In 1864, Ellen took up temporary residence in South Bend, Indiana, to have her young family educated at the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College. Sherman's views on Indian matters were often strongly expressed. Some of the artistic treatments of Sherman's march are the Civil War era song "Marching Through Georgia" by Henry Clay Work; Herman Melville's poem "The March to the Sea"; Ross McElwee's film Sherman's March; and E. L. Doctorow's novel The March. To Sherman's great displeasure and sorrow, his oldest surviving son, Thomas Ewing Sherman, joined the religious order of the Jesuits in 1878 and was ordained as a priest in 1889. Sherman earned a brevet promotion to captain for his "meritorious service", but his lack of a combat assignment discouraged him and may have contributed to his decision to resign his commission. This month is the 150 th anniversary of Sherman’s infamous March across Georgia to the Sea. WTS to Thomas Ewing Jr., June 3, 1861, in Sherman and Berlin 97–98. When Sherman's train passed Collierville it came under attack by 3,000 Confederate cavalry and eight guns commanded by Brigadier General James Chalmers. In 1875, ten years after the end of the Civil War, Sherman became one of the first Civil War generals to publish a memoir. The episode begins with William Tecumseh Sherman’s brilliant march to the sea, which brings the war to the heart of Georgia and the Carolinas and spells the end of the Confederacy. The magazine Confederate Veteran, based in Nashville, gave Sherman more attention than anyone else, in part to enhance the visibility of the western theater. Sherman to Gen. U.S. Grant, November 1, 1864, reproduced in, Report by Maj. Gen. W.T. Brockett, p. 175 (p. 162 in 1865 edition). He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), receiving recognition for his command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the scorched earth policies he implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate States. [92] This precipitated a deep and long-lasting enmity between Sherman and Stanton, and it intensified Sherman's disdain for politicians.[93]. [28] Colonel Joseph P. Taylor, the brother of the late President Zachary Taylor, declared that "if you had hunted the whole army, from one end of it to the other, you could not have found a man in it more admirably suited for the position in every respect than Sherman."[29]. As the foster son of a prominent Whig politician, in Charleston the popular Lt. Sherman moved within the upper circles of Old South society.[15]. "[34] Sherman then left Louisiana and headed north. President Lincoln was impressed by Sherman while visiting the troops on July 23 and promoted him to brigadier general of volunteers (effective May 17, 1861, with seniority in rank to Ulysses S. Grant, his future commander). 1903. Depression overwhelmed him, as he faced his greatest fear: inability, like his father, to support his … Hirshson, pp. When Lincoln called Grant east in the spring of 1864 to take command of all the Union armies, Grant appointed Sherman (by then known to his soldiers as "Uncle Billy") to succeed him as head of the Military Division of the Mississippi, which entailed command of Union troops in the Western Theater of the war. Sherman's success in Georgia received ample coverage in the Northern press at a time when Grant seemed to be making little progress in his fight against Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Here is all you want to know, and more! See, e.g., the many Civil War letters reproduced in Brooks D. Simpson and Jean V. Berlin, See, for instance, Hirshson, pp. Local Native American Lumbee guides helped Sherman's army cross the Lumber River, which was flooded by torrential rains, into North Carolina. Sherman was named Tecumseh after the Shawnee chieftain; as a boy Sherman was raised by family friends, who had him baptized as William… Sherman was a prolific writer and published a two-volume memoir in 1875… Unwilling to be drafted to run for president, Sherman is known for saying, “If nominated, I … [74] This created the threat that Hood would move north into Tennessee. His men swore by him, and most of his fellow officers admired him. At the time of Sherman's death, his son Thomas, a Jesuit, reportedly said: "My father was baptized in the Catholic Church, married in the Catholic Church, and attended the Catholic Church until the outbreak of the civil war. "[30] In what some authors have seen as an accurate prophecy of the conflict that would engulf the United States during the next four years,[31] Boyd recalled Sherman declaring: You people of the South don't know what you are doing. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died unexpectedly in 1829. [133], During the election of 1876, Southern Democrats who supported Wade Hampton for governor used mob violence to attack and intimidate African American voters in Charleston, South Carolina. His tenure as commanding general was marred by political difficulties, many of which stemmed from disagreements with Secretaries of War Rawlins and William W. Belknap, whom Sherman felt had usurped too much of the Commanding General's powers, reducing it to a sinecure. However, Sherman later wrote, … William T. Sherman was teaching at a military academy in Louisiana at the time. The severity of the destructive acts by Union troops was significantly greater in South Carolina than in Georgia or North Carolina. As Grant took overall command of the armies of the United States, Sherman wrote to him outlining his strategy to bring the war to an end concluding that "if you can whip Lee and I can march to the Atlantic I think ol' Uncle Abe will give us twenty days leave to see the young folks. He kept aloof from politics and hoped the storm would blow over. In March, following Lincoln’s second inauguration, first Petersburg and then Richmond finally fall to Grant’s army. . Therefore, he believed that the North had to conduct its campaign as a war of conquest and employ scorched earth tactics to break the backbone of the rebellion. Senator Ewing secured an appointment for the 16-year-old Sherman as a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point,[12] where he roomed and became good friends with another important future Civil War General, George H. Thomas. Although his brother, Congressman John Sherman, was well known for his anti-slavery views, Captain Sherman was not an abolitionist and he had expressed some sympathy for the white Southerners' defense of their agrarian system, including the institution of slavery. [124] In one instance, he was called to testify in the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson. [64], After the surrender of Vicksburg and the re-capture of Jackson, Sherman was given the rank of brigadier general in the regular army, in addition to his rank as a major general of volunteers. After the fall of Atlanta in 1864, Sherman ordered the city's evacuation. Shortly after the Union forces occupied Corinth on May 30, Sherman persuaded Grant not to leave his command, despite the serious difficulties he was having with Halleck. He recovered by forging a close partnership with General Ulysses S. Grant. If elected, I will not serve.” He was one of the commanders who kept away from politics. My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Sherman considered that his new assignment broke a promise from Lincoln that he would not be given such a prominent position. Sherman took command of the infantrymen in the local Union garrison and successfully repelled the Confederate attack. [47] He was promptly replaced by Brigadier General Don Carlos Buell and transferred to St. Louis, Missouri. However, Sherman did add the appendices, in which he published the views of some others. Marszalek, John F., «William Tecumseh Sherman», Schenker, Carl R., Jr., "Ulysses in His Tent: Halleck, Grant, Sherman, and, Jenkins (1996–1999) (interim, 2004) (acting, 2008 and 2012), This page was last edited on 15 May 2021, at 01:06. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. While he was at home, his wife Ellen wrote to his brother, Senator John Sherman, seeking advice. You mistake, too, the people of the North. [126] After the 1866 Fetterman Massacre, in which 81 US soldier were ambushed and killed by Native American warriors, Sherman wrote to Grant that "we must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women and children". Sherman initially expressed reservations about the wisdom of Grant's unorthodox strategy for the Vicksburg campaign in the spring of 1863, which called to the invading Union army to separate from its supply train and subsist by foraging. [49] His problems were compounded when the Cincinnati Commercial described him as "insane". In March, Halleck's command was redesignated the Department of the Mississippi and enlarged to unify command in the West. John F. Marszalek, "'Take the Seat of Honor': William T. Sherman," in Steven E. Woodworth, ed.. Sherman to Halleck, September 4, 1864, Civil War Official Records Vol. I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through union and war, and I will ever conduct war with a view to perfect and early success. Sherman wrote in his Memoirs that his father named him William Tecumseh; Sherman was baptized by a Presbyterian minister as an infant and given the name William at that time. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” ― … According to a story that may be myth, Sherman was baptized in the Ewing home by a Dominican priest, who named him William for the saint's day: possibly June 25, the feast day of Saint William of Montevergine. Sherman's efforts in that position were focused on protecting the main wagon roads, such as the Oregon, Bozeman and Santa Fe Trails. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. 38 part 5, pp. When he attempted to attack the main spine at Tunnel Hill, his troops were repeatedly repelled by Patrick Cleburne's heavy division, the best unit in Bragg's army. Hence, in 1867, he wrote to Grant that "we are not going to let a few thieving, ragged Indians check and stop the progress of [the railroads]". He later began a new climb to success at Shiloh and Corinth under Grant. Birthday: February 8, 1820 Birth Name: William Tecumseh Sherman. "Autobiography, 1828–1861" (c. 1868), Mss. [103] He went on to summarize vividly his hard-war philosophy and to add, in effect, that he really did not want the help of liberated slaves in subduing the South: My aim then was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. According to military historian Brian Holden-Reid, Sherman finally "had cut his teeth as an army commander" with the Jackson Expedition. