March 19, 1864

On March 19th, 1864, General Grant, who was recently named the commander of the entire Union Army and General Sherman met to finalize plans for what they would hope would be a battle plan to end the war.  They have an army of over a million men, but the war has waged for over three years and hundreds of thousands of died. There seems to be no end to the carnage in sight, but both men are resolved to solve this military problem and win victory for the Union.

President Lincoln felt he needed a victory to reassure his reelection in the Presidential race of 1864. News of a big victory he thought would reassure his reelection.  General's Grant and Sherman were determined to give their Commander-in-Chief good news from the battlefield.

General Grant and Sherman will devise a plan for Union victory. General Grant will confront the main Confederate Army in Virginia while Sherman will attack Atlanta, Ga, the main supply depot for the Confederates. The plan boils down to attacking on all fronts simultaneously. When Sherman arrives back to his troops, he immediately implements the plan and after four months of fighting, he is reaches the outskirts of Atlanta in August of 1864.

General Sherman swung around Atlanta to the south and cut off the railway which supplied the city. The Confederates attacked the next day in Jonesville, GA. The fighting at Jonesville was brutal, primarily because the soldiers new what was at stake - Atlanta and all of her supplies. In one hour of fighting, the south looses 1700 men in what amounted to a slaughter. The Confederates withdrew and General Sherman was in possession of the second most important city in the south.

General Sherman dispatched a telegraph to President Lincoln that Atlanta had fallen. It is dramatic news and serves to bolster the war weary northerner's public opinion about the poll and serves to reaffirm that the Union can win the war. It also made clear President Lincoln would win reelection.