I can envision it. Gen. William T. Sherman is preparing for his “March to the Sea” when an advisor approaches him with some bad news: There’s a 15-wagon wreck on Interstate 75.
So, the General decides to find an alternate route. Atlanta is spared and instead the now famous general marches through Birmingham, Ala., en route to the Gulf of Mexico, reaching New Orleans just in time for Mardi Gras ’65 — that’s 1865. History is altered forever because the driver of an 1861 brown wagon abruptly switched lanes causing the crash.
No, this scenario never played out; in fact, there was no Interstate 75 at the time of Sherman’s march. As history tells us, the general led his troops more or less along the Western and Atlantic Railroad, burning towns along the way to Savannah.
But for argument’s sake, let’s imagine the traffic in Atlanta during 1864 was just as atrocious as it is today. I wonder how Sherman’s march might have been affected by the congestion.
A line of troops stands idle somewhere around Kingston, delayed by the morning commute into Atlanta. “What’s the problem?” they begin to ask one another. “I hear there’s a stalled horse blocking the two right lanes a few miles up the road,” one soldier responds. Nearby, Sherman confers with a slew of maps he is carrying, the earliest form of MapQuest. Too bad they didn’t have those electronic signs over the roads – the ones that are supposed to inform motorists, or invading soldiers in this case, about traffic problems in the area.
“Fire reported in Ringgold, beware of decreased visibility,” one message to the north, behind Sherman and his troops, might read.
Certainly troop movement during some of the Civil War’s early battles was impacted by traffic, but still it pales in comparison to the traffic along Atlanta’s thoroughfare today. But maybe traffic was the real motive behind Sherman’s famous campaign.
It’s possible, Sherman was the first city planner, practicing what we might today call urban redevelopment.
Atlanta’s infrastructure needed an overhaul; the roads were clogged with traffic and the area’s railroads needed an upgrade. So, the general took it upon himself to raze buildings and begin tearing up track so it could be replaced. Besides, railroads in the Confederacy didn’t match what would become standard gauge.
Does this mean we can blame Sherman for Spaghetti Junction?
Just think – the city of Atlanta missed out on a vital defense had it used traffic to its advantage. As Sherman and his troops advanced towards Atlanta, his progress could have been slowed not by Confederate forces staging a desperate effort to protect this vital southern city, but by residents going about their normal, everyday business. Just one look at Ga. 400 during an average rush hour and Sherman would have turned around. How important is Georgia? Really? “I think if we conquer South Carolina, that’s really enough. Besides, Charleston is just as nice as Savannah. No?”
Moreover, do you think the good general really carried enough quarters to pay for his toll and the tolls of the thousands of troops he was leading? Not likely.
