AUGUST 26, 1864:
William
Tecumseh Sherman spends the day maneuvering troops for what he hopes will be
the final assault on Atlanta. While his units position themselves and
reinforcements arrive, he orders General John M. Schofield to “demonstrate”
against John Bell Hood’s forces now essentially trapped in Atlanta. The
“demonstration” amounts to little more than chest beating en masse, and for a day no shells fall on Atlanta. Carrie Berry, a
10-year-old girl living in Atlanta, tells her diary:
Cousin Henry came in
this morning and told us we need not fear the shells any more. The Yankees left
there brest works and he hoped they were on the way back to Tennessee. We have
had such a delightful day. We all wanted to move to day but we will wait til to
morrow and see if the Yankees have gone.
