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How many enslaved Black people were freed during Sherman's 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.
During William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea, between 17,000 and 25,000 enslaved Black people were freed. This included more than 7,500 individuals who were liberated in and around Savannah.12
As Union forces occupied territory, these individuals were considered forever free under the Confiscation Acts. Many of these freedom seekers followed the Union troops as they moved east, with some even assisting the army by clearing roads ahead of the march.3