Sherman’s March The March through Georgia and South Carolina, lead by General William Techumseh Sherman, was the turning point in the American Civil War. There had been heavy fighting in Tennessee and Kentucky. General Sherman requested permission to take a very large army to the Atlantic Ocean through North and South Carolina, Georgia, then turning North back through the Carolinas and then Virginia. He would divide the Confederate states by blazing a path through the middle of them, foraging and destroying anything of military importance to the Confederates. General Sherman's March achieved his goal, from a military standpoint, but the way his army accomplished it, many southerners say was despicable. The most famous portion of …show more content…
They had anticipated the town would offer heavy resistance, but it only took a handful of shots fired to take the town. Before leaving Milledgeville, Sherman ordered the town courthouse and armory, along with several other military structures, to be burned to the ground. They continued to burn many structures of Confederate importance along the way, ending at Fort McAllister, which was the gateway to Savannah. In the twenty-seven day excursion to Savannah, Sherman's March engaged in very few battles. Even though many building were burned in the towns that Sherman's army passed, the special foraging parties would due the most damage. Before leaving Atlanta, Sherman or “Uncle Billy” as his men would call him, had wrote “Special Field Order No.120,” it outlined the rules for the foraging parties to abide by. The orders were very specific, as to how much food could be taken, what structures could be burned, and etiquette with the civilian population, there was a single sentence that the foragers felt gave them opportunity. That was: “The Army will forage liberally on the country during the march.” Many soldiers believed Sherman issued the order with the intent of being the reverse. The foragers soon helped themselves to whatever they pleased, sometimes leaving civilians without enough food to survive the winter. They set ablaze many homes, outbuildings and fields when they were done ransacking them. The local residents hid anything of value in the woods and
Sherman’s march to the sea cut a swath of destruction sixty miles wide and two-hundred eighty-five miles long from Georgia’s industrial hub, Atlanta, to the coastal city of Savannah. During his march Sherman estimated his forces caused at least one-hundred million dollars worth of damage adding up to a little more than one and a half billion by today's standards. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman began his military career at the United States Military Academy where he graduated in 1840 as a Second Lieutenant. Once the Civil War broke out he was sent to the Mississippi area where he quickly distinguished himself and rose through the ranks. He was eventually placed in command of the forces charged with taking the Mississippi River and gained the respect of Lincoln. This gained him command of the Army of Tennessee and Georgia with which he was to split the deep south from the upper south, keeping the Confederate armies busy while Grant swept down from the North. Sherman’s daring move
The march to the sea,the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during Civil War.It all begain in Atlanta on Novemeber 15,1864,and concluded in Savannah on December 21,1864.As a person who is searching and learning history day by day I am learning about Union general William T. Sherman and his march.Sherman divided his troops into two roughly equal wings,there was 60,000 troops to divide up.The two wings advanced by two routes, generally staying twenty miles to forty miles apart.The right wing is headed toward Macon while the left wing is headed toward Augusta before the two commands turned and bypassed both cities.They was headed for the state capitol at Milledgeville.Here are some consequences of the march.Sherman’s march
Sherman’s March was in 1864 and lasted from November 15 until December 21. General William T. Sherman led around 60,000 soldiers on a march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia which lasted for 285 miles. The purpose was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population in abandoning the Confederate cause. It demonstrates the problems that were left after the end of the Civil War such as the role of the federal government in protecting its citizen’s rights. Economic and racial justice is still unsolved after the war, with land ownership still not being available to everybody
The most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War (1861-65). Began in Atlanta on November 15,1864. Union General William T. Sherman abandoned his supply line and marched across Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean to prove the Confederate population that its government not protect the people from invaders. He believed that by marching an army across the state he would demonstrate to the world that the Union had a power the Confederacy could not resist. After Sherman’s forces captured Atlanta on September 2,1864, Sherman spent several weeks making preparations for a change of base to the cost. Sherman’s March to the
Before his March to the sea he had accomplished a lot, an example of this is the Atlanta campaign that took place between May and September 1864. Together with General Grant, they believed that they had to destroy the Confederacy’s capacity for waging war. They would do this by attacking the economic, strategic, and physiological aspects of the South to bring it to its knees. The strategies that Sherman adopted could be compared with the scorched earth tactic that entailed destroying everything. Although he instructed his men to only destroy infrastructure in place where guerrilla warfare overwhelmed his army . He quickly
Around the final stages of the Civil War, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman used a tactic called “total war.” Total War is a type of war where nothing is off limits. This strategy allowed General Sherman to harm civilians and destroy everything in his path. Total War was used against the Confederacy by demolishing anything that would have been useful to the South. The Confederacy was already in a bad spot at this time of the war, but using this tactic made the South more vulnerable. I am not for this strategy, however I think it was reasonable for the Union to adopt this policy. It was reasonable for the Union to do this because they had to do what they could to make the Confederacy surrender as fast as they
General Sherman’s war on the innocent southerners or on the confederates was the tactics used during his march for the good order and discipline of the Soldiers as outlined within the Articles of War. Sherman led 67,000 men on a 285 mile march to the ocean from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia. This march began on November 15 after taking Atlanta from the Confederate troops which was rich of supplies and ammunition that was needed to continue the war; December 21, 1864 when the march ended outside of Savannah, GA. The tactics that were used by Sherman and his men were brutal and costly not only to the Confederates but to the Southern people as a whole.
