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During the American Civil War, the Atlanta Campaign resulted in battles that occurred throughout northern Georgia and the area around Atlanta, Georgia during the summer of 1864, leading to the eventual fall of Atlanta and a hastening of the end of the war. On the Union side, William T. Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies: the Army of the Tennessee, the Army of the Ohio, and the Army of the Cumberland. The much smaller Confederate Army of Tennessee was commanded first by Joseph E. Johnston who was later relieved of his command and replaced by John Bell Hood.
Faced with a much larger opposing army, Johnston repeatedly took up defensive positions, forcing Sherman to make long, time-consuming flanking marches around the defenses as he marched from Chattanooga, Tennessee towards Atlanta. Whenever Sherman flanked the defensive lines, Johnston would retreat to another prepared position. Both armies took advantage of the railroads as supply lines, with Johnston shorting his supply lines as he drew closer to Atlanta, and Sherman lengthing his own. When the retreat reached Atlanta, the Confederate army took up fortifications around the city, while Sherman spread his army out across the northern side of Atlanta. On July 17, 1864, the Confederate government replaced Johnston with the more aggresive Hood. Hood attempted to attack the Union army at the Battle of Peachtree Creek and the Battle of Atlanta, but both battles were won by the Union. Sherman then attempted to cut the remaining railroad supply lines into Atlanta, resulting in a series of battles around the city, the largest being the Battle of Ezra Church. Finally, on August 31, 1864, the Union army broke through at the Battle of Jonesborough and took control of the rail lines. Hood was forced to retreat from Atlanta the next day and Sherman entered the city on September 2.
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