Video: 'The Atlanta Campaign: The Civil War in Four Minutes'

(Friday, September 2, 1864, morning; during the Atlanta Campaign, part of the American Civil War) — Union forces led by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia, today, in a significant turning point of the American Civil War.

After a series of battles and a prolonged siege, Confederate forces under General John Bell Hood evacuated the city on Sept. 1, 1864, and Sherman’s troops occupied it today, the follow day.

Mayor James Calhoun, along with a committee of Union-leaning citizens including William Markham, Jonathan Norcross, and Edward Rawson, met a captain on the staff of Major General Henry W. Slocum, and surrendered the city, asking for “protection to non-combatants and private property.”

Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.7of9.Most.Hallowed.Ground' (Atlanta falls at 41:36)

Sherman, who was in Jonesboro at the time of surrender, sent a telegram to Washington on Sept. 3, 1864, reading, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.”

The fall of Atlanta had substantial military and political implications. It was a major transportation hub and industrial center for the Confederacy, so its loss severely weakened the Southern war effort.

Additionally, the capture of Atlanta boosted Northern morale and would significantly contribute to the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln in November 1864.

Sherman’s subsequent “March to the Sea” would further devastate the Southern infrastructure and war effort.