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Marching through Georgia: William T. Sherman's personal narrative of his march through Georgia
From His Departure From Chattanooga To The Surrender Of General Joseph E. Johnston And The Confederate Forces Under His Command. To Which Is Added, General Sherman's Evidence Before The Congressional Committee On The Conduct Of The War; The Animadversions Of Secretary Stanton And General Halleck: With A Defense Of His Proceedings, Etc.
- GenresCivil War
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1865
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About the author
William T. Sherman
216 books22 followersAppointed commander of all Union troops in the west in 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman, American general, captured Atlanta and led the destructive "march to the sea," which effectively cut the Confederacy in two.
People almost entirely burned the city of Atlanta on 15 November 1864 before the start of march of William Tecumseh Sherman, Union general, to the sea.
This soldier, businessman, and author educated. He served in the Army during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 and received recognition for his outstanding of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the total "scorched earth" policies that he implemented and conducted against the states. Military historian Basil Liddell Hart famously declared Sherman "the first modern general".
Sherman served under Ulysses Simpson Grant in 1862 and 1863 during the campaigns that, alongside the fall of the stronghold of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, culminated with the routing of the armies in the state of Tennessee. In 1864, Sherman succeeded Grant in the theater of the war. He proceeded to the city with a military success that contributed to the reelection of Abraham Lincoln, president. Sherman subsequently through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina further undermined the ability to continue fighting. He accepted the surrender of all the armies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in April 1865.
With Grant as president, Sherman then succeeded him of the army from 1869 to 1883. He responsibly conducted the wars against Native Americans in the states. He steadfastly refused draw into politics and in 1875 published his Memoirs of the best-known firsthand accounts of the Civil War.
People almost entirely burned the city of Atlanta on 15 November 1864 before the start of march of William Tecumseh Sherman, Union general, to the sea.
This soldier, businessman, and author educated. He served in the Army during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 and received recognition for his outstanding of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the total "scorched earth" policies that he implemented and conducted against the states. Military historian Basil Liddell Hart famously declared Sherman "the first modern general".
Sherman served under Ulysses Simpson Grant in 1862 and 1863 during the campaigns that, alongside the fall of the stronghold of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, culminated with the routing of the armies in the state of Tennessee. In 1864, Sherman succeeded Grant in the theater of the war. He proceeded to the city with a military success that contributed to the reelection of Abraham Lincoln, president. Sherman subsequently through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina further undermined the ability to continue fighting. He accepted the surrender of all the armies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in April 1865.
With Grant as president, Sherman then succeeded him of the army from 1869 to 1883. He responsibly conducted the wars against Native Americans in the states. He steadfastly refused draw into politics and in 1875 published his Memoirs of the best-known firsthand accounts of the Civil War.
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October 4, 2021At first glance, ‘General Sherman’s Official Account of his Great March…’ could be mistaken for that famous volume of memoirs that has been hailed for so long as the best Civil War reminiscences ever published. But you need to get through the rest of its unusually long title, to see that this is actually a very different beast: ‘…evidence before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War… with a defence of his proceedings.’ Whoops.
This is not one for the casual Civil War hobbyist. It relates specifically to the politics of late-April 1865, after Lee’s surrender and Lincoln’s assassination, when the commander of the only sizeable Confederate force left in the field offered to talk terms with Sherman. The last message Sherman had received from Lincoln was “Let ’em up easy”. And so, he granted the terms that he thought Lincoln would have - only to find that Congress refused to ratify them. It was the signal for a huge release of pent-up jealousy and resentment by Sherman’s enemies in the army and in the cabinet. Especially Henry Halleck, the demoted General-in-chief, and Edwin Stanton, the scheming Secretary of War.
So there is no warmth in Sherman’s account of his spectacularly successful campaign in command of the Army of the Tennessee, just an abrupt summarising of the operations, quoting of troop numbers and naming of commanders, along with his letters to the top team in Washington.
For myself, it appeared to provide one answer I’d been seeking for half a century: why did Sherman allow the small Confederate army in Savannah to escape across the river into Carolina, when he had it in the palm of his hand? Apparently, it was because the occupation of Savannah was a more urgent priority than the capture of that small force. But Grant had always insisted that the destruction of armies was more important than the capture of places on the map, which is why the occupation of Atlanta had been regarded as a lesser objective than the destruction of the army in front of it.
But I am not one of the barrack-room lawyers who want to nit-pick the legalities of Sherman’s actions at the end of the war. I am one of the millions who have thoroughly enjoyed his own personal memoirs for their vivid storytelling, their surprising erudition and their refreshing frankness, and which I recommend wholeheartedly to all.
This is not one for the casual Civil War hobbyist. It relates specifically to the politics of late-April 1865, after Lee’s surrender and Lincoln’s assassination, when the commander of the only sizeable Confederate force left in the field offered to talk terms with Sherman. The last message Sherman had received from Lincoln was “Let ’em up easy”. And so, he granted the terms that he thought Lincoln would have - only to find that Congress refused to ratify them. It was the signal for a huge release of pent-up jealousy and resentment by Sherman’s enemies in the army and in the cabinet. Especially Henry Halleck, the demoted General-in-chief, and Edwin Stanton, the scheming Secretary of War.
So there is no warmth in Sherman’s account of his spectacularly successful campaign in command of the Army of the Tennessee, just an abrupt summarising of the operations, quoting of troop numbers and naming of commanders, along with his letters to the top team in Washington.
For myself, it appeared to provide one answer I’d been seeking for half a century: why did Sherman allow the small Confederate army in Savannah to escape across the river into Carolina, when he had it in the palm of his hand? Apparently, it was because the occupation of Savannah was a more urgent priority than the capture of that small force. But Grant had always insisted that the destruction of armies was more important than the capture of places on the map, which is why the occupation of Atlanta had been regarded as a lesser objective than the destruction of the army in front of it.
But I am not one of the barrack-room lawyers who want to nit-pick the legalities of Sherman’s actions at the end of the war. I am one of the millions who have thoroughly enjoyed his own personal memoirs for their vivid storytelling, their surprising erudition and their refreshing frankness, and which I recommend wholeheartedly to all.
February 2, 2022
After completing the conquest of Joseph Johnston's army and making Georgia (and South Carolina) "howl," Sherman's truce agreement in accepting their surrender was rejected by the newly sworn in President Andrew Johnson. This book is his defense of his actions. Much of the criticism of him was unjust (and actions by Stanton and Halleck were unfair and inappropriate) but he did go too far into civil as well as to military matters in the draft agreement. It was too lenient as well. Personally, I think he was fooled by the wily Johnston. Sherman's mistake may have been in allowing Breckenridge to join the planning of the agreement, on the excuse that in addition to having been an official in both the US and rebel governments, he had been a Confederate general.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews