Dresden was MOST certainly a military target!
It was a command and control center for eastern Germany, with provincial government headquarters (including Gestapo, SS, Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, etc.) as well as light industry.
There were several Luftwaffe bases around the city, including fighter, bomber, transport and a flight school.
It was at a major crossroads for moving men and equipment and it was a major rail hub.
At the time of the bombing, the roads, railyards and city itself, were choked with retreating German forces.
The morning after the first bombing, Goebbels issued a press release stating that Dresden was nothing more than a cultural center and claimed over 200,000 casualties: all of which was complete bullshit and still gets quoted as fact to this day - which sadly reaffirms Goebbels as the master propagandist with no equal...