Editing Georgia (U.S. state) (section)

===American Civil War===
[[File:Battle of Kenesaw Mountian.png|thumb|The [[Battle of Kennesaw Mountain]] in 1864]]
In early 1861, as the [[American Civil War]] commenced, Georgia chose to leave the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] to join the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. Support for secession from the Union enjoyed a slight majority among the state's delegates,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/georgia-secession-convention-1861|title=Georgia Secession Convention of 1861|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia|publisher=Georgia Humanities |first1= George |last1=Justice |date=2006 |orig-date=June 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127205831/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/georgia-secession-convention-1861|archive-date=January 27, 2019|access-date=January 27, 2019}}</ref> and the state ultimately became one of several major [[Theater (warfare)|military theaters]] during the Civil War.

Major battles took place at [[Battle of Chickamauga|Chickamauga]], [[Battle of Kennesaw Mountain|Kennesaw Mountain]], and [[Atlanta]]. In December 1864, a large swath of the state from Atlanta to [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]], was destroyed during General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]'s [[Sherman's March to the Sea|March to the Sea]], during which 18,253 Georgian soldiers were killed, representing roughly one of every five then in service of the Confederacy.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=unfit |url=http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/versions/hr989_LC_94_5133_a_2.htm |title=A Resolution |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030065659/http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/versions/hr989_LC_94_5133_a_2.htm |archive-date=October 30, 2012 |author=Georgia General Assembly |access-date=June 26, 2012 |id=11 LC 94 5133, House Resolution 989 }}</ref> One of the most notorious Civil War sites in the state was the [[Andersonville Prison]], where nearly 13,000 Union [[prisoners of war]] died because of inhumane conditions and ill treatment. Following the war, the camp's commander [[Henry Wirz]] was sentenced to death for [[war crimes]] and hanged, making him the highest-ranking Confederate official to be executed.<ref>{{citation|author=Kat Eschner|title=How the Trial and Death of Henry Wirz Shaped Post-Civil War America|website=Smithsonian Magazine|date=November 10, 2017|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-trial-and-death-henry-wirz-shaped-post-civil-war-america-180967139/|access-date=April 12, 2025}}</ref>