The short answer - almost every city he entered was laid waste before he left. With the exception of one city: Union, Mississippi. He respected the name of the city because it was named Union. He spared the city and even stayed in a hotel there. It is now a musuem.
General Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army advanced from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia. After victory in Atlanta, Sherman ordered the city's evacuation and burning in November 1864.
Atlanta, Georgia
General William Tecumseh Sherman led a march to the sea burning everything in his way including the city of Atlanta.
For all practical purposes the three Union armies under the command of Major General William T. Sherman did not "march through Georgia". They battled their way under fierce resistance from Confederate forces.The General William T. Sherman was the highest ranking Union general to lead the march through Georgia. His first main target was Atlanta. The city surrendered in early September, 1864, helping President Lincoln's re election campaign.Sherman made that city his headquarters for almost two months. He then began his famous or to some, his infamousmarch to the sea, towards the port city of Savannah. He ordered Atlanta burned to the ground upon his departure, however, Catholic priests begged him to spare hospitals, which he did spare.Savannah surrendered on December 21, 1864.
Sherman's troops took the city, but did not destroy it as they had with Atlanta. The Southern troops left the city and it was occupied without a fight. Sherman's army, traveling fast and light, reached Savannah on December 10, 1864 and found Confederate troops under Lt. General Hardee blocking them from the port. Instead, Sherman captured the lightly defended Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River. With supplies and heavy guns delivered from a Union fleet, Sherman sent an ultimatum to the city leaders on December 17: surrender or be destroyed. Hardee's troops slipped away across the river and the city was surrendered on December 21.
Atlanta :(
Sherman
General Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army advanced from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia. After victory in Atlanta, Sherman ordered the city's evacuation and burning in November 1864.
Sherman City Union Church was created in 1898.
Atlanta, Georgia
William T. Sherman was the Union general that captured Savannah Georgia in December of 1864. As Confederate forces had evacuated the city to avoid capture, the mayor of Savannah surrendered to Sherman.
No Confederate General surrendered the City of Atlanta to Sherman's Union forces. The Confederate forces under Hood evacuated the city in September 1864. General Sherman in turn evacuated the city after burning it in November of that year, returning it to Confederate control.
Atlanta, Georgia
He burned Atlanta after failing to destroy the Army of Tennessee, which had escaped the city. He then decided to ignore that army, and launch an entirely different kind of operation, targeting the infrastructure that supported the Confederate armies. That was the march to the sea.
Union General made Atlanta his southern headquarters for a month after he took control of the city. Upon his orders to advance well into Georgia, he burned down much of Atlanta. Catholic priests begged Sherman not to burn down orphan homes and hospitals and Sherman agreed to that.
The city of Columbia , South Carolina surrendered to Gen. William T. Sherman February 17, 1865 leaving the city open to Union forces to freely enter into the city .
On September 2, 1864, the City of Atlanta formally surrendered to the Union troops of General Sherman. Later, Sherman established his Southern headquarters there.