General William Tecumseh Sherman is regarded as the "Father of Modern Warfare" for his advance from Kingston, Georgia to a point 3 miles due east of Fort McAlister known as the March to the Sea. This event is often wrongly combined with another set of battles known as the Atlanta Campaign. The two events are distinct. The Atlanta Campaign, which began in early May, 1864, ended with the fall of Atlanta on September 2, 1864. The March to the Sea, according to Sherman, began in Kingston, Georgia (Sherman had stopped there as he chased General John B. Hood around northwest Georgia) and ended when he reached ships waiting his arrival off the coast of Georgia south of Savannah.

Sherman then marched to roughly 18 miles south of General Robert E. Lee's position in Virginia, forcing Lee to surrender.

For a complete biography, focusing on his Georgia years, please see William Tecumseh Sherman, a north Georgia notable