Shermans March to the Sea

The Home Front War: Sherman’s March to the Sea

                General Sherman had been recently placed in full command of the Western theater in the Civil War. Together with Ulysses S. Grant, they brought an end to the 4 year old war albeit a very bloody and destructive end on Sherman’s part. After destroying Atlanta Georgia he made a 300 mile march to Savanna and then turned North into the Carolinas making a trip of 450 miles in only 50 days. Sherman’s march caused the face of warfare to change. He is remembered by friend and foe as a brilliant and daring tactician. He was a no-nonsense General that took matters into his own hands if necessary, however the views and memoirs of the North and South were completely different.(Coley & Parker, 2003)

                “I will make Georgia howl!” This was Gen. Sherman’s statement to President Lincoln before he crushed Atlanta. He had been playing cat and mouse with Johnston, until President Davis put Hood in charge because he was impatient with Johnston’s skilled retreats against Sherman. Hood was quickly defeated by Sherman who then marched into Atlanta and burned the city to the ground. Then he decided to cut the Union forces up and break the fighting spirit of the South. He informed the President and Grant that he was going to march deep into the South and destroy communication, railroads, and sustainability of the people. He then cut all the telegraph wires and any form of communication with his superiors. He then proceeded to cut a massive slash through Georgia and then turned South and marched directly on Savanna, which was a main southern port.(Fletcher, 2011)(Coley & Parker, 2003)

 He remained out of contact with the Union Army for 5 weeks as he made a devastating march through the state. His troops pillaged everything under his orders because his 35,000 cavalry were far ahead of his supply trains. He tore up nearly 300 miles of railroad ties and had them heated and wrapped around trees to make them unusable. The Southerners didn’t even know he was coming or that he was moving that quickly. He captured 7000 horses, 8000 mules, 20,000 head of cattle. Slaves also joined his ranks as he moved deeper and deeper South. He burned plantations and allowed his men to do whatever they wanted during the march. In December he sent a message to Hood telling him to surrender and that he would spare his Army and the city if he surrendered. If he chose not to surrender then he vowed to completely destroy the city and its inhabitants. Instead of surrendering Hood used the time to retreat and left the city open for Sherman to march in. On December 22^nd Sherman sent his first communication back to the Union lines in a wire to the president. He wrote “I would like to send you a Christmas present I give you the city of Savanna”. Leaving the port of Savanna in January, he marched up towards the Carolinas cutting through the land in a similar fashion in an effort to bring the war to every Southerners front doorstep.(Coley & Parker, 2003)

The march forever changed the way wars were to be fought. Superior firepower and overwhelming force were the keys to success. Making the enemies moral drop by bringing the war directly to the civilians would be used all the way into the Vietnam War. Gen Sherman is credited with being the start of these tactics. Some will argue that it was a war crime and they would have a reasonable argument. Sherman had tried conventional warfare and his enemy was too illusive and would not face him in battle. He chose this method to make his enemy fight him on his terms, fully confident in his ability to win in open field. He also needed to force Johnston’s Army into submission so that the South could be won.  (Sumner, 2006)

Seventeen days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, Johnston surrendered to Sherman after the Battle of Bentonville and signed an Armistice. Johnston had been fighting Sherman for several years and had enormous amounts of respect for the man because of his brilliance on the field and his bold moves. The two became eventual friends and Johnston even came to Sherman’s funeral in 1891. Sherman’s friends recognized his abilities as well. Grant knew the importance that it would make on the war to have Sherman in command of the West to break the spirit of the South because of how he waged war. He gave his enemies one chance for surrender in most cases before wiping their slate clean in a swift and powerful obliteration. (Coley & Parker, 2003)

In the South was seen as war criminal to the worst extremes. They felt that his barbarities were unnecessary and did nothing more than destroy a rich cultural heritage. He pushed many parts of Georgia into an economic depression by burning crops, homes, and cities. He ordered his men to pillage every building they came to and take anything of value. He had standing orders to kill any who resisted or any who threatened to resist. The Southerners were barely left with clothes on their back in almost every case. He came swiftly and overwhelmed any resistance by sheer force. (Carls, 2004)

In the North the view was quite different. They hailed him as a hero and said he was only trying to end the war. Gen. Sherman himself claimed “war is cruelty, and you cannot refine it” and later he summed it up by stating the famous phrase “war is hell”. He became secretary of defense after Grant and turned down the invitation to run for President. The North believed him to be the best General in the Union Army second only to Grant. They felt that he had done his duty and that he brought the war to a fast ending. They believed that he had made the best decision to end the war by breaking the fighting spirit of the South.(Carls, 2004)

Growing up in the South, I believed that Gen. Sherman’s march was pretty devastating to the southern economy, culture, their opinion of the Civil War in general. However I personally feel that it was a necessary evil to bring a swift end to war that had drug on for several years. He made the same decision that McArthur made in WWII to drop the A bomb. He brought the war to the home front to make the southerners realize what could eventually happen if they didn’t stop fighting. The south likely would have continued to fight until every single soldier had been killed and every city taken over by the Union Army by force. This way they lost their will to fight which is often more important than actually losing the fight itself. Sherman’s march to the sea forced everyone on the home front to reevaluate what they were willing to lose in the war.