In November 1864, Republicans held the momentum over Democrats going into the upcoming elections. Southerners watched the northern elections and most favored the Democrats who pledged to end the war. Federal General William T. Sherman began a devastating march through the Georgia heartland, and the Confederates launched a desperate and tragic attack in Tennessee.
The 1864 Elections
President Abraham Lincoln spent most of the night of November 8 at the War Department telegraph office reading the election returns. He had anticipated a close election, but the initial returns showed more Republican victories than even the most optimistic party leaders had expected. Before midnight, it was clear that Lincoln’s re-election would be a near landslide.
Lincoln received 55 percent of the popular vote while defeating Democrat George McClellan in the Electoral College 212 to 21. McClellan won only three states—Kentucky, Delaware and New Jersey. No southern states participated in this election. Despite McClellan’s immense popularity among his former troops, the soldier vote went overwhelmingly to Lincoln. Republicans and pro-war Democrats also increased their strong majority in both houses of Congress.
Lincoln’s defeat had seemed almost certain in August, but Federal victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta and the Shenandoah Valley turned the tide in the president’s favor. Moreover, McClellan had split the Democratic Party by repudiating its call for peace at any price, instead pledging to continue fighting until the Union was restored if elected.
Sherman’s March to the Sea
From Atlanta, Sherman had been pushing a plan to march his Federals through Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean, living off the land and devastating the countryside along the way. Both Lincoln and General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant had resisted the plan because failure would affect the election. But after Lincoln’s re-election was assured, Grant approved Sherman’s plan.
Before leaving Atlanta, the Federals virtually destroyed the city in an effort to disable its military, manufacturing and communication capabilities. The destruction of Atlanta also ensured that neither Confederate soldiers nor civilians could return. When the Federals had finished, the city was left in desolation.
Sherman reorganized his 60,000-man army, severed all communication and supply lines to the North and began his march through the southern heartland. Carrying only a minimum amount of supplies, Federal troops were permitted to take whatever they needed from civilians along the way.
During the march, the Federals cut a path of destruction through Georgia by destroying railroad lines, bridges, foundries, mills, shops, warehouses and other property. They foraged as they marched, and many troops burned and looted civilian residences in their path. After capturing the Georgia capital of Milledgeville, the Federals proceeded toward the Coast while the Confederates scrambled to organize a defense with what little manpower they had left.
The Battle of Franklin
As Sherman proceeded to the sea, the main Confederate army in the West under John Bell Hood moved north in the hopes of threatening Federal territory and possibly forcing Sherman to pull back and stop him. However Sherman had left two forces behind before leaving Atlanta—one force under George Thomas was in Nashville and one force under John Schofield was in southern Tennessee.
Hood planned to attack Schofield before he could join his forces with Thomas. From there, Hood sought to position himself between the two Federal forces so he could face each on more equal terms. As the Confederates moved north out of Alabama, Schofield’s Federals fell back. Hood missed a vital opportunity to hit Schofield before he established a strong defense at Franklin, a small town on the main road to Nashville.
A massive, poorly planned Confederate attack failed to dislodge the Federals from their defenses on the southern edge of Franklin. The Confederates suffered tremendous casualties, including the loss of six generals, in some of the bloodiest and desperate fighting of the war. During the night, Schofield pulled back to Nashville to link with Thomas. Hood thought he had won a great victory, but he soon realized that the Federals were more heavily reinforced than ever and his ragged army was rapidly dwindling.
Sources
- Long, E.B. and Long, Barbara: The Civil War: Day by Day (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)
- Wallechinsky, David and Wallace, Irving: The People’s Almanac (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1975)
- Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken: The Civil War (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1990)
Walter Coffey - Walter Coffey is a freelance writer who resides in Houston, Texas. Walter has written several works of historical fiction and non-fiction, ...
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