War of the Rebellion: Serial 072 Introduction

Vol. 38 Introduction - Serial 72

Sherman had a larger army than Joe Johnston, and he used it to great effect in the long campaign to take Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta was a key rail junction and major manufacturing center; with it lost the Confederacy would have little chance of shifting troops or supplies between the Eastern and Western theaters.
Sherman pushed down a single railroad line, always trying to outflank and capture part of Johnston's army, but Johnston was a canny defender and held position after position until the verge of defeat, then withdrew a few miles to fresh lines. Eventually Sherman levered him out of the mountains of North Georgia and into the open around Atlanta. Jefferson Davis was frustrated with Johnston, who wasn't fighting enough for Davis' tastes, and replaced him with John Hood, who was aggressive beyond prudence. Hood fought for Atlanta, taking heavy casualties - and losing the city. It was a key campaign in the war, and these five volumes trace the long struggle to split the Confederacy in half.

This volume has various high-level reports: Grant's, Sherman's, George Thomas', and those of the IV and XIV Corps.