Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
William T. Sherman’s Federals attempt to maneuver around the strong defenses of Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates near Marietta, Georgia. Federal forces kill a prominent Confederate commander, Johnston contracts his Confederate line, and Sherman tries moving southeast around Johnston’s left.
Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee establishes positions around Adairsville after retreating southward from Resaca. But he soon finds this position untenable and is forced to fall back closer to the Etowah River.
William T. Sherman assembles three Federal armies to confront Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate army in northern Georgia. This is part of Ulysses S. Grant’s overall strategy of putting all major Federal armies in motion simultaneously.
William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the Tennessee completes its destructive march through central Mississippi by capturing and destroying the last Confederate-controlled railroad center in the state.
Federal cavalry finally starts riding out of Tennessee to support William T. Sherman’s Federal army moving east through central Mississippi. Leonidas Polk prepares his Confederates for a possible retreat into Alabama.
William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the Tennessee begins marching out of war-torn Jackson, heading east toward the last Confederate-controlled railroad center in Mississippi. Meanwhile, Federal cavalry finally prepare to invade northern Mississippi, and a Federal naval squadron enters the Yazoo River in a diversionary probe.