A growing radical element within Lincoln's own republican party fear the president's reelection will be fatal to the country. Despite major victories at Gettysburg and Chattanooga the carnage of three years of war has many angry northerners demanding an immediate peace settlement with the south.

The 1864 presidential election is less than six months away and Abraham Lincoln's prospects for a second term are dwindling by the day. It also brings freedom to thousands of slaves.Īustin Gilmore, of Pulaski, Tennessee is hired as a camp cook with 111th Illinois infantry.Įmma Stevenson, a freed slave from Kentucky becomes a nurse with the 17th army corpsĪnd yet the man responsible for emancipating Emma, Austin, and thousands of other slaves, is himself under siege. Sherman's march brings more than just blue coats into the deep south. By mid-June 1864, Johnston's army is backed up to within 30 miles of Atlanta Each time his moves have been checked by Johnston.īut in the process, the confederate general has been forced to yield precious ground. Time and again Sherman has tried to outflank the confederate army.

Johnston knows that the very future of the confederacy depends on saving Atlanta.įor the past month, Sherman and Johnston have been waging a deadly game of chess. In Sherman's way is an army of more than 60,000 men led by General Joseph Johnston . For the union to achieve final victory, Atlanta and the confederate army defending it must be destroyed. Its four railroad lines bind together what is left of the confederacy. His mission: Capture Atlanta, some 100 miles south, a manufacturing center and industrial hub of the confederate war machine. Sherman's orders are 'to get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.' General William Tecumseh Sherman has been ordered to lead his 100 000 man army south from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Union debacle at Pickett's Mill is just the latest fight in a crucial campaign that many believe will determine the outcome of the civil war. I doubt that there was ever at any time during the war as many men killed by so small a force as we had there that day.' 'Some 12 hours earlier, the enemy could not see our men until they were in about 20 yards.

A confederate cavalryman was witness to the slaughter. At Pickett's Mill, in the woods of northern Georgia, more than 1400 Union soldiers have been killed , wounded or captured. In three years of civil war, it is just the latest numbing episode of horrific slaughter. May God be with us and help us as we stand in need.' Sergeant Alexander Downing, 11th Iowa. 'May God hasten the day when this cruel war will be brought to a close so that our nation may enjoy peace once more.īut we must remember that there may be many men yet who will still fall for their country.

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