BATTLE SUMMARY
North and west of Atlanta, nearly 100,000 men waited while Gen. William T. Sherman made a decision. Under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the Army of Tennessee had retired south of Peach Tree Creek, an east to west flowing stream, about 3 miles north of Atlanta. With only the Chattahoochee River and Johnston's Army of Tennessee between him and the city, he could move either south or east from Marietta to cross the mighty river that cuts through the center of Georgia from northeast to southwest. It was the last great physical barrier between Sherman and his prize.