On November 16, 1864, Sherman watched his army pull out of Atlanta which he had captured two months earlier, a tremendous morale boost for the North that helped ensure Abraham Lincoln's re-election on November 8th, for a second term.
Sherman wrote, "Behind us lay Atlanta, smoldering and in ruins." Watching his troops with pride, he continued "the gun barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south." The troops sang as a band played. "Never before or since have I heard the chorus of 'Glory, glory, hallelujah! done with more spirit, or in better harmony of time and place."
With 62,000 veteran troops, Sherman planned to drive to the Atlantic coast at Savannah, conquering territory but also making a point to the enemy, whom he now saw as both the Confederate Army and the unyielding, enabling Southern population.
--Old Secesh
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