Most people don't realize that Sherman had worked and lived in the South just prior to the war. He had been Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary. He actually loved the south and had hoped to return there to live at some point. Yes, property and agricultural destruction was a part of his "March to the Sea." His belief was that if you take the fight to the people, you break their will to conduct war. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.
Some historians view our dropping the bombs on Japan as overkill, and others believe that it saved lives. We took the war to the Japanese people, and in essence, destroyed their will to conduct further war. Some would say Sherman's destruction of the South helped save lives too, because it destroyed the South's ability to wage war. And of course, most Southerners see it differently, and that's their right. Afterall, they fought bravely, and died for that right.
During my years of research, I've tried to view both sides of the war, and the motives that drove each side. I've also tried to understand the atrocities that both sides inflicted on their fellow countrymen. I have to say though, that if I had to pick a side to support today, it would be the South's, and slavery has nothing to do with that decision.
See, I understand where you are coming from there. My father is a Civil War history buff and has read practically every biography on Sherman. And I don’t think he was a monster or anything, but he DID effect people for generations. I mean my grandmother recalls her mother crying about watching her house burn as a little girl. That pain affected a person who I loved, you know?
It’s diluted as time goes on, but it’s still there. And history is written by the victors.