The change that Lincoln needed occurred on September 2, 1864, when Union forces captured Atlanta. General Sherman had arrived in Georgia, where he utilized what he and General Ulysses S. Grant believed was one of the only ways to end the Civil War. They felt it would take strategic psychological and economic warfare to break the Confederacy once and for all. Sherman ordered his troops to burn the crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian property along their path. This was called the scorched earth principle. After destroying Atlanta, the Union troops began the infamous Shermans march to the sea and headed to the port of Savannah, Georgia.
14 posted on 12/30/2012 12:34:26 PM PST by combat_boots
(The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto!)