By September, Atlanta would fall to his army, which ultimately brought an end to the Civil War. The study of Sherman's wartime reports and memoirs clearly indicates that he envisioned the march to the sea not as a brilliant strategic movement, but merely as a practical solution to the horrible dilemma he found himself in with 100,000 hungry men deep in hostile territory and dependant upon supplies being brought in from 300 miles away on a single railroad track. No doubt Sherman was truly a military strategist, but desperation was the foundation for his creativity. Woven into the information I just supplied are what I see as the three elements of military operations. First, there must be a strategy.
Strategy is the art of making war on a map.
When Sherman rode across the Georgia state line and began meeting with his officers, communicating his vision required maps, diagrams, word pictures and motivational concepts - all of which eventually motivated the officers to mobilize their troops. Though Sherman's strategy was born out of desperation, it was a direct result of his skill in warfare. The second element employed in warfare is tactics, which is the art of moving bodies of troops on the field of battle in the immediate presence of their enemy. While strategy is the art of making war on a map, tactics is making war on the field. Stated another way, if you see it on the battle field, it's tactics.