USA HISTORY

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR(1861 1865)

SHERMANS MARCH TO THE SEA

[SOURCES]
The main purpose of General Sherman’s “March to the Sea” in 1864 was to

(A) convince France and Britain to get out of the war.

(B) capture the important railroad depot at Charleston.

(C) permanently destroy Georgia’s ability to produce cotton.

(D) ** destroy the South’s strategic and economic capacity to fight.

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60, 000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of Sherman’s March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause.

Concept note-2: -This campaign, known as Sherman’s March to the Sea, was marked by its objective, to cripple the Confederacy’s ability to wage war. They destroyed anything and everything important to the war effort, leaving ruins where Georgia’s great cities once stood. Read more about it!

Concept note-3: -His forces followed a “scorched earth” policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy’s economy and transportation networks. The operation debilitated the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender.

Concept note-4: -Shermans application of total war, however, was not only to destroy the support base of the Confederacy but also to take the war to the people of the Deep South, making them feel the hardships of war and breaking their will.