22. The Civil War Raid That Set the Stage For Sherman’s March Through Georgia
Colonel Grierson added to the Confederates’ confusion by peeling off detachments and sending them on feints to baffle and confuse the enemy about his actual whereabouts, intentions, and direction of march. The raid was a smashing success – literally as well as figuratively. Rampaging at will for 15 days deep in the heart of the enemy territory, Grierson’s troopers wreaked significant damage upon enemy property and enemy morale. Although vigorously pursued by Confederates, the Union cavalry eluded their pursuers while causing mayhem in the enemy’s heartland.
After a 15-day-rampage during which they lost only 3 killed, 7 wounded, and 9 missing, the federal horsemen crossed into the safety of Union lines near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In addition to its immediate impact, the raid demonstrated that Union soldiers could to live off the land in Confederate territory. That started the gears turning in the mind of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman about the vulnerability of the Confederacy’s interior, which he compared to soft innards surrounded by a brittle shell. A year and a half later, the result was the March Through Georgia and the even more devastating March Through the Carolinas that sealed the Confederacy’s doom.
