William Tecumseh Sherman was a man of paradoxes. Known as a general who shaped modern warfare and total war, he is also remembered for hating war. Credited for saying that "War is Hell", it's hard to imagine how someone who would go that far to describe war could be such an influential player in the United State's army.
Having a start in West Point and graduating sixth in his class, Sherman was a disappointment when he first joined the army. Unlike many of his time, Sherman contributed little to the Mexican War as he was stationed in California as an executive officer. During this time, he was credited as being one of the causes for the Californian Gold Rush. He had been the one to convince military governor Mason to investigate claims of gold; combined with his letter back to Washington about the proof of gold, the Gold Rush was set in place. However, his claim to fame came much later.
As headmaster of a military academy in Louisiana during the onset of the Civil War, he quickly moved to St. Louis once Louisiana seceded. Eventually, he joined the army in 1861 and was appointed to colonel. He had a bad start, fighting in the failure that was the First Bull Run and painted as an insane man after the press caught wind of his pessimistic views of the war while in Kentucky. In response to his actions, he was put on leave and was sent to Missouri later that year. His luck had a turn once he was sent to Kentucky under General Ulysses Grant. There, he showed his worth as he and Grant became lifelong friends after the win at Shiloh. From there on, Sherman became a key part of the Union army, fondly called by the press as Grant's "confidential adviser [who] was a lunatic".
In 1864, Sherman set off from Vicksburg to destroy railroad centers in Mississippi and clear out confederate resistance from the state as a whole. This was the beginning of Sherman's influence on total war, succeeding through the sheer number of his troops and the mass destruction they wrought on the transportation system. Later that year, Sherman took Atalanta and burned it to the ground. From then, he went on his famous "March to the Sea" with the intent to destroy the moral support of the South through mass destruction. Cutting through the heartland of Georgia and capturing Savannah, Sherman's army burnt or raided anything in their way.
Sherman succeeded in decreasing Southern morale and cut off much of the South's supply. In his march of total war, he had burned down farms that provided the Confederate army with food and his actions were extremely brutal. The march showed the Southern people just how much the war could cost them and instilled them with a deep fear of the war as a whole. Sherman's March to the Sea was a crushing blow to the Confederate movement and many believe that it was essential to bringing the Civil War to an end.
After the war, Sherman became the general of the United States under President Grant and began the war on the Native Americans. Despite being named after Tecumseh, a famous native american chief, Sherman felt no sympathy of the indigenous people and implemented the same total war tactics from the civil war to the Native Americans. Ironically, he was going against two treaties he had been a part of between the Native Americans and the government : the Laramie treaty and the medicine Lodge treaty of 1867. Starting out with attempts to annihilate the buffalo and in turn harming the Native American's food source and culture, Sherman showed the public the horrifying results of total war. With a strong stance on reservations, Sherman eventually forced all Plain Indians onto reservations but was a strong advocate for the preservation of the rights of the Native Americans.
Sherman once said "I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance for desolation. War is hell." As the creator of American total war, Sherman was also one of the few who was able to recognize war as the horror it is. Despite his many flaws and contradictory ideal, Sherman played a key role in American history that many people look over. Without Sherman, the Civil War would have turned out much differently and may have changed war as we know it today.
Sources :
https://www.biography.com/people/william-tecumseh-sherman-9482051
http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/shermans-march
https://www.civilwar.org/learn/biographies/william-t-sherman
http://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-william-tecumseh-sherman
Sophia, your post gave great insight to a person who is so important in American history but is really only skimmed over. I especially like how your correlated his native american name to how it contrasted his true feelings of these people because it painted him in a more apathetic and therefore more harsh light. My biggest question would be is was Sherman a good character in American history or "bad"? His personality could have been considered bad due to his apparent prejudice and racism yet his intentions towards the Civil War and wanting to end it all for the bloodiness seems as though those intentions are actually positive. Your direct quote only sparks this argument and brings the question about whether this man should be revered or denied the privilege.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-williamsherman/
This was a very informative article on a side of Sherman I was not aware of. In all of the portrayals I have observed so far in this class, he has seemed like a generally kind and benevolent man, an image of an equal rights activist, and a loyal member of the Union with the things he is known for, such as fighting for "40 acres and a mule" for blacks along the eastern coast, giving them freedoms and opportunities to be independent, as well as being a great Union general and one of the Reconstruction officials who helped introduce fairness and equality in the South. Coming in with this impression, I was horrified to hear of his treatment of Native Americans and the buffalo. I think it's interesting how the same historical figure can be portrayed as saintly for some of their actions and evil for others, even by the same source. For example, in one PBS article Sherman is heroic for his work with black preachers and giving out land (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/the-truth-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule/), but in another, he is a cruel and cynical old man (https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sherman.htm). I think Sherman's complexity of character is incredibly interesting, and your post did a great job examining it.
ReplyDelete