General Sherman to General Schofield, August 1, 1864: "You may fire from ten to fifteen shots from every gun you have in position into Atlanta that will reach any of its house. ... Thomas and Howard will do the same." [rb: This confirms General Hood's comment on your link that Sherman fired into the homes of women and children.]
General Sherman to General George H. Thomas, November 11, 1864: "… Last night we burned Rome, and in two or more days will burn Atlanta ..."
General William D. Whipple to General D. S. Stanley, November 13, 1864: "General Sherman left Kingston yesterday morning; camped at Allatoona last night; will probably reach Atlanta to-morrow, whence he starts on his trip south. He has already burnt Rome, and says he is going to burn Atlanta and other towns south."
Here is a short description of what happened to Atlanta from the following web site about the Atlanta fire [Sherman in Georgia]
Under Sherman's orders Capt. O. M. Poe "thoroughly destroyed Atlanta, save its mere dwelling-houses and churches." The destruction was by fire purposely applied to buildings, and permitted to spread, as was expected, from house to house until the defenseless city was almost entirely reduced to ashes. No efforts were made to prevent the spread of the conflagration, and scarcely any structure was designedly spared. Only about 450 buildings escaped this ruthless burning, among them many churches, which in those days generally stood apart from other buildings. The thoroughness of the destruction can be realized, when we consider that by the census of 1860 Atlanta had a population of 10,000, which in 1864 had increased to 14,000. More than 4,000 houses, including dwellings, shops, stores, mills and depots were burned, about eleven-twelfths of the city.
Contrast Atlanta with Confederates in Pennsylvania in 1863:
A Rebel Address: Gen. Early to the Citizens of York [Source: Southern Confederacy, Atlanta, Georgia, July 11, 1863]:
York, Penn, June 30, 1863
To the Citizens of York:
I have abstained from burning the railroad buildings and car shops in your town, because, after examination, I am satisfied that the safety of the town would be endangered, and acting in the spirit of humanity which has characterized my Government and its military authorities, I do not desire to involve the innocent with the same punishment of the guilty. Had I applied the torch without regard to consequences, I would have pursued a course that would have been fully vindicated as an act of just retaliation for the unparalleled acts of brutality perpetrated by your army on our soil. But we do not war on women and children, and I trust that the treatment you have met with at the hands of my military will open your eyes to the [can’t read two or three words] under which it is apparent to all you are groaning.
J. A. Early,
Major General, C.S.A.
True, General Early had extracted food and money from York under the threat that he would burn the town if they didn't pay and provide food. They paid, and thus Early received some compensation for Union damage down South.
From The Yankee Gazette, Westietown, PA, July 1, 1863:
Reports from our friends in York state that a "seedy looking lot of armed men proceeded into York with the intent of capturing the city last Saturday, followed closely by a long column of Virginia soldiers clad in butternut and gray flying the red Confederate battle flag. Their commander was the general Early, the same fellow who raided Adams County last week. After securing the city his troops marched to the fairgrounds where they encamped for the night. The following morning they set out early leaving a terrified civilian population behind and unmolested. It is curious that the Confederates do not raid private homes and stores, but an officer of a North Carolina regiment informed our correspondent that General Lee had issued orders banning such activity and any culprit 'caught in the act of theft from Yankee citizens would be tried and shot for defiance of this order.'"
That is not to say that some Confederate troops did not plunder homes, but it apparently was not nearly as widespread as looting and burning by Union troops in the South.
War is hell, ain’t it?