GENERAL SHERMAN PUT ATLANTA ON THE MAP

History is a great for teller of things to come, during the civil war Atlanta was the default capital of the south, the war was not fought to free the slaves, Lincoln recognized the will of the founding fathers and risked everything to keep the union together.
"One nation under God" is how the line reads, "a house divided cannot stand" is how Abe interpreted that thought. Unless you read some of the more obscure accounts of Sherman's' march, it's a little known fact that Sherman was hailed as a humanitarian and a hero by many of the southerners that he was ordered to slaughter.
General Sherman defied both Lincoln and Grant and disobeyed direct orders to murder any and all confederate soldiers and their families, pillage the plantations and farms and burn down every man made object from Chattanooga to Savannah in a 60 mile wide swath to the sea. Instead Sherman took a genuine liking to the southerners, he understood that their bid to succeed from the north had failed and technically all surviving confederates could be branded treasonous, as a soldier and a well educated man he understood that most of the confederates did not even know what they were really fighting for and in his eye of wisdom and compassion he knew that they should not persecuted further, he also grew to love the land and was quoted as saying "Georgia is a little bit of heaven on earth".
Sherman was instrumental in protecting the southerners from the roving bands of criminals made up mostly of army deserters from both sides, when he heard of an incident involving this type of crime or criminal element, justice was swift and decisive.
After Lincolns assassination Sherman made Atlanta his pet project, it was his insistence and dedication that helped bring the city back to prominence and recognition as the capital of the south.
William Tecumseh Sherman, West Point graduate, military tactician, man of letters and often quoted speaker "War is Hell" died on February 14, 1891, it should be noted that he did more to rebuild Atlanta than to tear it down.