William Tecumseh Sherman was born on May 8, 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. He received his education at the United States Military Academy and then eventually became a Union General in the U.S. civil war. Sherman declared his resignation from the army in 1853 and became a banking firm in San Francisco. He became the president of the Military college in Louisiana (currently LSU) from 1859-1861. Sherman offered his services at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 and was placed in command of a voluntary infantry regiment. He became a brigadier general of the volunteers after the first Battle of Bull Run.
He was the leader at the battle of Shiloh and was then promoted to general to the volunteer. Following the battle of Chatanooga, he was made supreme commander of the armies in the West. Sherman fought along with the likes of Ulysses S. Grant and against Robert E. Lee before he became commissioned lieutenant general of the regular army. Following Grant’s election to presidency, Sherman was promoted to full general and was given command of the entire U.S. Army.
He retired in 1883 and died in 1891. William Sherman was a very talented and successful man. He is remembered by many accomplishments, but is probably remembered most by his famous march to the sea. The march was probably one of the most celebrated military action in history. Sherman rallied sixty thousand men and they marched from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean, then north through South Carolina destroying the last of the South’s economic resources. Commander Bedford Forrest was in Tennessee, and with Atlanta secured, General Sherman dispatched George Thomas to Nashville to restore the order there. Thomas and John B.
The Term Paper on William Tecumseh Sherman and His March to the Sea
... the U.S. Military Academy and later went on to become a Union General in the U.S. civil war. Sherman resigned from the army in ... on toward the sea while the Confederacy could do nothing. Sherman's march to the sea was a demonstration that the Confederacy could ... Chattanooga he was made supreme commander of the armies in the west. Sherman fought many battles with such people as Ulysses S. Grant, ...
hood engaged in many skirmishes which threatened Thomas’s supply line. Sherman decided boldly to use a plan which was completely opposite of the plan Grant laid down six months earlier. Instead of the Confederate armies being the objective and target for the Union armies, they chose confederate cities instead. Sherman ignored Confederate armies and attacked “the spirit that sustained the Confederate nation itself,” the home, the property, the families and the food of the Southern heartland. He would march for Savannah, which lay near the coast. Sherman decided to live off of Georgia’s supplies, instead of his own.
Grant then approved Sherman’s plan. Sherman set off eastward “smashing things to the sea.” On November 15, 1864, Sherman began his march. Sherman proclaimed “I can make Georgia howl!” Sherman left Atlanta, setting it up in flames as they left, with 62,000 men, 555,000 of them on foot, 5,000 cavalry horses, and about 2,000 riding artillery horses. The army was composed of 218 regiments, 184 of them from the West, and 155 were from the old Northwest Territory. This army was remembered as an especially strong one. The bulk of the army was composed of English, Scottish, Irish, and Germans. Sherman arrived in Georgia with little opposition. The army fanned out widely, covering a sixty-mile span from one side to the other. The army demolished everything in their path– the land, homes, buildings, and people.
Bridges, railroads machine shops were all decimated. One result of the marching was that the Confederate armies had little or no food supplies or for their animals. The entire Confederate war effort had become weaker and weaker. The Confederacy was helpless as Sherman went on towards the sea. Sherman’s march to the sea was a demonstration that the Confederacy could not protect its own. Many agree that Sherman acted too brutally and cruel during the march. Some believed all that mattered to Sherman and his men were demolishing the Confederate homeland.
Sherman was known as the first modern general because he “waged an economic war against citizens.” He is also known as one of the best generals of the Civil War. Others in the South believe him to be a cruel, brutal, horrible, and evil man. In peoples’ right mind, however, he should be regarded as the man who helped win the War for the morally right side, the Union. If William Sherman would have never lived, there is no telling what could have happened. Possibly, a Confederate victory could have occurred and perhaps even slavery could still be around today. It is hard to imagine what might have happened in The Civil War if it wasn’t for the actions of Sherman. Everyone (including most southerners) should be thankful for William Sherman doing what he did.
The Term Paper on Civil War South Men Union
... who knew the terrain.The Confederates mistakenly believed the union army would find the march impossible. On December 23, 1864, Sherman sent a telegram ... conditions, black men were lining up to become Union solders. War Is All Hell Some even today regard General Sherman's Campaign of ... with the lack of proper leadership, lack of war material, and men with poor attitudes, the South really didn't stand ...
