Fields of Glory : A History and Tour Guide of the War in the West, the Atlanta Campaign, 1864

In early May 1864 Union armies left their winter encampment near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and began a march to Atlanta. Four months later -- on September 3 -- William T. Sherman wired Abraham Lincoln, "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won!" The fall of Atlanta was not just one more Union victory. It was pivotal to the outcome of the entire Civil War and also to Lincoln's reelection. With the fall of Atlanta, Confederate morale plummeted. The South's most significant manufacturing center was destroyed, and its primary railroad connections were cut. The destruction of Atlanta was not just a Union victory over one city, but a key to the end of the war. Fields of Glory traces the story of the campaign from the Tennessee border through the heart of Georgia to Jonesboro. Included is a series of driving tours that enable readers to see firsthand the battlefields and important sites of the campaign. Also included are more than 85 illustrations, 25 original maps, a lively history of the campaign, fascinating tours of the battlefields, articles on military strategy, biographies of generals, the chronology of key battles and important events, sources for additional travel information, a bibliography, and an index. "In General Sherman's mind, " Jim Miles explains, "before the Civil War could be brought to a victorious conclusion, Atlanta had to be destroyed and the Confederacy denied its products. From that day, Atlanta was a doomed city."