Sherman's March to the Sea and the Homefront

* This Exbhit was done as a project for the 2023 Missouri Scholars Academy and was published by Quinn Reynolds

Sherman's March to the Sea was a famous military expedition in the later stages of the war to completely destroy the Confederacy.

General William Tecumseh Sherman decided that it was in the best interest of the Union Army to cut the Confederacy in two and show the country that they weren't as strong as they portrayed. He practiced hard war, meaning he destroyed the land as he passed thorugh it. He would steal food and resources from farms and burned those places when they left. This psychological warfare significantly affected the morale of the Confederacy and forced the Confederacy to focus a large portion of it's army into defending it's major cities. His main goal was to cut off the South's armies from their supply of resources and morale. 

His army rolled through rural Gerogia stealing food and resources and destroying the farms of those who fought back. He captured the major cities Atlanta, GA and Savannah, GA, which destroyed Southern morale. Throughout this conquest, Sherman enacted 'hard war.' This is the idea of destroying the land and resources of the conquered area to ensure their destruction. 

Sherman's March to the Sea was an effective manuever to destroy part of the Confederacy and significantly affected the morale and homefront of the Confederacy.