soldier: Ready, fire [canon firing] Dr. Stephen Davis: WE GREW UP HATING SHERMAN I'M KIND OF RETURNING TO THE OLD TIME
WHERE GROWING UP IN ATLANTA WE DESPISED SHERMAN FOR WHAT HE DID TO US, OUR BUILDINGS,
OUR HOMES, AND OUR PEOPLE. Dr. Todd Groce: SHERMAN DIDN'T BRING ON THE WAR,
AS FAR AS HE'S CONCERNED. YOU DECIDED TO DISREGARD THE CONSTITUTION AND NOW YOU'RE PAYING THE CONSEQUENCES OF IT.
AND DON'T BLAME ME FOR THAT. DON'T BLAME ME FOR THAT. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. I'M HERE - I DIDN'T START THIS
BUT BY GOD I'M GOING TO END IT.
[wind blowing] Masud Olufani: IT IS THE SPRING OF 1864. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR IS ENTERING ITS FOURTH YEAR.
HALF A MILLION AMERICANS ARE DEAD . . .A MILLION MORE WOUNDED. YET, THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT.
IN THE NORTH, PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS FACING RE-ELECTION. HIS PROSPECTS ARE DIM. NORTHERN SUPPORT FOR THE WAR IS WAVERING.
AND LINCOLN'S POLITICAL OPPONENTS ARE CALLING FOR A NEGOTIATED PEACE WITH THE CONFEDERACY. IF LINCOLN LOSES. . .
IT IS THE END OF THE UNITED STATES. . . AND THE END TO THE DREAM OF FREEDOM FOR FOUR MILLION SLAVES.
LINCOLN MUST SHOW THAT UNION ARMIES CAN WIN THE WAR. HE NEEDS A VICTORY.
THIS IS THE SITUATION IN APRIL OF 1864, AS SHERMAN PREPARES TO INVADE GEORGIA
Dr. Todd Groce: WHAT HAPPENED IN GEORGIA IN 1864 DID DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS GOING TO BE
A UNITED STATES. narrator: APRIL THROUGH DECEMBER, 1864,
. . .37 WEEKS THAT WILL BRING THE WRATH OF WAR TO GEORGIA. [marching drum sound]
AND EVEN THOUGH SHERMAN BRINGS A LARGER ARMY - ROUGHLY 110 THOUSAND MEN TO THE CONFEDERATES 70 THOUSAND
THE SOUTHERNERS HAVE GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE THEY CAN WIN. [horn playing "Dixie"] [gun shots]
Dr. Todd Groce: THE CONFEDERATES STILL FELT LIKE THEY HAD THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WIN IF THIS - IF THIS - IF THIS SYSTEM THEY HAD PUT IN PLACE,
IF THIS IDEA THAT THEY WERE GOING TO WEAR DOWN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. . .THE PEOPLE OF THE - OF THE UNITED STATES AND GIVING UP,
THAT MEANS ATLANTA REALLY IS CRITICAL. Dr. Gordon Jones: ATLANTA IS THE HINGE POINT OF THE CONFEDERACY.
IT'S THE STRATEGIC RAILROAD HUB OF THE DEEP SOUTH. IT'S A MANUFACTURING CENTER. EVERYTHING THATS MOVES EAST AND WEST THROUGH THE CONFEDERACY
MEN, MATERIALS, SUPPLIES - EVERYTHING COMES THROUGH ATLANTA. IT IS SECOND ONLY TO RICHMOND
IN TERMS OF ITS STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE TO THE CONFEDERACY. 'WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING ATLANTA ALL THE TIME. . .
CAPTURING GUNS, AND WAGONS, MARKED ATLANTA AND MADE HERE. . .SINCE THEY HAVE BEEN DOING SO MUCH TO DESTROY US. . .
WE HAVE TO DESTROY THEM.' [WILLIAM T. SHERMAN]
narrator: BUT THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTA STARTS LONG BEFORE SHERMAN ARRIVES. . . [gun fire]
A YEAR EARLIER, HOUSES, FARMS, AND FENCES ARE DISMANTLED TO MAKE WAY FOR WHAT WILL BECOME A TWELVE-MILE RING
OF FORTIFICATIONS AROUND THE CITY. BUILT WITH SLAVE LABOR, THESE ELABORATE TRENCHES
MADE ATLANTA THE THIRD MOST FORTIFIED CITY. . .BEHIND ONLY WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND
BUT BACK BEFORE THE WAR, THIS CITY SO CRITICAL TO THE CONFEDERATE CAUSE, WAS NOT ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT SECESSION.
IN THE ELECTION OF 1860, ATLANTANS VOTED FOR PRO-UNION CANDIDATES. Dr. Wendy Venet: FROM THE VERY BEGINNING,
ATLANTA WAS DOMINATED NOT BY FARMERS OR PLANTERS BUT BY RAILROAD AND COMMERCIAL MEN.
THEY WERE MAKING MONEY IN THE AMERICAN UNION, AND THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THAT CURRENT POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES
CALLED FOR DRASTIC ACTION. narrator: PART OF ATLANTA'S COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
IS DUE TO THE WESTERN AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD LINKING ATLANTA TO CHATTANOOGA. NOW IN THE SPRING OF 1864, THE WESTERN AND ATLANTIC
WILL SERVE AS SHERMAN'S SOLE SUPPLY LINE LEADING HIM DIRECTLY TO ATLANTA.
Dr. Stephen Davis: HIS CHALLENGE IS TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT HIS 110,000 MEN,