Answer:
The population reduced because they stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sherman's March to the Sea was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army.
Total war affected the civilians of the Confederacy by taking food, tearing up railroad lines and fields, and killing livestock of those not fighting in the military. The destruction also allowed slaves to leave their plantations and follow the protection of the army.
The purpose of Sherman's March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Sherman's soldiers did not destroy any of the towns in their path, but they stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back.