History Of General William Sherman

     On August 7, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Grant Brigadier General of volunteers, and he took up headquarters in Cairo Illinois. Only a few days after he assumed his new command, he occupied Paducah, Kentucky at the strategic junction of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. On November 7th he attacked the Confederates at Belmont, MO in an assault that was neither well planned nor well executed. The arrival of Confederate reinforcements compelled Grant to retreat.

The confederate army had gotten weaker and weaker from four years of war. Lincoln had been searching and searching for the perfect Union Army general to get this awful battle over and done with. After trying and trying, Lincoln discovered Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.

The General of the, union Ulysses S .Grant, who is also one of the most unclaimed general,forcefully sent troops down to Shiloh,Vicksburg and Chattanooga Tennessee to destroy the cities.Ulysses went on to fight against Robert . E.Lee our General. Ulysses did everything he possibly could to win Vicksburg.

By 1864, Georgia was the most important state left to sustain the Confederacy’s war effort. Its factories and agriculture supplied Confederate armies throughout the South, and the city of Atlanta was at the center of Georgia’s war production and railroad network. As a junction between four railroads, Atlanta had grown to become a primary Confederate base to transport troops, supplies, and treat injured soldiers during the Civil War. For the Union, capturing Atlanta meant cutting the South’s vital railroad network and supply lines (Still). According to William Sherman, the Union general who led the Atlanta Campaign, “This city [Atlanta] has done more and contributed more to carry on and sustain the war than any other, save perhaps Richmond. We have been fighting Atlanta all the time … and now since they have been doing so much to destroy us and our Government we have to destroy them” (Still). By destroying one of the most important cogs in the

Scorched farms, slaughtered livestock, uprooted railway lines and cities set on fire was not typical battle strategy previously seen on American soil. However, the Civil War was dragging on and General William Tecumseh Sherman was determined to finally end the fighting. The circumstances that initiated the war created a figurative and literal divide unlike America had ever seen. The American Civil War took heavy tolls on the Union and Confederate States of America. Desperate to end the bloodshed, President Abraham Lincoln trusted Ulysses S. Grant control of the Army and Grant authorized Sherman the freedom to do whatever necessary to bring conclusion to the conflict (Davis 22). In the military mind of Sherman, the end justified the means and this belief is well documented throughout his 1864 and 1865 campaign through Georgia, concluding in Goldsboro, North Carolina (Phillips 11). Sherman despised war and the fact that America had entered into a civil war in the first place. However, Sherman knew the conflict was unavoidable (Meiers 26). He made the decision to follow his allegiance to the Union and eventually became the general to lead the Armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee into the heart of Georgia (Moody 22). During this event the wrath of general Sherman would be implanted in the South’s memories. By the use of unorthodox

Another battle had started, known as the battle of Shiloh. This battle was a disaster for Grant. He was criticized throughout the whole battle by about everyone you could think of. For a time throughout that battle he was demoted. The war department luckily gave him his leadership back. Once he was reinstated, the Union wanted to take charge of the Mississippi river so it would be harder on the Confederates to fight. While fighting he got Vicksburg to surrender. They said that he had the most moral boost for the Union. But he also had a severe drinking

Union general William T. Sherman led nearly 60,000 men on a 285 mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864. Sherman’s motive behind this march was to intimidate Georgia’s civilians into renouncing their loyalty to the Confederate cause. While Sherman’s men did not eradicate any of the towns they passed, they stole livestock, food, and burned the houses and barns of the individuals who tried to fight back. The Union was “not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people,” Sherman explicated; as a result, they needed to “make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.”. (history.com)

