

Concept note-2: -Sherman did exactly that in his fiery March to the Sea. By capturing and holding Savannah, Sherman turned one of the Confederacy’s own vital supply depots against itself. This meant that in coastal Georgia, the Union forces could feed and resupply itself, and the Confederate Army could not.

Concept note-3: -Secondly, it is alleged that Savannah was spared because the city was too beautiful to burn. Thirdly, some stories forward the notion that a mason rode out to ask for leniency knowing that Sherman was a member of that brotherhood, too. Another theory is that a deal had already been struck and approved by Sherman.

Concept note-4: -On November 15, 1864, U.S. forces led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman burned nearly all of the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia.