Used to transport troops, supplies, and food, railroads were usually the most efficient route from one site to another. Many famous battles were won or lost because of the use or destruction of railroads.
In the spring of 1864, for example, Union general William T. Sherman tried to cut off supplies to the Confederate army. He ordered one of his generals to cut the rail line that connected Decatur, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, which was a Confederate stronghold. Union soldiers burned the wooden railroad ties until they were hot enough to allow the iron rails above them to be bent. With thirty miles of track destroyed in this way, rail contact with Atlanta was eliminated. Atlanta Confederates suffered greatly from lack of supplies as a result. By September, the weakened city had been captured by the Union, and shortly after this the war ended. Union destruction of southern rail lines like the Decatur-Atlanta route was partly responsible for the North's victory.
Civil War spies. Several key battles of the Civil War hinged on the activities of individuals who did not appear on the battlefield. Many of the war's great victories were won in part because of the information gathered in enemy camps by spies.
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