I te tau 1864, ka neke atu te ope taua o te Kotahitanga ki te tonga whai muri i te hopu o Chattanooga ka tiimata tana whakaekenga ki te raki o Georgia. Ko te rohe e karapoti ana i a Atlanta te waahi o etahi pakanga nui a te ope taua, ka mutu i te Pakanga o Atlanta
me te whakapae e wha marama te roa o te taone nui e te Ope Taua o te Uniana i raro i te whakahau a General William Tecumseh Sherman. I te Mahuru 1, 1864, i whakatau a John Bell Hood, te Tumuaki o te Kotahitanga ki te hoki mai i Atlanta, a ka whakahau ia kia whakangaromia nga whare katoa o te iwi me nga rawa ka taea te whakamahi ki te Ope Taua o te Uniana. I te ra i muri mai, ka tukuna a Mayor James Calhoun i Atlanta ki te Ope Taua o te Uniana, a i te Mahuru 7, ka whakahau a Sherman i te taupori o te taone kia nekehia atu. I te 11 o Noema 1864, i whakarite a Sherman mo te Union Army's March to the Sea ma te whakahau i te whakangaromanga o nga taonga hoia o Atlanta.