Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston continued their “dance” across northern Georgia. Johnston came in for a lot of criticism from his men, but those who examined the campaign from afar concluded that he was doing the best of all Confederate commanders at this point.

Johnston’s desire was to prevent Sherman from taking Atlanta. Given the number of railroad lines that fed into Atlanta, it had suddenly become the second most important city in the Confederacy, a valuation that very few would have expected just three years earlier. Like Richmond, Atlanta was in a state of confusion, but it had not yet become pandemonium.