Atlanta campaign

Atlanta Campaign
Part of the American Civil War

Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and his staff in the trenches outside of Atlanta
DateMay 7 – September 2, 1864
(3 months, 3 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Northwestern Georgia and around Atlanta
33°44′56″N 84°23′17″W / 33.749°N 84.388°W / 33.749; -84.388
Result Union victory
Belligerents
 United States (Union)  Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
United States William T. Sherman
United States George H. Thomas
United States James B. McPherson  
United States John Schofield
United States Oliver O. Howard
Confederate States of America Joseph E. Johnston
Confederate States of America John B. Hood
Confederate States of America William J. Hardee
Confederate States of America Leonidas Polk  
Confederate States of America Joseph Wheeler
Units involved

Military Division of the Mississippi:[1]

Army of Tennessee[2]
Strength
112,819[3] Beginning- 60,000 Infantry, 11,000 cavalry, 7,000 Artillery[4]
Casualties and losses
31,687;
(4,423 killed,
22,822 wounded,
4,442 missing/captured)
34,979;
(3,044 killed,
18,952 wounded,
12,983 missing/captured)

The Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.

Johnston's Army of Tennessee withdrew toward Atlanta in the face of successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's group of armies. In July, the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, replaced Johnston with the more aggressive General John Bell Hood, who began challenging the Union Army in a series of costly frontal assaults. Hood's army was eventually besieged in Atlanta and the city fell on September 2, setting the stage for Sherman's March to the Sea and hastening the end of the war.

  1. ^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVIII, Part 1, pp. 89–114
  2. ^ Further information: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVIII, Part 3, pp. 638–675
  3. ^ Effective strength of the army under Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, during the campaign against Atlanta, Ga., 1864: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVIII, Part 1, pp. 115–117
  4. ^ Strength of the confederate forces: Official Records, Series I, Volume XXXVIII, Part 3, pp. 675–683