The city makes a comeback

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by erick295

Where on Earth did you get that information? After the city was evacuated the army burned just about everything that was still standing, homes and all. Maybe I'm just not understanding what you're saying here...

It's fact. Go do some research.

Sherman gave orders to burn and destroy the city of Atlanta's supplies, railroads, warehouses, cotton gins, etc., but not to burn down the city. Obviously the city burned, but it was more the result of failure to follow orders by soldiers and non-comms, and the difficulty controlling fires.

As for the march, the army was ordered to "liberally forage" and to live off the land, but not to rape or pillage the civilian population. Again...some things happened that were outside of those orders, but in GA at least the orders were to be respectful to civilians. In SC, they went out for revenge.

As for the slaves, Sherman did not want to bring freed slaves. He knew they didn't have food or supplies and frankly didn't care all that much about them. One of his Colonels burned a key bridge to the rear of the union column and trapped the slaves behind the lines. Sherman was not in it to free slaves.

[boo radley]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I just hope that it is sustainable development and not speculative.

Great point. Hopefully that will be one of the Big lessons we all learned during the "Great Recession". To remember how dangerous "speculation" (and speculators for that matter) can be.

But in saying that, I'll still say Atlanta's best days are still ahead! I love this town, ashes and all!

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by neil0311

The burning of Atlanta was actually never ordered by Sherman. It was more of an incidental accident than any part of the strategy. In fact, it's a myth that on the march that "Uncle Billy's" troops ransacked and burned homes. They didn't.

Sherman's troops foraged for food and supplies, and they commandeered what they needed, but that was it. They destroyed things of military value like railroads and factories.

The impact strategically of the "March to the Sea" was that the south was bisected and the port of Savannah was taken out of the war. The continuation of the march through the Carolinas put the final pressure on Lee, as Sherman and Grant squeezed him from two sides.

Sherman did take pleasure in ransacking South Carolina though, as that state was viewed as being rabidly secessionist and as the instigators who fired the first shots.

No, that is not entirely accurate either....

He did not order the whole town to be burned down as much as it was, but he did order "the destruction in Atlanta of all depots, car-houses, shops, factories, foundries, and the like."

This pretty much was everything but homes, churches and a few civic government buildings and would include most of downtown.

He ordered an orderly destruction, but it was apart of his orders the last day to set ablaze all of the remaining buildings that couldn't be properly demo'd by engineers.

Most of history also tells of a side story where he couldn't control his own troops and they began burning down individual homes and they got carried away burning down the rest of the buildings downtown the engineers hadn't touched. Even then it is the duty of the commanding officer to be responsible for his troops. It could also show his lack of will at controlling them, which is just as bad. They had documented trouble with their troops burning and pillaging homes for over a week. Also, keep in mind... they didn't just sweep through town after battle. This was 2.5 months after taking Atlanta and having set up camp. Most of the demolition occurred over the last 5 days of occupation.

They burned down most of Downtown Atlanta, including some homes and it is pretty well documented. Some of it was by direct orders and some of it was inability to control his men, but it happened.

It is also worth mentioning that he didn't take Atlanta overnight. He actually laid siege to the city with an artillery bombardment that lasted nearly 5 weeks. It was specifically recorded that they were not aiming at confederate lines, but the city itself....which at that point was already evacuated from most of the civilian population.

Sherman's own words as he left the city after his 2.5 month stay: "Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city."

Lastly, it is an understatement to say they simply foraged for supplies. Their orders were also to burn all remaining food stores as they went. This included civilian food stores for winter and this became a humanitarian problem for civilians left behind from the march.... so there was a bit of pillaging on the civilian population.

Furthermore, they had direct orders to demo' the properties of any civilians


The scars they left behind were a bit deeper than you might have realized.

[bryantm3]

can we stop this civil war crap? we all know everyone was an a$$hole back then. it was a dark time in american history, but it's one hundred and fu¢|<ing fifty years later. we should not be debating about this!!!

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

can we stop this civil war crap? we all know everyone was an a$$hole back then. it was a dark time in american history, but it's one hundred and fu¢|<ing fifty years later. we should not be debating about this!!!

You need to relax... It's sort of a big piece of the history to how this city was built.

[aries4118]

I think it's great to have discussions, debates, and comparisons about "the Wo-ah."