Sherman's March To The Sea
After occupying one of the South's most important cities, Atlanta, He decided that he would embark on a journey all the way south to Savannah and only he and a handful of the highest officers knew it. William T. Sherman was going to use a brand new strategy known as "Total War" which is when a army uses all of the available resources in area. And trust Sherman and his army did. What was risky about it was that there was no regular food line and no communication with the outside world. Sherman wanted to end this war once and for all. His army set fire to many parts of Atlanta as he left and as he marched south he burned the cotton and all the crops the soldiers did not eat so the plantations would be left with nothing. Now the slaves saw this man and thanked he very much but they had a choice to stay which Sherman urged them to do or go along with the army. This all but ensured Lincoln's reelection, Atlanta's railroads were destroyed and on top of that General Lee had to replace General Johnston because he refused to fight the Union.
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| Sherman's rout to Savannah |
Andersonville
Was if not the worst thing that happened in the Civil War. Located today Southwest of Macon it is a National Historic Site but unfortunately it was not 150 years ago. They choose that location for its remoteness and because it was a safe distance from where the war was being fought. It was only designed to hold 10,000 people but it held triple that with over 30,000 men and sometimes women in that case. Women had been found to dress up like men because soldiers got more money than women did at other jobs. In all for every 45 people who went inside that camp, 13 never came out alive. That's right 45,000 people were in that camp when it was up in running. But what is so mind boggling is that the camp had the supplies to move prisoners hundreds of miles but choose not to do so. But what the worst thing was when the men had just died and they were still warm inside their cloths were striped of them. This is how bad this place was.
Henry Wirz was Confederate Captain. He got the rank after showing "great bravery" after he was struck with a mini ball. He was one of the most to blame for these terrible living conditions and unsanitary. He would have unfair executions and the escape rate was close to zero unless prisoners were outside collecting fire wood. But that ended when prisoners did escape and the camp stopped allowing the Union POWs of war. After the war he was the only man to be hanged for civil war crimes.
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