 Sherman settled into a siege of Atlanta , shelling the city and sending raids west and south of the city to cut off the supply lines from Macon , Georgia . Both of Sherman 's cavalry raids were defeated by superior southern horsemen . Following the failure to break the Confederates ' hold on the city , Sherman began to employ a new strategy . He swung his entire army in a broad flanking maneuver to the west . Finally , on August 31 , at Jonesborough , Georgia , Sherman 's army captured the railroad track from Macon , pushing the Confederates to Lovejoy 's Station . With his supply lines fully severed , Hood pulled his troops out of Atlanta the next day , September 1 , destroying supply depots as he left to prevent them from falling into Union hands . He also set fire to eighty @-@ one loaded ammunition cars , which led to a conflagration watched by hundreds . 
