On November 11, 1864, on orders from Union General William T. Sherman, Union soldiers begin destroying all railroads, factories and commercial buildings in Atlanta, Georgia—anything that could help support the Confederacy's military or economic goals. (Historical records cite the destruction starting anywhere from November 10 to November 12.) The actions dealt a crippling blow to the Confederacy during the Civil War, just days before Sherman began his scorched-earth March to the Sea.
When Sherman captured Atlanta in early September 1864, he knew that he could not remain there for long. His tenuous supply line ran from Nashville, Tennessee, through Chattanooga, Tennessee, then one hundred miles through mountainous northern Georgia. The army he had just defeated, the Army of Tennessee, was still in the area and its leader, John Bell Hood, swung around Atlanta to try to damage Sherman’s lifeline. Of even greater concern was the Confederate cavalry of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a brilliant commander who could strike quickly against the railroads and river transports on which Sherman relied.
