The FReeper Foxhole Profiles William Tecumseh Sherman - Mar. 29th, 2003

http://www.civilwarhome.com/sherbio.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

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FReepers from the USO Canteen, The Foxhole, and The Poetry Branch
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

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William Tecumseh Sherman
(1820-1891)

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He never commanded in a major Union victory and his military career had repeated ups and downs, but William T. Sherman is the second best known of Northern commanders. Born on February 8, 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. His father died when he was nine years old. Widowed and unable to care for the entire family, his mother sent his brother Thomas to be raised by an aunt and William became a foster child to Thomas Ewing, his father's friend. Cump, as he was known, later married Mr. Ewing's daughter, Ellen. Through the influence of his patron, he obtained an appointment to West Point. Only five cadets of the class of 1840 graduated ahead of him, and he was appointed to the artillery. He received a brevet for his services in California during the Mexican War but resigned in 1853 as a captain and commissary officer.

The years until the Civil War were not filled with success. Living in California and Kansas, he failed in banking and the law. In 1859 he seemed to have found his niche as the superintendent of a military academy which is now Louisiana State University. However, he resigned this post upon the secession of the state and went to St. Louis as head of a streetcar company and then volunteered for the Union army.

His assignments included:

• Colonel, 13th Infantry (May 14, 1861)
• Commanding 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia June-August 17, 1861)
• Brigadier General, USV (August 7, 186 1, to rank from May 17)
• Commanding brigade, Division of the Potomac (August 17-28, 1861)
• Second-in-Command, Department of the Cumberland (August 28 - October 8, 1861)
• Commanding the Department (October 8 - November 9, 1861)
• Commanding District of Cairo, Department of the Missouri (February 14 - March 1, 1862)
• Commanding 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee (March 1 - July 21, 1862)
• Major General, USV (May 1, 1862)
• Commanding 5th Division, District of Memphis, Army of the Tennessee July 21 - September 24, 1862)
• Commanding lst Division, District of Memphis, Army of the Tennessee (September 24-October 26, 1862)
• also Commanding the District July 21 - October 26, 1862)
• Commanding District of Memphis, 13th Corps, Army of the Tennessee (October 24 - November 25, 1862)
• Commanding Yazoo Expedition, Army of the Tennessee (December 18, 1862 January 4, 1863)
• Commanding 2nd Corps, Army of the Mississippi January 4-12, 1863)
• Commanding 15th Corps, Army of the Tennessee January 12 - October 29, 1863)
• Brigadier General, USA July 4, 1863)
• Commanding Army and Department of the Tennessee (October 24, 1863 - March 26, 1864)
• Commanding Military Division of the Mississippi (March 18, 1864 - June 27, 1865)
• Major General, USA (August 12, 1864)
• Lieutenant General, USA July 25, 1866)
• General, USA (March 4, 1869)
• Commander-in-Chief, USA (March 8, 1869-November 1, 1883)

Appointed to the colonelcy of one of the regular army's newly authorized infantry regiments, he led the brigade of volunteers of the lst Division which crossed Bull Run to aid the 2nd and 3rd divisions after the attack on the enemy left had begun. Despite being caught up in the route-he already had a low opinion of volunteers-he was named a brigadier general the next month. Briefly commanding a brigade around Washington, he was then sent to Kentucky as deputy to Robert Anderson. He soon succeeded the hero of Fort Sumter in command of the department but got into trouble over his overestimates of the enemy strength. The newspapers actually reported him as being insane.

Removed from command, he was given another chance by his friend Henry W. Halleck in Missouri. But again, while inspecting troops in the central part of the state, he allowed his overactive imagination to run away with him. During the campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson he was stationed at Paducah, Kentucky and charged with forwarding reinforcements to Grant. Forming a good working relationship with the future commander-in-chief, Sherman offered to waive his seniority rights and take a command under him.



Commanding a division, he was largely responsible for the poor state of preparedness at Shiloh but redeemed himself during the defensive fighting of the first day and was wounded. The next day his command played only a minor role. Praised by Grant, he was soon made a major general of volunteers. He was instrumental in persuading Grant to remain in the army during his difficulties with Halleck during the advance on Corinth, Mississippi.

During the early operations against Vicksburg he ordered a doomed assault at Chickasaw Bluffs and a few days later was superseded by John A. McCiernand who accepted Sherman's proposal to attack Arkansas Post. Grant initially criticized this movement as unnecessary but declared it an important achievement when it succeeded and he learned that Sherman had suggested it. Sherman's corps did little fighting in the advance on Vicksburg in May until the disastrous assaults were made.

Following the fall of the river city he was named a brigadier general in the regular army and led an expedition against Jackson. That fall he went to the relief of Chattanooga where he failed to achieve his objectives in the assault against Tunnel Hill at the end of Missionary Ridge. Nonetheless, he was highly praised by Grant who then sent him to relieve the pressure on Burnside at Knoxville, Back in Mississippi, he led the Meridian expedition and then succeeded Grant in overall command in the West, Facing Joseph E. Johnston's army, he forced it all the way back to Atlanta where the Confederate was replaced by John B. Hood who launched three disastrous attacks against the Union troops near the city. Eventually taking possession of Atlanta, Sherman ordered the population evacuated and the military value of the city destroyed. Sending George H. Thomas back to Middle Tennessee to deal with Hood, he embarked on his March to the Sea.


