What key events characterized Sherman's March to the Sea?

Answer 1

There was very little combat. It was a punitive raid on the farmlands that fed the Confederate armies.

Sherman had strictly forbidden physical assaults on civilians, and where these occurred, it was usually at the hands of the lawless mounted hooligans ("Bummers") who followed the Union troops.

When they reached the coast at Savannah, there was a small Confederate force there under General Hardee, and Sherman prepared for battle. But Hardee's men escaped across the river into South Carolina, where Sherman presently followed them - in too much of a hurry to burn down Savannah (thank goodness).