General William T. Sherman's "The March to the Sea" Historic Marker
On December 5, 2015, Brothers of the Kennesaw Mountain Camp #3, Department of Georgia and South Carolina gathered at Freedom Park in Atlanta, Georgia to erect a historical marker commemorating Sherman’s March to the Sea. The Georgia Historical Society had reached out to the Department and asked for assistance placing the marker. Pictured with the marker are camp members Bill Miller and David Beam.
(Marker Transcription)
The March to the Sea
On November 15, 1864, during the Civil War, U.S. forces under Gen. William T. Sherman set out from Atlanta on the March to the Sea, a military campaign designed to destroy the Confederacy’s ability to wage war and break the will of its people to resist. After destroying Atlanta’s industrial and business (but not residential) districts, Sherman’s 62,500 men marched over 250 miles, reaching Savannah in mid-December. Contrary to popular myth, Sherman’s troops primarily destroyed only property used for waging war – railroads, train depots, factories, cotton gins, and warehouses. Abandoning their supply base, they lived off the land, destroying food they could not consume. They also liberated thousands of enslaved African Americans in their path. Sherman’s “hard hand of war” demoralized Confederates, hastening the end of slavery and the reunification of the nation.
Erected for the Civil War 150 commemoration by the Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Battlefields Association
Freedom Park
Carter Center Museum and Library
441 Freedom Parkway
Atlanta, GA
The marker is placed in Freedom Park in Atlanta at the corner of Moreland Avenue and North Avenue.