If you live in or traveling to the Atlanta area be sure to visit Sweetwater State Park located west of Atlanta. It contains ruins of a cotton mill destroyed during the Civil War.
In July 1864 Union forces reached the mill. The mill was burned down and civilian mill workers (only women and children) were arrested and the women charged with treason. Eventually they were sent North, most to Indiana. Few returned to Georgia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetwater_Creek_State_Park
Thanks, I've never actually lived in Atlanta, but years ago spent many happy weeks working there.
Did not know then to look up Sweetwater State Park.
Atlantan: "In July 1864 Union forces reached the mill. The mill was burned down and civilian mill workers (only women and children) were arrested and the women charged with treason."
Remember that much of Atlanta was destroyed not by Sherman's Union troops but by Confederate General Hood's efforts to deny military supplies to the Union.
And if these so-called "civilian mill workers" were in fact slaves, or former slaves, then their failure to return might be understandable.
I'm only saying, there's obviously more to this story than meets the eye here.