Sherman and his son Thomas, San Francisco, 1865

Taking Savannah, he announced the city as a Christmas gift to the president and the country. Marching north to aid Grant in the final drive against Richmond, he drove through the Carolinas and accepted Johnston's surrender at Durham Station. His terms were considered too liberal and touching upon political matters and they were disapproved by Secretary of War Stanton. This led to a long-running feud between the two. Terms were finally arranged on the basis of the Appomattox surrender.

During the last two campaigns Sherman had earned a reputation for destruction and for the lack of discipline of his troops-his marauding stragglers being known as "Sherman's bummers." Especially resented by Southerners was the burning of Columbia, South Carolina. But there are indications that the fires had spread from cotton set ablaze by the retreating Confederates under Wade Hampton.



On August 12, 1864, Sherman had been promoted to major general in the regular army, and he vacated his volunteer commission. Also, he was the only man to twice receive the Thanks of Congress during the Civil War-first for Chattanooga and second for Atlanta and Savannah. After the war he remained in the service, and was promoted to full general, replacing Grant as commander-in-chief. One of his most important contributions after the war, was the establishment of the Command School at Ft. Leavenworth. He retire from the Army on February 8, 1884.He was noted for his absolute refusal to be drawn into politics. In 1886 he made his home in New York City, where he died on February 14, 1891. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis.

[billbears]

Homes in Georgia that were occupied were typically -not- biurned by Sherman's men. South Carolina got the treatment its leaders brought down on themselves though arrogance, hubris and treason.

BWHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's a good one Walt? Will you be here all week?

And in his memoirs, Sherman described the spectacle: "Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city."

General Sherman declared on January 31, 1864 that "To the petulant and persistent secessionists, why, death is mercy." In a July 31, 1862 letter to his wife he said his goal was "extermination, not of soldiers alone, that is the least part of the trouble, but the people."

After the destruction of Meridian Sherman boasted that "for five days, ten thousand of our men worked hard and with a will, in that work of destruction, with axes, sledges, crowbars, clawbars, and with fire.... Meridian no longer exists."

Sherman biographer Lee Kennett is among the historians who bend over backwards to downplay the horrors of how Lincoln waged war on civilians. Just recently, he published an article in the Atlanta Constitution arguing that Sherman wasn’t such a bad guy after all and should not be reviled by Georgians as much as he is. But even Kennett admitted in his biography of Sherman that: Had the Confederates somehow won, had their victory put them in position to bring their chief opponents before some sort of tribunal, they would have found themselves justified...in stringing up President Lincoln and the entire Union high command for violations of the laws of war, specifically for waging war against noncombatants.

William Tecumseh Sherman, a most worthless man

[aomagrat]

I have no doubt that a ship will be named after Bill Clinton before long.

[GOPcapitalist]

So Wlat thinks that homes weren't burned, eh? Here's just a small sample of what one of Sherman's commanders, Gen. Milroy who oversaw patrols of the supply lines, did to civilian homes in Tennessee...

Execution Orders, 42nd Missouri in Tennessee, National Archives, Tree #2343, Record Group 94, Union Provost Marshall.

"Head Quarters Dept. N.&C. B.R.
Tullahoma, Tenn

Sir:

You will proceed to the residences of the persons herein named and deal with them in accordance with the following instructions:

In all cases where the residences of the persons are ordered to be destroyed, you will observe the following previous to setting them on fire:

You will first search their houses and premises to see if they have any articles belonging to the U.S Gov. or that are contraband of War, which you will bring away in
case any are found; also all or any of the folllowing articles that may be found belonging to the aforesaid Persons.

First: All Horses, Hogs, Sheep, Cattle, and any other animals or articles of whatever description that may be valuable to the U.S. Gov. especially those that are
valuable to the Quartermaster, Comisary, and Hospital Departments.

Second: All stoves and stove pipes of whatever description and all Kitchen utensils, Queens ware, beds, bedding, knives, forks etc; also chairs, sofas, sociables,
lounges, and everything of the charecter of househotel furniture.

Third: All window sash and glass, looking glasses, carpets etc.

Fourth: Every article of househotel furniture which you do not bring with you must be destroyed or burned with the house.

Fifth: All barns, stables, smoke houses, or any other out houses of any description whatsoever or any buildings or articles that could probably be of use or benefit as
comfort to Rebels or Bushwhackers, their friends or any person siding abetting or sympathising with Rebels Bushwackers etc or which could be used for subsistance for man or beast will be destroyed or burned.

Sixth: All animals, forage or other articles of value brought in by you will be turned over to Lieut. J. W. Raymond A.A.L.M this stuff to be subject to the order of
Major Genl. Milroy to be disposed of as he may think proper; taking a receipt therefor from Lieut Raymond.

