South officially surrendered 150 years ago today

"Capture of De Gress' Battery by the Confederates" during the Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. Illustration from "The Mountain Campaigns in Georgia, or War Scenes on the W&A," 1886, Atlanta.

By Staff reports

June 2, 2015

It was 150 years ago today that Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators, bringing a formal end to the bloodiest four years in U.S. history.

The war began on April 12, 1861, and more than 600,000 Americans died before it was over.

The war truly hit home for Georgians at the end of 1864. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 21, Union Gen. William T. Sherman led 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah. The purpose of this "March to the Sea" was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause.

Check out the AJC's special report on the "war in our backyards."

Click here to read more on Sherman's legacy.

Interested in exploring metro Atlanta's Civil War battlefields? Click here.

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Staff reports