So, when Quantrill’s bushwhackers invaded, looted, and burned Lawrence, KS, shooting, mangling, and burning the body of every single man and teenaged boy they could find, civilians all, was that “total war”? I’m just curious.
It sounds you are drawing a moral equivalency between Quantrill’s atrocities, and Sherman's total war. I think you are right.
One thing that I see as different: Sherman had Lincoln's approval. I am not aware that Jefferson Davis approved of Quantrill’s murders - I'd be surprised if he did.
If Jefferson Davis had won the war I can't image him making Quantrill the Commanding General of the Army - the way President Grant did of Sherman.
Had Quantrill survived his injuries, I suspect he would have been tried for war crimes. Sherman was celebrated as a hero.