The Role of Railroads in the Atlanta Campaign

THE ROLE OF RAILROADS IN THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN Armin E. Mruck The Austro-Sardinian War of 1848-49, the Hungarian and Saxon revolutions of the same years, the Crimean War, and the Austro-FrancoSardinian conflict of 1859 witnessed a new and widespread use of railroads not only as a means of transportation for men and materials but also as an object of strategy. With few exceptions military thinkers had come to realize the significance of railroads for warfare. Therefore, it is not surprising that from the outset of the American Civil War extensive use was made of available lines in both the North and the South.1 Yet the Civil War differed from earlier conflicts in one significant respect: whereas railroads in the past had been utilized in local, or limited, campaigning, they in 1861 became an integral part of a total war. With this the Civil War has been and can be rightfully called the first modern war, for no aspect of that struggle better illustrates the transition from old to new than the role played by railroads. In a sense the Union was more aware of the importance of railroads than the Confederacy. This could perhaps be explained through the recognized Northern superiority in railroads and the South's natural inclination to play down the significance of the evident fact. Moreover, the South thought it could afford to minimize this recognized weakness by a belief in a quick and victorious war. Finally, some Southerners believed that the inferiority of their railroad net might even be a definite advantage, because in case of an invasion of their territory it would prevent the Northern forces from a successful penetration and occupation of Southern territory. One notable exception in this thinking was General Robert E. Lee, who from the start of the war paid much attention to the conquest or This article gives a European interpretation of one Civil War railroad. The author, who holds advanced degrees from Georg August University, Goettingen , Germany, is associate professor of history at Morgan State College. 1 As an observer in the Crimean War, George B. McClellan had early realized the potential of railroads. Thus, one of his first acts as commander of the Military Department of Ohio was to insure insofar as possible the safety of the Baltimore & Ohio, which passed through his district. 264 at least interruption of one of the great arteries of the Union: the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Throughout the entire war, the B. & O. remained a major area and object for military activities, both of the Union and of the Confederacy.2 Other railroads that played an equally important role during the conflict were the Memphis and Charleston, the Louisville and Nashville, and the Nashville-Chattanooga lines. The following account will attempt to tell the story of the Louisville and Nashville and the Nashville-Chattanooga railroads in Sherman's campaign in Georgia. It can be safely maintained that this strategic operation on the greatest scale became possible only through the availability of railroads. The successful completion of the campaign resulted in a further breaking up of the remaining Confederate territory into a northern and a southern half. General Lee was deprived of his supply bases through the loss of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, and a further continuation of the war became impossible. Thus the effective use of the railroads in Sherman's campaign in Georgia contributed notably to the successful completion of the Civil War for the North. The following treatise will attempt to demonstrate this observation. In March, 1864, General William T. Sherman was placed in command of Federal operations in the Tennessee-Georgia area. He at once investigated the problem of logistical supply for his army, for his sights were set on capturing Atlanta, then seizing Savannah, and ultimately penetrating into South and North Carolina. To achieve the initial goal of taking Atlanta, he planned to cut the railroad arteries that linked the city with the Confederacy, viz., the Georgia Railroad (running eastward to Augusta), the Atlanta-Montgomery Railroad (stretching westward with a connection to Columbus), and the Macon & Western Railroad (moving southward to link with the Central of Georgia line at Macon). To supply Sherman on the coming campaign, Colonel...