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How did Confederate commanders misunderstand William Tecumseh Sherman's destination during the March to the Sea?
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William Tecumseh Sherman
General William T. Sherman in uniform and wearing a mourning ribbon for President Lincoln, photograph by Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, 1865.
To conceal his true intentions during the March to the Sea, William Tecumseh Sherman divided his forces into two wings, creating a two-pronged movement that confused Confederate leadership regarding his final destination.1
Confederate Lieut. Gen. William J. Hardee initially observed the right wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, and assumed its objective was to capture Macon. When the Union forces subsequently turned eastward, Hardee became convinced that the target was Augusta.1
By splitting his army and feinting toward these different locations, Sherman successfully obscured his actual goal: to seize the state capital of Milledgeville and ultimately reach the coast at Savannah.21