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Was Sherman a war criminal?
AJC.com ^ | June 13, 2014 | David Ibata, et al

Posted on 05/02/2017 5:06:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin

...Civil War historians argue opposite sides of the debate.

...

After World War II, the Nuremberg Charter defined war crimes as violations of the laws or customs of war. It lists several categories of offenses....

Murder or ill-treatment of civilians: Union artillery had barely gotten into range of Atlanta when, on July 19, 1864, Sherman ordered a bombardment of the city’s buildings: “No consideration must be paid to the fact they are occupied by families, but the place must be cannonaded.” The Yankee guns fired their first shells on July 20, and within a few days, Confederate newspapers began reporting casualties. One shell wounded a woman and killed the child she was carrying in her arms. In my book, I have concluded that the victims were the wife and child of John M. Weaver, an engineer who lived on Walton Street.

Sherman maintained a perverse determination to shell Atlanta, denying that innocent civilians still lived there. “You may fire from 10 to 15 shots from every gun you have in position into Atlanta that will reach any of its houses,” he ordered his artillery on Aug. 1. “Fire slowly and with deliberation between 4 p.m. and dark.”

...

On Sept. 4, just days after his troops entered Atlanta, Sherman dictated his Special Field Orders 67: “The City of Atlanta being exclusively required for warlike purposes, will at once be vacated by all except the Armies of the United States.” Civilians wishing to go south would be taken to Confederate lines under truce flags; the Rebels would then have to transport them on to Macon. The displaced could take some possessions, but most of their property, not to mention their homes, would be left behind.

(Excerpt) Read more at atlantaforward.blog.ajc.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: confederacy; dixie; sherman; warcriminal; winner
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To: BenLurkin

Smells like a urinal.

61 posted on 05/02/2017 8:01:43 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: BenLurkin

pfl


62 posted on 05/02/2017 8:05:02 PM PDT by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything)
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To: BenLurkin
Was Sherman a war criminal?

Not after his side won.

63 posted on 05/02/2017 8:07:04 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: crz
You are reading way too much into that.LOL.

In October he co-operated with Hood in the advance against Sherman's communications, and after Hood had entered Tennessee Wheeler put his little cavalry command before Sherman's 65,000 en route through Georgia. He successfully defended Macon and Augusta, and before Savannah held open the only avenue of escape for Hardee's army. As has been written by President Davis, "The report of his operations from November 14th to December 20th displays a dash, activity, vigilance and consummate skill, which justly entitle him to a prominent place on the roll of great cavalry leaders. By his indomitable energy, operating on all sides of Sherman's columns, he was enabled to keep the government and commanders of our troops advised of the enemy's movements, and by preventing foraging parties from leaving the main body, he saved from spoliation all but a narrow tract of country, and from the torch millions worth of property which would otherwise have been certainly destroyed."

64 posted on 05/02/2017 8:07:10 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va

Wheelers men were not even wanted by Forest since they were extremely irrational and undisciplined.

LOL! The best horse cavalry officer in the southern army DID NOT WANT THEM.

LOL!!!!

But to Wheelers credit, He came around and fought under old glory in Cuba. Matter of fact, he was in command of TRs rough riders.

LOL!


65 posted on 05/02/2017 8:20:32 PM PDT by crz
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To: crz
Wheeler excelled in cooperating with, and supporting, the main army. He displayed his greatest skills in screening the army's movements, supporting the infantry during battles, and especially in covering retreats, a skill that earned him the rank of major general. A professional to the core, he carried out his orders to the letter and carefully followed regulations. In fact, he authored several military manuals, including Cavalry Tactics in 1863, which became the standard for Confederate cavalry operations. In it, Wheeler outlined a modern approach to the cavalry, as he fully adopted the model of the mounted infantry. Unlike heavy cavalry or dragoons, both of which fought as horsemen, the mounted infantry combined the speed and scouting abilities of the cavalry with the firepower of the infantry. Using horses enabled them to move quickly into a position, where they then dismounted and fought as infantry. This combination proved ideal for operations in the heavily wooded and mountainous regions of the South and remained the American model for decades afterward. Although Wheeler did not create the mounted infantry model, he did recognize its effectiveness and did his best to both promote and implement it in the field.

Wheeler did not perform well as a raider, a skill that brought fame to many other cavalry commanders, including both Nathan Bedford Forrest and J. E. B. Stuart. His raids often ended disastrously, and he did not enjoy the notoriety that came in that area.

Later in the war, Wheeler's cavalry often put up the only defense the South could offer against the invading forces of William Tecumseh Sherman. Unsuccessful in stopping these Union forces, he nevertheless won many small battles along the way. Wheeler also volunteered to cover the retreat of Confederate president Jefferson Davis in the chaotic days at the end of the war. Although he could not prevent the capture of Davis, Wheeler accompanied him to prison and remained in solitary confinement until his release in the summer of 1865.

66 posted on 05/02/2017 8:27:06 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: xone

The outcome wasn’t entirely clear in 1864. If Britain had recognized the CSA a lot of things would have changed. The point, however, was what Sherman knew, not the probability of the outcome. Subsequently Sherman employed his genocidal tendencies against the Plains Indians. He was a fascinating man, probably quite mad, and murderous.


67 posted on 05/02/2017 8:58:02 PM PDT by achilles2000 ("I'll agree to save the whales as long as we can deport the liberals")
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To: NKP_Vet

Good posting!

Also, the Union officers who led the destruction of Southern towns/cities also ordered the destruction of the records in court houses. ...Those acts destroyed the property deeds so it was impossible after the war for survivors to prove ownership, thus ushering in the Yankee carpetbaggers who took over the land holdings.


68 posted on 05/02/2017 11:04:13 PM PDT by octex
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“I would think more would be inclined to ascribe the war criminal appellation to General Grant than General Sherman.”

Why stop there... heck, Sheridan burned down just about every farm in Virginia and routinely made war on women, children, orphans, and widow’s... then... After the war went out West with Sherman and waged war in a similar fashion on the Native Americans and their food supply (bison)!

War IS Hell and it IS man made. And history IS written by the victors.

What an ugly period of history... globally for that matter.


69 posted on 05/03/2017 1:57:01 AM PDT by Clutch Martin (Hot sauce aside, every culture has its pancake, just as every culture has its noodle.)
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To: Gen.Blather
Wasn’t it Sherman who advised the Kaiser in the Franco Prussian war? His advice was, let it be known if the populace resists with violence you will burn down their houses. (He did mention to let the people leave first.). If there is no resistance leave them alone.

Sherman was commanding general of the U.S. Army during the Franco-Prussian war. Phillip Sheridan was there as an observer but he didn't advise the Kaiser. Bismark was doing that.

70 posted on 05/03/2017 3:43:11 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Moonman62
If Sherman hadn’t taken Atlanta when he did, Lincoln wouldn’t have been reelected and an end to the war would have been negotiated. Both sides were sick of it by that point.

McClellan would have been inaugurated in March 1865. Lee would have still been penned in Petersburg. Sherman would have captured Atlanta, or bypassed it and gone on through Georgia, or surrounded it and penned in the rebel army. In any scenario you care to mention, the Confederates would have been on their last leg and barely standing. You really think McClellan would have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and surrendered to them under those circumstances?

71 posted on 05/03/2017 3:47:51 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: BenLurkin

Sherman was the first modern general. He knew that total warfare was necessary to break the spirit of the South. His March to the sea and Sheridan in the Valley are examples.


72 posted on 05/03/2017 3:54:16 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: achilles2000
Yes. By the standards of the time. Sherman knew it and knew he would hang if the North lost and he was brought to justice.

Were Arthur Harris, Curtis LeMay, and Carl Spaatz war criminals in World War II?

73 posted on 05/03/2017 4:14:20 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: Lysandru
I have read that Sherman forced Confederate PoWs to remove landmines emplaced by Confederate forces. Under the modern Geneva Conventions, this is specifically forbidden. But land mines were a new "infernal" weapon in that era. No one had codified the rules on them.

Slightly off track, I saw a movie recently, a Danish film called "Land of Mine". It was based on true facts that after the Second World War the Danish government kept German POWs and forced them to clear land mines before letting them go back to Germany. Thousands were killed. That's not too far from what Sherman did.

74 posted on 05/03/2017 4:18:49 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: achilles2000
If Britain had recognized the CSA a lot of things would have changed.

The slim chance of British recognition died in 1862.

75 posted on 05/03/2017 4:20:18 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: NKP_Vet

Flip the argument around: Look at today’s wars. Short-shock, precision guided weapons, fairly light on civilian casualties. Then we spend YEARS fighting guerrillas among the very civilian population that we attempted to spare, gradually forcing their hears & minds into the enemy camp.

Germany was utterly defeated and it’s cities were reduced to rubble by years of strategic aerial bombardment. Japan was much the same. Both were occupied with minimal problems. Billy Sherman knew his business, but the world doesn’t permit wars to be fought that way any longer.


76 posted on 05/03/2017 4:32:18 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: DoodleDawg

Where did I say anything about surrender?


77 posted on 05/03/2017 5:01:47 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: Moonman62
Where did I say anything about surrender?

When you said "an end to the war would have been negotiated." The only outcome that could have come from those negotiations was an independent Confederacy. And that's surrender by any definition.

78 posted on 05/03/2017 5:12:23 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: DoodleDawg

You could be a liberal member of the Supreme Court or John Roberts by the way you like to redefine terms.


79 posted on 05/03/2017 5:19:20 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: Moonman62
You could be a liberal member of the Supreme Court or John Roberts by the way you like to redefine terms.

So what outcome do you think would have come from it?

80 posted on 05/03/2017 5:39:56 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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