Civilians continued to flee the city; some of those who remained were killed by northern shells that rained down on their streets. “War is war, and not popularity-seeking,” wrote Sherman in pursuance of his career as Georgia’s most unpopular visitor.8 The defiant courage of Atlantans who stayed raised the spirits of southerners everywhere. Much of the Confederate press viewed Hood’s attacks as victories. The Atlanta Intelligencer (published in Macon) predicted that “Sherman will suffer the greatest defeat that any Yankee General has suffered during the war. . . . The Yankee forces will
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