General Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman's Civilian Career

Sherman returned to San Francisco in 1847, where he inspected gold mines for a time. He married in 1850 and resigned from the military in 1853.

Here are some more facts about Sherman's civilian career:

• Worked as a banker in California and New York
• Worked in a law office in Kansas
• Became the superintendent of Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy in 1859

After Louisiana seceded, Sherman resigned from his post, refusing to aid the Confederate cause. He moved to St. Louis to work as president of a railroad company.

General William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War

Despite a successful civilian career, Sherman would soon rejoin the army.

Reenlistment and Early Actions

In May 1861, after the fall of Fort Sumter, Sherman volunteered to rejoin the US Army. In July, he served his first action commanding a brigade in the First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas.

When the battle was lost, Sherman executed an orderly retreat of his unit, which earned him recognition. Afterward, Sherman was sent west to fight in Kentucky.

Sherman Meets Grant

In November 1861, Sherman suffered a crisis of confidence. He went home to rest for a month before taking command of logistics and other rear-action responsibilities.

In March 1862, Sherman was placed under General Ulysses S. Grant, who prepared to attack southward in the Battle of Shiloh, where Sherman suffered a minor injury but performed effectively.

Sherman and Grant developed a close relationship by serving together. Each credited the other with helping to restore his confidence.¹

Fig 2 - General William Tecumseh Sherman

Vicksburg and Chattanooga Campaigns

From December 1862 until July 1863, Sherman served under Grant in the Vicksburg campaign, capturing the city after a six-week siege. Sherman was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.

In October and November 1863, they broke a siege of Union forces at Chattanooga, routing the Confederate army. These battles were crucial to Union's victory in the West.

Fig 3 - Sherman on horseback.

General Sherman's Total War

Following the Chattanooga Campaign, Sherman's forces turned to Meridian, Mississippi.

He captured the city on February 14, 1864, and destroyed railroads, trains, and bridges. Sherman believed the destruction of Confederate infrastructure would achieve two goals: break the will of the Confederates to continue the fight and make it logistically unsustainable by wreaking havoc on their supply lines.

This idea is known as total war.

On March 2, Abraham Lincoln gave Grant command of all Union forces. Grant appointed Sherman as the overall commander in the west. Sherman then turned his attention to Georgia.

He captured the state capital of Atlanta in September 1864. He ordered the city evacuated and set fire to government and military buildings.

The capture of Atlanta is credited for providing a morale boost that contributed to Abraham Lincoln's reelection in November against a Democratic candidate that hoped to make peace with the South and end the war.²

Fig 4 - Map showing Sherman's campaigns and march to the sea.

Sherman's March to the Sea

Following the capture of Atlanta, Sherman received approval for a plan he had devised to march his army south to the coastal city of Savannah and into South Carolina, pillaging supplies and destroying infrastructure along the way.

Grant and Lincoln were initially hesitant to approve Sherman's plan, preferring him to move north to help defeat the bulk of Confederate armies. They eventually agreed, a sign of the confidence and close relationship Grant and Sherman developed earlier.

Fig 5 - Painting depicting Sherman's march to the sea.

After pursuing Confederate forces across Georgia, engaging in skirmishes and pillaging along the way, he reached Savannah on the Atlantic coast. As he prepared to lay siege to the city, the Confederate commander fled, and the mayor negotiated the city's peaceful surrender in exchange for Sherman not burning it.

The Carolinas

After a month's rest in Savannah, Sherman marched his army northwest into South Carolina.

On February 17, 1865, he captured Columbia, South Carolina's capital, after which much of the city went up in flames.

Fig 6 - Depiction of the burning of Columbia.

Marching on to North Carolina, Sherman's forces won the Battle of Bentonville in March. After this victory, he traveled to meet Lincoln and Grant before returning to his army and advancing to North Carolina's capital of Raleigh. During the march, he received news of Lee's surrender.

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the remaining forces in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to Sherman on April 26, 1865. The war was over; weeks later, Sherman and his troops marched in victory parades in Washington.

William Tecumseh Sherman: Importance and Complicated Legacy

Sherman was viewed as a villain in the South, hardly surprising considering he burned several significant cities. The prevalence of "Lost Cause" mythology and romanticization of the antebellum South further contributed to his being remembered as unnecessarily cruel and destructive.

However, a more sympathetic view of Sherman acknowledges that he was a realist and that burning cities and infrastructure was another part of an already destructive war and helped end the war more quickly.

Place of William Tecumseh Sherman in Civil War Generals' Importance

Had Sherman not devastated much of the southern Confederacy, perhaps the war would have continued after Lee's surrender. Therefore, Sherman's actions could be seen as having prevented further death and destruction.

Likewise, a negotiated peace would have left the United States permanently divided and millions of people kept in slavery.

So, while it's possible to question Sherman's total war tactics, it's indisputable that Sherman's March to the Sea and March Through the Carolinas were one of the final straws that broke the camel's back for the Confederacy and played an enormous role in ending the war with Union victory, the preservation of the United States, and the ending of slavery.

Fig 7 - Portrait of Sherman around the end of the war.

Sherman's Life Postwar

After the war, Sherman spent the late 1860s and 1870s leading campaigns against Native Americans on the Western frontier. He became the Commanding General of the United States Army following Grant's election as President.

William Tecumseh Sherman retired from the army on February 8, 1884, and lived in New York until his death in 1891 at 71.

Interesting William Tecumseh Sherman Facts

Here are a few additional interesting facts about William Tecumseh Sherman:

• His middle name is in honor of a Shawnee Native American warrior chief.
• His friends called him by the nickname "Cump."
• Many historians believe he suffered a nervous breakdown during the early part of the war.
• He repeatedly turned down proposals to run for President in the 1870s and 80s.