Seventh: The Train acompanying will be subject to your orders together with all the persons connected with it whether soldiers or citizens and you will cause any of
them, who may be guilty of committing depredations upon legal citizens or their Property to be arrested and you will not yourself or suffer those under your
command to commit any trespass or do any damage to persons or property except those specified in this order.

Eighth: You will burn the houses of the following named persons, take any of the articles named above that they may have, together with all forage and grains belonging to them that you can bring away which may be useful to the U.S. Gov. for military purposes or otherwise and will give no receipts of any kind whatever.

Names                                        Dist                            Residences
1. Joseph How                                                             1/2 mile South of Hillsboro one mile west of the Hillsboro and Winchester road.
2. Shadrack McBride                  11                             On the Pelham & Hillsboro road.
3. Thomas L. Gunn                      11                             2 miles South of Hillsboro on Bean's Creek
4. Washington Riley                                                      Hillsboro
5. Pleasant Nevill                         12                             On the Pelham & Tullahoma road on Bean's Creek; (crossed out: Some neighborhood as the above named)
6. L. B. Austell                             12                            Same neighborhood as the above named.
7. John W. Jones                                                          3 miles South West of Hillsboro and one mile West of the Hillsboro and Winchester road.

Ninth: The following persons will be shot in addition to suffering in the manner prescribed in Paragraph Eighth.

Names                                        Dist                            Residences
                                                   Coffee Co.
1. Leroy Moore                                                            At Heffers mill on Bradley Creek

                                                   Franklin Co.
2. Thomas Sanders                      8                                On Elk River
3. William Sanders                       8                                Same neighborhood as the above. (seach this house for arms before shooting him)
4. Louis Anderson                       8                                Same neighborhood as the above

By Command of Maj. Genl. Milroy
Thos. Worthington
Lieut. 106 O of I & A.D.C.

[Darksheare]

Heck, I read in a military history magazine that W.T.Sherman was cast in the same mold as Ghengis Khan and A. Hun.
That he could 'scratch his ankle without stooping over' and other idiotic tripe.
Made me laugh my backside off.

Have to admit, the end of the war was brutal for both sides.

[Aegedius]

On the contrary, during the war the Air Force didn't avoide civilian targets in its attempt to get to the military ones

Perhaps you should re-read what I said. Sherman avoided military targets. Attacking military targets which have civlians nearby is not the same as deliberately attacking civilians. Look at a map of South Carolina, circa 1864. You will see numerous military targets up the coast ... around Charleston and northeastward, which Sherman deliberately avoided, turning instead to Walterboro, to Bamberg, to Orangeburg, etc, which had only undefended homes, farms, hospitals, and churches. That is what he attacked.

Further, you know, as well as I, that the organism that slurred "war is hell" was neither wise nor human.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi everyone! Hope your day is going well.

[Victoria Delsoul]

My prayers are with your dad, Pippin. Hope he gets well soon.

Good to see you!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good job, Spooky! See you later.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon Victoria, you're finding some good graphics.

About to run to the store, I've been in and out all day.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Sam, thank you.

OK, see you later.

[WaterDragon]

Wow. That is interesting. Thanks for clearing that up!

[PhilDragoo]

I was not aware of Sherman's dead-on animus vis a vis the press.

He further surpasses Wesley the Weasel Clark (got your civilian casualties right here) with Sherman's famous:

"If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve."

War is hell and that one is over.

To those who wished war, war was brought.

He split the Confederacy and ended the war quickly.

I'm sure the hospitality of Andersonville trumps anything attributed after the fact to William Tecumseh Sherman.

I have least sympathy with the singular act of cowardice inflicted by John Wilkes Booth.

It has its match only in the blackest behavior of Saddam's thugs.

[SAMWolf]

Evening PhilDragoo.

A tragic time for our Country, and some of the scars still exist today, but compared to how other Civil Wars end up dragging on for years after they end, we got lucky.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The cat is out of the bag and I have no doubt that a ship will be named after Bill Clinton before long.

That would be an insult to the brave troops fighting for the country today given how he dodged the draft and used the military in a way to deflect from his own personal troubles. I hope that never happens, but no doubt it will.

[Colt .45]

Profile of the "Torch" eh? Forgive me if I don't just leap up and shout hurrah for this arsonist.

[Colt .45]

"Those civilian deaths, while regretable, were the outcome from actions which may well have shortened the war." Oh puhleeeeeeeeeease, spare me your sanctimonious crap. Sherman was a damned war criminal ... nothing more. Anyone who purposefully targets civilians and their dwellings (no military value in those is there?) is a war criminal. In fact we tried the SS as war criminals for the same tactics, you can't have it both ways, Chuck.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Cote. I would never have guessed that Sherman wrote poetry.

He sure sounds like he took too much pleasure in his job doesn't he.

[SAMWolf]

Why do I get the feeling, we'll hear from the other side when we profile Mosby and Quantrill?

We post the thread to provide info, get more input and opinions. We intend to cover our History and the people involved, good or bad.

[Jen]

Hey, I'm not too keen on ol' Sherm either. Take a look at that map of Georgia and look about 1/2 inch south of Atlanta. That's where I am. His forces marched right through here.