Atlanta campaign

BelligerentsUnited States (Union)Confederate StatesCommanders and leaders

William T. Sherman

• George H. Thomas
• John Schofield
• Oliver O. Howard
• John A. Logan
• Joseph Hooker
• Judson Kilpatrick
• Thomas J. Wood
• Richard W. Johnson
• John M. Palmer
• James B. Steedman
• Bernard Laiboldt
• James B. McPherson†

Joseph E. Johnston
John B. Hood

• William J. Hardee
• Stephen D. Lee
• Joseph Wheeler
• Gustavus W. Smith
• William B. Bate
• Frank C. Armstrong
• William H. Jackson
• Patrick Cleburne
• John H. Kelly
• William Y. C. Humes
• Alexander P. Stewart (WIA)
• Leonidas Polk†

Units involvedUnion order of battle (1st phase)
Union order of battle (2nd phase)Confederate order of battle (1st phase)
Confederate order of battle (2nd phase)Strength 112,819 Beginning – 60,000 Infantry, 11,000 cavalry, 7,000 ArtilleryCasualties and losses31,687;
(4,423 killed,
22,822 wounded,
4,442 missing/captured)34,979;
(3,044 killed,
18,952 wounded,
12,983 missing/captured)

The Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the western theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. UnionMajor GeneralWilliam T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.

Johnston's Army of Tennessee withdrew toward Atlanta in the face of successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's group of armies. In July, the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, replaced Johnston with the more aggressive General John B. Hood, who began challenging the Union Army in a series of costly frontal assaults. Hood's army was eventually besieged in Atlanta and the city fell on September 2, setting the stage for Sherman's March to the Sea and hastening the end of the war.