[Non-Sequitur]

That is the quote I'm thinking of. And as I suspected, you badly exaggerated Sherman's intent because you ignore the passage which follows:

"In my judgment, we have two more battles to win before we should even bother our minds with the idea of restoring civil order...When these are done, then, and not until then, will the planters of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, submit. Slavery is already gone, and, to cultivate the land, negro or other labor must be hired. This, of itself, if a vast revolution, and time must be afforded to to allow men to adjust their minds and habits to the new order of things."

These are, I assume, the same men you just claimed Sherman wanted to destroy or replace?

[mstar]

That is the quote I'm thinking of. And as I suspected, you badly exaggerated Sherman's intent because you ignore the passage which follows.

I did not ignore the sentence you have quoted because it is based on Sherman's conclusion that there was not enough people in the U.S. to replace the planter class. See sentence below, once again;

If our country were like Europe crowded with people, I would say it would be easier to replace this class than to reconstruct it, subordinate to the policy of the nation; but as this is not the case, it is better to allow the planters with individual exceptions, gradually to recover their plantations, to hire any species of labor, and to adapt themselves to the new order of things."