Photo above: Union soldiers on horseback during the Siege of Atlanta, 1888, Thure de Thulstrup, L. Prang and Company. Right: The Battle of Resaca, Kurz and Allison, 1889. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Atlanta Campaign Then

General William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the Chattanooga area in early May 1864, focusing his forces against those of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston had 53,800 troops within his command, with reinforcements to arrive adding 15,000 more. The battles began with a series of small skirmishes, the first at Stone Church. They escalated as Johnston and his Army of the Tennessee retreated back toward Atlanta, including major battles at Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and a series of battles around the city of Dallas, Georgia.

By mid-July, the Confederate heirarchy had become disenchanted with Johnston's command, even though he had some success at stalling Sherman's movement south at the Battles of New Hope Church and Kennesaw Mountain. But Sherman's superior amount of troops could not be stalled much longer, and after crossing the Chattahoochie River on July 8, Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston on July 18 with a more aggressive General John B. Hood. It did not matter much; Union troops were within five miles of the city. Hood's frontal assaults could not prevent Sherman's Union Army from attacking the environs of Atlanta, culminating in the Battle of Atlanta and Battle of Jonesboro where Union troops outmaneuvered and outnumbered Confederate forces 70,000 to 24,000. The Atlanta Campaign was over on September 2. Sherman took over the city, then marched toward the sea. Casualties for the campaign reached nearly 70,000 men, almost equally divided between Union and Confederate forces.

Photo above: Ruins of the Atlanta Roundhouse after the Civil War, 1866, George N. Barnard. Courtesy Library of Congress via Wikipedia Commons. Below: Battle of Jonesboro, 1864, Currier and Ives. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Atlanta Campaign Now

There's much to see, but not nearly as comprehensive, outside of the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield, than historian and history tourists would like. But there are plenty of battle markers down many roads, and battlefields of Resaca, Pickett's Mill, and Dallas to explore that are well worth a visit, even to modest Civil War fans. The Atlanta History Center, with the new Whitaker Cyclorama Center now open as of February 2019, contains perhaps the most compelling remnant about the Atlanta Campaign story, the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama, now refurbished. Of course, some will consider Gone With the Wind a better representation. That's up to you to decide, of course.