Due to its location and commercial significance, Atlanta served as a center for military operations and it was a supply route owned by the Confederacy throughout the Civil War. For this reason, it turned into a target for the Union, and in 1864 the city was captured and burned down by General William Sherman Tecumseh and his troops. The overthrow of Atlanta had major significance because of its political implications. In the election of 1864, George B. McClellan, a Democrat and earlier Union general, faced President Lincoln, introducing a peace platform in the search for armistice with the Confederacy. Atlanta's capture and burning were widely covered by Northern newspapers, raising Northern morale, and resulting in Lincoln's re-election.