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The Greatness of William Tecumseh Sherman

Jack Hays

Jack Hays

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B.H. Liddell Hart called him the first modern general. He was the man whose vision was fatal for the Confederacy. One hundred fifty years ago this month he launched his March to the Sea.

[h=2]The End Game[/h] Sherman breaks the deadlock
BY GEOFFREY NORMAN

On September 2, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln received a telegram from General William Tecumseh Sherman that read, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.” This was more than a victory. It was deliverance.
All summer Atlanta—like Petersburg, Virginia—had been a city under siege, and as these two stalemates dragged on, the prospects for the president’s reelection grew bleaker. They were dismal enough that at one point he said he expected to “be beaten, and beaten badly.” The war had gone on so long, and the casualties had been so severe, that enough voters in what remained of the Union were inclined to elect former general George McClellan, a Democrat, and trust him to make the best deal he could. There would, then, be no conclusive victory reestablishing the Union and ridding it of slavery. The bleeding would be stopped. But the return on all the suffering would be meager.
Atlanta had been holding ...
 
Jack Hays said:
B.H. Liddell Hart called him the first modern general. He was the man whose vision was fatal for the Confederacy. One hundred fifty years ago this month he launched his March to the Sea.

[h=2]The End Game[/h] Sherman breaks the deadlock
BY GEOFFREY NORMAN

On September 2, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln received a telegram from General William Tecumseh Sherman that read, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.” This was more than a victory. It was deliverance.
All summer Atlanta—like Petersburg, Virginia—had been a city under siege, and as these two stalemates dragged on, the prospects for the president’s reelection grew bleaker. They were dismal enough that at one point he said he expected to “be beaten, and beaten badly.” The war had gone on so long, and the casualties had been so severe, that enough voters in what remained of the Union were inclined to elect former general George McClellan, a Democrat, and trust him to make the best deal he could. There would, then, be no conclusive victory reestablishing the Union and ridding it of slavery. The bleeding would be stopped. But the return on all the suffering would be meager.
Atlanta had been holding ...
Click to expand...

Sherman was instrumental in gutting the confederacies will to fight. IIRC he was a beast against the indians as well.
 
US Conservative said:
Sherman was instrumental in gutting the confederacies will to fight. IIRC he was a beast against the indians as well.
Click to expand...


He commanded the US Army 1869-83, and was succeeded by Phil Sheridan 1883-88. Both were pretty tough on the Indians.
 
Jack Hays said:
B.H. Liddell Hart called him the first modern general. He was the man whose vision was fatal for the Confederacy. One hundred fifty years ago this month he launched his March to the Sea.

[h=2]The End Game[/h] Sherman breaks the deadlock
BY GEOFFREY NORMAN

On September 2, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln received a telegram from General William Tecumseh Sherman that read, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.” This was more than a victory. It was deliverance.
All summer Atlanta—like Petersburg, Virginia—had been a city under siege, and as these two stalemates dragged on, the prospects for the president’s reelection grew bleaker. They were dismal enough that at one point he said he expected to “be beaten, and beaten badly.” The war had gone on so long, and the casualties had been so severe, that enough voters in what remained of the Union were inclined to elect former general George McClellan, a Democrat, and trust him to make the best deal he could. There would, then, be no conclusive victory reestablishing the Union and ridding it of slavery. The bleeding would be stopped. But the return on all the suffering would be meager.
Atlanta had been holding ...
Click to expand...

As someone who has lived his life 30 miles south of Atlanta when not serving in the military, Sherman knew how to win a war. The fact Lincoln and Grant let him speaks highly for both of them. Today it seems way too many president's do not want their general's to win a war. I suppose one could go back to Truman and Mac Arthur to LBJ and on and on. Perhaps the lone exception was George H.W. Bush with Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf.
 
Perotista said:
As someone who has lived his life 30 miles south of Atlanta when not serving in the military, Sherman knew how to win a war. The fact Lincoln and Grant let him speaks highly for both of them. Today it seems way too many president's do not want their general's to win a war. I suppose one could go back to Truman and Mac Arthur to LBJ and on and on. Perhaps the lone exception was George H.W. Bush with Colin Powell and Schwarzkopf.
Click to expand...

I think FDR handled his senior commanders pretty well.

As for Sherman, the more I learn about him the more I'm persuaded he was a 20th century man somehow misplaced into the 19th. Lucky break for Lincoln & Grant.
 
Obviously, y'all never learned your Southern history about General Sherman's Retreat to the Sea, where the Confederates chased him so hard through Atlanta, he didn't even have time to put out his campfires.

And of course, Lee never surrendered: Grant stole Lee's sword, but Lee was too much of a gentleman to ask for it back.
 
pinqy said:
Obviously, y'all never learned your Southern history about General Sherman's Retreat to the Sea, where the Confederates chased him so hard through Atlanta, he didn't even have time to put out his campfires.

