Because he did not think he would be able to pursue the Army of Tennessee into the mountains, with such a long and vulnerable supply-line.
Instead, he would turn Southeast, and conduct punitive raids across Georgia, living off the land as he went, so he would be able to forget his supply-line.
IMPROVEMENT
Sherman's March to the Sea can't be considered only as a series of punitive raids across Georgia. It was part of a major strategic plan aiming to take from behind the Confederacy's "Atlantic Fortress", approved by Grant and Lincoln.
It represented a new development of the Art of War. It was made possible by the error committed by the Confederates with their offensive against the Tennessee, which left no adequate force to keep at bay Sherman Army.
The European strategist would take eighty years to find out that penetrate in the heart of the enemy country can achieve more decisive outcomes than lagging against secondary objectives. The military leaders who applied the same principles
in the WW2 were Guderian, Cerniakowsky, Bradley, Patton, Rommel etc.
General William Tecumseh Sherman led a march to the sea burning everything in his way including the city of Atlanta.
Sherman's March to the Sea began on November 15 and ended on December 21, 1864. Sherman was a Major general in the Union Army.
William T. Sherman
It was William T. Sherman.
aw, the old expreshion. he if famous for his "march to the sea"
General sherman.
The March to the Sea
Georgia
Because General Sherman marched to Savannah, GA.. which is near the sea.
Tactically, it gave him a chance to forget about his vulnerable supply-line and live off the land. Strategically, the wrecking of farms and railroads would help to starve the Confederate troops in the field and end the war quicker than attacking the armies.
leading the union army on sherman's march.
General Sherman
Georgia - and then the same in South Carolina
because he felt like it
In may of 1864 general grant ordered general sherman to march his army out of chattanooga into Georgia.
Sherman
The Atlantic