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Sherman's March Essay

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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

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