Atlanta Railroad Depot

After a summer of morale-sapping defeats, costly victories, and stalemate had sunk Lincoln's re-election hopes, General William Sherman's capture of Atlanta, Georgia, on September 2, 1864, electrified Unionists and re-energized Lincoln's campaign.

During the Civil War, Atlanta was a major railroad hub connecting the Deep South with Virginia. Capturing the city to sever the rail connections became a top priority for the U.S. Army, which struggled for four months to break through the stubborn Confederate defenses.

The capture of Atlanta proved to be, perhaps, the most timely victory of the war and dashed Confederate hopes that Lincoln would be ousted as U.S. President by a unsatisfied, war-weary Northern public.