"...To Knock Jos. Johnston": Sherman, Atlanta, and the Sinews of War

by Michael R. Brasher

"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."

While Sam Grant was in a death stuggle with Bobby Lee in Virginia in 1864, so was Uncle Billy Sherman locking horns with Joe Johnston in the pine thickets of North Georgia.

Maybe you know something about Grant and Lee and their Overland Campaign, otherwise known as "the 40-days." The mention of the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor might ring a bell. Would the same be true hearing about the battles of Resaca? Kennesaw Mountain? Peachtree Creek? These were all part of the Atlanta Campaign.

Odds are you are not nearly as familiar with the Atlanta Campaign as the more famous battles that occurred in the Eastern Theater. Of course there are several excellent books on the Atlanta Campaign. Yes there are, but you don't have the time to to sit down and read a 300-page book on the subject do you? At least not right now. Understandable, few people do have the time. But with this e-book you don't have to spend hours. Spend an hour or so reading through the narrative. It is concise but comprehensive.

Find a personality, location, battle, or other event that you are really curious about and odds are you'll find an external web site linked within the e-book. Click the link. Cast your net wide or dig in deep on the external sites. Spend as much or as little time as you want with the book and on its linked sites.This approach will let you tailor your exploration of the Atlanta Campaign to your own particular situation.

For instance, have you ever wondered:

Why was Atlanta important?
How fact-based is Gone With The Wind with respect to the real military history of the Atlanta Campaign?
Who was the Confederate military leader that Sherman most feared during his Campaign for Atlanta? (hint: it wasn't Joe Johnston or John Bell Hood)

Find the answer to these and many other questions about Sherman's drive on Atlanta in this "short-read," but comprehensive e-book: "...To Knock Jos. Johnston": Sherman, Atlanta, and the Sinews of War. It includes:

Introduction: Setting the background
Author Insights
Chapter 1: The Spring 1864 Offensives
Chapter 2: Logistics in the West
Chapter 3: Protecting His Lifeline
Chapter 4: Drive on Atlanta
Chapter 5: Sherman versus Johnston
Chapter 6: Sherman Deals with Forrest
Chapter 7: Sherman versus Hood
Chapter 8: Atlanta Falls

Plus extensive use of authoritative external web site links to important personalities, locations, battles, and other events. Bibliography and annotated footnotes included.

Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2019

About the author

Why my interest in the Civil War? I suppose that would only be natural for someone who, as a kid, grew up only 30-miles from Shiloh National Military Park. In 1993 however, I discovered my maternal great-grandfather was a member of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment. That discovery is what finally “got the ball rolling” for me in a serious way. I am still working on a regimental history by the way, so I will keep you posted on my progress.​ I was born and raised in West Tennessee, near where my great grandfather moved following the Civil War. I served 20 years in both an enlisted and officer capacity in the United States Air Force. At the present time I still work in the defense industry as a systems engineer. I graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Electrical Engineering. While still in the Air Force, I obtained an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College. Later, after retiring and vowing not to allow any of my GI Bill educational benefits to go unused, I obtained a MA in history (with a specialty in Civil War Studies) in 1999 from American Military University.