War like the thunderbolt: the battle and burning of Atlanta

The greatest event of the war

Crazy Bill: The Banks of the Chattahoochee, July 1864

The Gamecock: Confederate Headquarters, Atlanta, July 17

Old Woodenhead: Hood takes command

Hood's first sortie: The Battle of Peachtree Creek, July 20

Night March: Skirmishing and first shots, July 21-22

"An Iliad of woes": Bald Hill, or, The Battle of Atlanta, July 22

The Battle of the Poor House: Ezra Church, July 28

"A used-up community": The bombardment of Atlanta

"I have Atlanta in my hand": The Battle of Jonesboro, August 31 - September 1

"A day of terror and a night of dread": the surrender of Atlanta, September 2

Yankee Town: occupation and expulsion, September-October

The whole world on fire: the burning of Atlanta

Resurgens: Atlanta rebuilds

Afteword: War is hell

Author's note: Atlanta's lost battlefields

Appendix A: Order of Battle

Appendix B: Report by W. P. Howard to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown on the destruction of Atlanta.