In mid January 1865, Sherman led his troops out of Savannah with one city in his sights, Columbia South Carolina. Sherman was riding a wave high on fear from the local populace of what to not expect from him, would he destroy the town they lived in or would he spare them because he felt compassion towards them. Sherman’s soldiers were also on a high and felt nothing could kill them; a black chaplain from the 102d made a comment that one of the troops was ragged, unshaven and didn’t care who looked at him. Was this the downfall for Sherman and his veterans? Could they all be getting too cocky in their path of total destruction to realize they are not invincible? It seems as again that is not the case, regardless of the elements, lack of
William Tecumseh Sherman was a soldier in the American Civil war who was praised for his strategy and criticized for his use of total war strategy. Total war is where there is no restrictions on weapons, objects or strategy used are all able to do. William Sherman followed this path with U.S Grant, the head of the Union army who did things like this. William Sherman helped general Grant with the battles of Fort Henry and Donelson, Shiloh then he got hold of the Western Theater of war. He then proceeded to attack Vicksburg which was on the MIssissippi River and also aided on the Chattanooga campaign, which let him take Atlanta and eventually led the Lincoln's re-election. Sherman’s parade of destruction then went into Georgia and the Carolinas,
Sherman’s March to the Sea a name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign. Major Sherman guided his Soldiers on a disastrous campaign which ended with the taking over port city of Savannah. Boldness is what it was known for and sheer destruction caused pain and suffering for the South affecting the industry and the military targets, effectively destroying the Confederate’s capacity to wage war. Major General Sherman operations in Georgia started in September of 1864, President Jefferson Davis visited the front. Later on down the line things had been aggressively pursed, the final suggestion caused Major General Sherman problems. Major General Sherman surrounded his bets by filling 2,000 wagons with a 15 day supply of bread, 35 days of sugar,
men, Sherman started on his famous march of 400 miles (645 kilometers) "from Atlanta to the sea." For 32 days no news of him reached the North. He had cut himself off from his base of supplies, and his men lived on what they could get from the country through which they passed. They covered a path 60 miles (95 kilometers) wide in their march, and in that path everything that they could not use but that might prove of use to the enemy was ruthlessly
A picture was photographed in 1864, and it showed Northern soldiers tearing up railroads, telegraph poles, and supply lines. They destroyed the railways, to stop the Confederates from ordering and receiving supplies. This action was lead by William Tecumseh Sherman, and was famously titled “Sherman’s march to the sea,” which occurred in the city of Atlanta Georgia. According to the primary document title “General Sherman on the March to the Sea,” in 1865. This act was meant to force the Confederates into either surrendering or become weaker due to fewer resources.
On July 16 General McDowell got his army of 34,000 men in action from Washington towards the Confederate army. The distance to be covered 30 miles. The union officers had no experience handling such large armies, and the union soldiers had no experience at being soldiers and thus the march took much longer then it should have.
Just yesterday, on November 15 1864, William T. Sherman has got permission from president Lincoln to invade Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign. He has already destroyed Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia. He claims that he will march to the Atlantic ocean, destroying every city that lays in his path all the way to Savannah. As of right now, he is unstoppable. He says that he wants to prove to the confederate government that they do not have the power to protect their people from invaders. Another reason he is doing this is because he wants to show the confederate states that the union will always have power that the CSA can not resist. One of his quotes are, " This may not be war, but rather statesmanship." Sherman is clearly making his
Sherman began the move north in January of 1865. The only hope of Confederate resistance would be supplied by General P.G.T. Beauregard. He was putting together an army with whatever supplys he had left, but at best would only be able to get about 30,000 men. This would be no challenge to the combined forces of Schofield and Sherman. Sherman's plan was to march through South Carolina. His men would march in two ranks: One would travel northwest to give the impression of a press against Augusta and the other would march northeast toward Charleston. However the one true objective would be Columbia.