"Atlanta is ours, and fairly won"

On Saturday, I took a ride out to Kennesaw Mountain, just north of Atlanta. It's the tallest area in the Atlanta metro region and the site of a battle in the Atlanta campaign. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston eventually held his ground against Union General William Tecumsah Sherman, suffering only 1000 lives lost to Sherman's 3000 lives. Many thought it was a bad move on Sherman's part to engage such well-entrenched defenses (seen below in the mountaintop photo), but he later said that it was important to show that he would engage the enemy even under long odds.

looking northward, away from Atlanta

Sherman is famous for his March to the Sea, a living example of 'total war' and the policy of 'scorched earth'. He was also a great quote-maker. Here are a few:

"I hereby state, and mean all I say, that I never have been and never will be a candidate for President; that if nominated by either party I should peremptorily decline; and even if unanimously elected I should decline to serve." (to Harper's Weekly)

"I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy."

"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."

"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah." (telegram to President Lincoln)

"The carping and bickering of political factions in the nation’s capitol reminds me of two pelicans quarreling over a dead fish."

"I intend to make Georgia howl"

"Grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk and now we stand by each other"

While it was said that the Confederates won, Sherman just wound up going around the enemy encampment, having had declared that there was only one mountain between him and Atlanta. Not anymore. A couple of months and battles later, he engaged in, and won, the Battle of Atlanta

While this photo seems to show a blank horizon, if you click on it and look hard though the haze and pollen (the pollen release this week was extraordinary), you'll see two separate skyline of Atlanta buildings. All the way to the left, if you look very closely, you'll see the bump of Stone Mountain, 28 miles away.

Months later, after successfully taking this important city, Sherman sent a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln stating, simply, "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won".