After U.S. Grant became commander of all the Union armies and moved East, William T. Sherman became commander of the western theater. Sherman saw Atlanta as the key to bringing the war to an end since much of the Confederate army's supplies flowed from the important transportation and distribution center. Outmaneuvering the Confederate forces, Sherman captured Atlanta in September, 1864. Upon entering Atlanta, Sherman issued an order calling for the evacuation of the city. As a result the Union commander received several letters asking him to reconsider. In particular the mayor of Atlanta and city councilmen drafted a letter explaining that the Southern people had endured too much at the hands of war. They specifically pointed to expectant mothers and mothers with small children whose husbands were either in the Confederate army or had been killed. Additionally there were the elderly, disabled, and sick who had no place to go and were not physically able to leave the city. Heart wrenching as this may have been Sherman refused to cancel the order and replied that "you might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war." To Sherman war always caused suffering and it was unavoidable.
With Atlanta under control of the Union army, Sherman turned his attention away from conventional tactics and more toward a psychological strategy targeting Southern morale. He understood that for the Union army to ever have victory that he must take the war to the Southern people. Sherman wanted to break the will of the Southern people by inflicting as much misery and hardship on them as possible. Therefore in this concept his "march to the sea" was necessary to cause the Southern people to give up on their war effort and their ability to wage war. The goal was to "make war so terrible" for Southerners that they would become "sick of war." Sherman marched his army of 60,000 men from Atlanta to the sea, inflicting severe property destruction but with few casualties. Over a period of 5 weeks the Union forces covered 285 miles while cutting a swath of destruction between 20 and 60 miles through Georgia. They tore down fences, ruined crops, killed livestock, burned barns, factories, and some houses deserted by members of the planter class. In its wake Sherman's army left impoverished and starving Southern civilians.
