The Civil War was a war of epic proportion. Never before and not since have so many Americans died in battle. The American Civil War was truly tragic in terms of human life. Some of the most exciting and important battles and events happened near the closing of the war.
The war was beginning to end by January of 1865. By then the Union armies were spread throughout the Confederacy and the Confederate Army had shrunk extremely in size. In the year before, the North had lost an enormous amount of lives, but had more than enough to lose in comparison to the South. But Lincoln stood firm with his General, and the war continued. Finally on April 9, 1865 the last battle was fought and it was the end of a tragedy in American history. .
In September of 1864, General William T. Sherman and his army cleared the city of Atlanta of its civilian population then rested ever so briefly. It was from there that General Sherman and his army began its famous "march to the sea". The march covered a distance of 400 miles and was 60 miles wide on the way. For 32 days no news of him reached the North. On their route, the army destroyed anything and everything that they could not use but was presumed usable to the enemy. In view of this destruction, it is understandable that Sherman quoted "war is hell" (Sherman, William T.,Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.:Greenwood Press, 1972). Finally, on December 20, Sherman's men reached the city of Savannah and from there Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton" (Sherman, William T., Memoirs of General William T. Sherman. Westport, Conn.:Greenwood Press, 1972. .
Grant had decided that the only way to win and finish the war would be to attack with numbers. He knew that the Federal forces held more than a modest advantage in terms of men and supplies.
