"The year was 1864. 23,000 men had died at Gettysburg on either side and now the Confederacy's white knight, General Lee, was on the run. Refugees flooded into Richmond, seeking food and shelter where there was none to be had. After a series of food riots and serious concerns of a cholera epidemic, the Confederate government sealed off the city to any and all traffic not related to the war effort. With the population stabilized, stockpiles could be rationed and fresh supplies could be ordered. That was the plan anyway, but there was nowhere to bring food in from without further starving Lee's troops and allowing the enemy to march on the city itself. The government had locked newcomers out of the capital, but they had locked themselves in with a horde of desperate people; disgruntled deserters and wounded among them. When word came of Atlanta burning, it soon came apparent that Sherman's actions had lit more than one fire, as the Richmond powderkeg exploded."
- The History Channel, "The First War of the Rebellion"