And of course, Lee never surrendered: Grant stole Lee's sword, but Lee was too much of a gentleman to ask for it back.
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Good one.
 
US Conservative said:
Didn't he also fight them before the civil war as well? My memory is admittedly a bit hazy on this.
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He saw action in the Second Seminole War. When the Civil War broke out he was president of the school that would later become LSU.
 
Sherman intentional targeted civilians, torched civilian houses, raped and murdered women and children and elderly.


He was, and always will be, a terrorist. If you think he's so awesome, then by extension, you must also applaud the tactics of other similar men throughout history. Bin Laden comes to mind.
 
Jack Hays said:
I think FDR handled his senior commanders pretty well.

As for Sherman, the more I learn about him the more I'm persuaded he was a 20th century man somehow misplaced into the 19th. Lucky break for Lincoln & Grant.
Click to expand...

Very possible. And yes, lucky for Lincoln & Grant. But not the south.
 
KevinKohler said:
Sherman intentional targeted civilians, torched civilian houses, raped and murdered women and children and elderly.


He was, and always will be, a terrorist. If you think he's so awesome, then by extension, you must also applaud the tactics of other similar men throughout history. Bin Laden comes to mind.
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Ignorance speaks. Shelby Foote concluded there was not a single case of rape by Sherman's troops. Learn first, then post.
 
Jack Hays said:
Ignorance speaks. Shelby Foote concluded there was not a single case of rape by Sherman's troops. Learn first, then post.
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Not a single case of rape reported. Although others say there were 2. Miniscule, yes? But that was what was reported. Even now, bub, are rapes widely reported? Nope. Besides, that was his mission statement. To bring the harsh brutality of war to their very homes. That was his goal. His STATED goal.


He was a terrorist, no matter how you cut it.
 
KevinKohler said:
Not a single case of rape reported. Although others say there were 2. Miniscule, yes? But that was what was reported. Even now, bub, are rapes widely reported? Nope. Besides, that was his mission statement. To bring the harsh brutality of war to their very homes. That was his goal. His STATED goal.


He was a terrorist, no matter how you cut it.
Click to expand...

Yes. It was his goal and he won the war. A great man who saved the union.
 
KevinKohler said:
Sherman intentional targeted civilians, torched civilian houses, raped and murdered women and children and elderly.


He was, and always will be, a terrorist. If you think he's so awesome, then by extension, you must also applaud the tactics of other similar men throughout history. Bin Laden comes to mind.
Click to expand...

:dramallama:
 
KevinKohler said:
Not a single case of rape reported. Although others say there were 2. Miniscule, yes? But that was what was reported. Even now, bub, are rapes widely reported? Nope. Besides, that was his mission statement. To bring the harsh brutality of war to their very homes. That was his goal. His STATED goal.


He was a terrorist, no matter how you cut it.
Click to expand...

In his own words:

If they want eternal war, well and good; we accept the issue, and will dispossess them and put our friends in their place. I know thousands and millions of good people who at simple notice would come to North Alabama and accept the elegant houses and plantations there. If the people of Huntsville think different, let them persist in war three years longer, and then they will not be consulted. Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity, but they preferred war; very well. Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late.
All the powers of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. Next year their lands will be taken, for in war we can take them, and rightfully, too, and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a certain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many peoples with less pertinacity have been wiped out of national existence. Letter to Maj. R. M. Sawyer, from Vicksburg (31 January 1864)
 
Jack Hays said:
B.H. Liddell Hart called him the first modern general. He was the man whose vision was fatal for the Confederacy. One hundred fifty years ago this month he launched his March to the Sea.

[h=2]The End Game[/h] Sherman breaks the deadlock
BY GEOFFREY NORMAN

On September 2, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln received a telegram from General William Tecumseh Sherman that read, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won.” This was more than a victory. It was deliverance.
All summer Atlanta—like Petersburg, Virginia—had been a city under siege, and as these two stalemates dragged on, the prospects for the president’s reelection grew bleaker. They were dismal enough that at one point he said he expected to “be beaten, and beaten badly.” The war had gone on so long, and the casualties had been so severe, that enough voters in what remained of the Union were inclined to elect former general George McClellan, a Democrat, and trust him to make the best deal he could. There would, then, be no conclusive victory reestablishing the Union and ridding it of slavery. The bleeding would be stopped. But the return on all the suffering would be meager.
Atlanta had been holding ...
Click to expand...


"You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country. If the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on until we reap the fate of Mexico, which is eternal war [...] 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. But, my dear sirs, when peace does come, you may call on me for anything. Then will I share with you the last cracker, and watch with you to shield your homes and families against danger from every quarter." — William Sherman

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William Tecumseh Sherman was a known homosexual and a goat diddler.
 
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