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War, for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate States. One of his younger brothers, John Sherman, served as a U.S. senator and Cabinet secretary. President Benjamin Harrison sent a telegram to General Sherman's family and ordered all national flags to be flown at half mast. [115], In this general connection, it is also noteworthy that Sherman and his subordinates (particularly John A. Logan) took steps to protect Raleigh, North Carolina, from acts of revenge after the assassination of President Lincoln.[116]. William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. In Louisiana he became a close friend of Professor David F. Boyd, a native of Virginia and an enthusiastic secessionist. Detzler, Jack J., "The Religion of William Tecumseh Sherman". War is cruelty. Sherman stepped down as commanding general on November 1, 1883, and retired from the army on February 8, 1884. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. 208–10; Sherman, Telegram W.T. 190–204; McPherson, pp. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died unexpectedly in 1829. William Tecumseh Sherman was an eminent American soldier, author, businessman and educator. Pneumonia. When Grant became president of the United States in March 1869, Sherman succeeded him as Commanding General of the Army. The assassination of President Lincoln had caused the political climate in Washington, D.C. to turn against the prospect of a rapid reconciliation with the defeated Confederates, and the Johnson administration rejected Sherman's terms. [134], On June 19, 1879, Sherman delivered an address to the graduating class of the Michigan Military Academy, in which he may have uttered the famous phrase "War is Hell". [16] Sherman, along with Ord, assisted in surveys for the sub-divisions of the town that would become Sacramento. I did not want them to cast in our teeth what General Hood had once done at Atlanta, that we had to call on their slaves to help us to subdue them. He told Grant that, if he remained in the army, "some happy accident might restore you to favor and your true place". Sherman's military victory thus effectively ensured Abraham Lincoln's presidential re-election in November.[72]. Mary Elizabeth Sherman was now a widow with eleven children. While trying to hold himself aloof from controversy, he observed first-hand the efforts of Congressman Frank Blair, who later served under Sherman, to keep Missouri in the Union. In what would become one of the most notable conversations of the war, Sherman said simply: "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Dickey J.D. [76] Meanwhile, after the November elections, Sherman began a march on November 15[77] with 62,000 men to the port of Savannah, Georgia, living off the land and causing, by his own estimate, more than $100 million in property damage. [138] During this period, he stayed in contact with war veterans, and through them accepted honorary membership into the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and the Irving Literary Society. Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Military. [44] He was assigned to serve under Robert Anderson in the Department of the Cumberland in Louisville, Kentucky, and in October Sherman succeeded Anderson in command of the department. Still, if he muffed his Vicksburg assignment, which had begun unfavorably, he would rise no higher. In response to this threat, Grant instructed Sherman to attack Johnston. While in Savannah, Sherman learned from a newspaper that his infant son Charles Celestine had died during the Savannah campaign; the general had never seen the child. This edition contains Sherman's two prefaces, his 1886 text, and the materials added in the 1891 Blaine edition. He tells us what he thought and what he felt, and he never strikes any attitudes or pretends to feel anything he does not feel. [6] Sherman reported that his middle name came from his father having "caught a fancy for the great chief of the Shawnees, 'Tecumseh'". [123] On July 25, 1866, Congress created the rank of General of the Army for Grant and then promoted Sherman to lieutenant general. Sherman wrote both to his brother, Senator John Sherman, and to General Grant vehemently repudiating any such promotion. According to critic Edmund Wilson, Sherman: [H]ad a trained gift of self-expression and was, as Mark Twain says, a master of narrative. Larry on March 1, 2014 at 4:07 pm said: Yet, after reading about it, and reading Sherman’s and Sheridan’s words, it … In fact, his wife, Ellen, reproved him repeatedly for making his preference for Willie uncomfortably obvious to their other children. Later in 1858, he moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he tried his hand at law practice and other ventures without much success. Dickey is the author of Rising in Flames: Sherman… Some of these letters are rather personal in nature, rather than relating directly to operational activities of the army. Sherman, Memoirs, 2d ed., ch. 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