Sorry, but I will never agree that Sherman was anything more than a butcher. Talk about war crimes! He had Confederate prisoners dig up land mines!
That would be considered a war crime by ANY civilized nation. I was in during the late 70’s and early 80’s.....
Which 637 boats were you on?
He was the polar opposite of a butcher in ever way. The march took almost no lives, relatively speaking and ended the war and gave Lincoln re-election, which assured Rebel defeat and saved the United States.
I was never on 637's - see my profile for the boats I was on - but I had buds who were. You got out the same time I got in. 85-93.
Sherman called the use of landmines "not war but murder." Longstreet and McClellan expressed similar opinions.
Modern landmines were developed by a Confederate General, Gabriel Raines. And Sherman regarded them as cowardly and against the rules of war.
The story I heard is that Sherman put prisoners of war in front of his columns as they advanced over mined territory. McClellan forced prisoners of war to help clear away mines.
I don't know what the exact facts are. But it sounds like it was the same way as any new weapon -- just how to react and what the rules were was unclear.
This isn't a case of evil Sherman breaking established rules of war or being crueller than the other side.
I do not see anything wrong with that. Had those mines not been removed some Southern child might have been blown to bits later.
Given that they had to be removed, what's worse about having Confederate prisoners digging them up than Union soldiers? They did not have the military engineering equipment that we have today so there would be equal risk no matter who dug them up and using Confederate prisoners might be a restraint on further employment of this cowardly way to wage war.
By the standards of the day, the laying of land mines (or "torpedoes" as they were called) was a war crime and considered one of the most cowardly, criminal acts of war.