This movie begins with Sherman's march to the sea. Sherman said, "I can make this march, and I will make Georgia howl!" General Sherman and his troops cut a wide swath marching from Atlanta to Savannah, with little resistance, Sherman's troops scavenged for provender, and ate as well as they ever had, off of the Georgia farm land. They also reaped havoc as the went. The heated the railroad rails, and twisted them in to a fashion that became known as Sherman's neckties. They burned mansions, as well as crops. They destroyed anything which could in some way have been used by the armies of the Confederacy. This march also of course freed the men held at Anderson Prison. Not a pretty site as men were skin and bones.
Of course after reaching Savannah all was not over. The then did the same thing, but to a more harsh degree as the traveled north through South Carolina. South Carolina was the first state to secede, and where the war started, and so deserving of the greater punishment.
In the mean time, Grant continued to lengthen his line around Petersburg. The Confederacy suffered desertion, and low morale, and eventually their line was too thin and inviting a break, which happened. After which it was a race to see if Grant could surround Lee's army and cut it off and force surrender. This eventually happened at Appomattox, and Lee asked for terms and the surrender was negotiated. The official surrender took place with General John B. Gordon, Gordon and his troops surrendering to General Joshua Chamberlain.
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