Mrs. Don-o: "When I think of Sherman, anger and shame contend."
Sorry to interrupt this hate-fest on Uncle Billy Sherman, but it's important for somebody to point out that Sherman did nothing in Georgia against civilians that had not already been done by Confederate forces against Union civilians, and indeed against some of their own civilians.
Here is a representative listing:
"You did it first!"
"No, you did it worst!"
Shame on all of them for these damnable deeds. They face the same Judge.
Certainly atrocities abounded on both sides of the Civil War. That being said, it does NOT excuse Sherman. Two wrongs don’t make a right. (BTW: I am certainly not a “lost causer” either.) The question of war crimes committed during the fighting of a war is logically independent of the validity of the overall cause. A soldier fighting for a perfectly justified cause can commit war crimes. A soldier fighting in an illegal war of aggression is likewise entitled to certain protections per the laws of just war, such as being allowed to surrender without being killed and being treated in humane fashion if taken prisoner. Civilians on ANY side of a conflict are generally entitled to be free from being intentionally targeted.
Bottom line: one need not believe in the fundamental rightness of the Confederate cause (and I do not) to hold Sherman responsible for intentionally targeting civilians during the campaign in Georgia and S. Carolina. The fact that Confederate leaders also targeted civilians does not mitigate this responsibility; I would condemn those leaders as much as I do Sherman.