“The Battle of Atlanta was fought just southeast of Atlanta Georgia.” ("Battle Of Atlanta")Just the day before, the Confederate Army led by John Hood attacked and lost to the Union. The Union had a steady hold on the city of Atlanta and they were not ready to give it up. The three armies of the Union, lead by William Sherman, were separated, and the Confederates wanted to attack. During this time, two of Sherman’s officers were shot and killed. ("The Battle of Atlanta Summary & Facts") Major General William H.T. Walker got fatally wounded and died shortly past noon, after this event, the Battle of Atlanta Started. ("Atlanta Campaign.,") When he went to check on Blair’s corporals, Commander McPherson who ordered one of Sherman’s armies, was killed at 2:02 p.m. He was only the second union commander to die during the war. ("The Battle of Atlanta Summary & Facts") “After taking the city, Sherman headed south toward Savannah, beginning his Sherman’s March to the Sea.” ("Battle Of Atlanta") After the Confederates launched the final attack and lost the railroad junction, John B. Hood surrendered to Sherman. This was the largest surrender during the Civil War, with 89,270 soldiers involved. Sherman and his armies had won. Though the Union had lost two brave officers during the Battle of Atlanta, their deaths were not in vain. The Union was one step closer to winning the Civil

The Civil war was a make or break war for America and it was essential that the Union stayed whole. William T. Sherman understood the possibility that if the South won that the United States would no longer exist. He took action and went to the extremes necessary to ensure the union stayed whole. The south portrays William T. Sherman as a villain of the Civil War because of his harsh tactics, but without his willingness to go to such extremes the war would not have ended the same way. William T. Sherman saved the Union because he recognizes that the Civil War would be impossible to win without strident tactics, exceptional battle strategies, and unrelenting determination which would bring the war to a conclusion.

William Tecumseh Sherman was a great Union general fighting in the Civil War. His major feat during the war was his campaign through the South. He started in Chattanooga, Tennessee and ended in Savannah, Georgia. His March used psychological warfare to make southerners lose support for the Southern cause by bringing the war to their front-doors. This showing of how cruel the war really was is said to have ended the war more quickly.

One of the most colorful characters of the civil war was a General named William T Sherman. During the period of the war (1861-1865),General Sherman went full circle from being forced to retire on trumped up charges that he was insane, to becoming a key player in bringing this bloody war to a close. On Sherman's ¨March to the Sea¨he and his men stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back. The Yankees were ¨not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people,¨ Sherman explained.

On November 15, 1864, Major General William T. Sherman received direct orders from president Abraham Lincoln to a very rare but devastating tactic. Lincoln ordered General Sherman to march his troops from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. The total distance the army covered was nearly 400 miles from city to city. The trek was long and difficult for the soldiers but was even worse for any family who lived in their path.

William T. Sherman was a U.S. Civil War leader in which he is known as Sherman's March. In September 1864 William took in Campaign of Atlanta and burn it all the way to the ground. With about 60,000 men he order to move out to Savannah. To the soldiers in this mission they all called it a ‘’total war’’ destroy everything that supported the Confederate Military. They wanted to prove to the Confederate they could not protect its people from the Union Army. Doing this action they would shine to the world that the Union had power no one could take a chance. Their preparation to after they forcly capture the city of Atlanta Sherman took several weeks to think of a plan on how they would win a battle against the Confederate. After weeks of planning

General Grant was given command over all union armies in 1864 in which then decided he would direct operations from Virginia while traveling with the Army of Potomac which Major General George G. Meade was in charge of. Grant presence took over the Army but yet still Meade took part on. General Grant was one of the greatest General that took part in the Union Army and he wanted that to show. “Initially Grant told Meade he did not envision a campaign of maneuver.” General Grant,” Meade predicted in reply, you are opposed by a general of consummate ability, and you will find that you will have to maneuver for position.” 2 General Grant took in the advice given from General Meade and maneuvered, this already displayed the building cohesive teams

General William T. Sherman is not as well known today as say, Lincoln or Grant. All American Historians know of Uncle Billy. Before the outbreak of the war, General Sherman gave a speech about how long, bloody, and ugly this Civil War was going to be. Sherman could not have been more correct in his prediction. Four years of war and 620,000 Americans lost their lives by wars end. Sherman’s scorched earth policies would be controversial in nature, but Sherman knew it was the only way to get the Confederate States to surrender. Even been quoted to saying things like “War is hell” and “They will pay for what they have done to the Union”.