On December 10, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman completes his March to the Sea when he arrives in front of Savannah, Georgia.
Since mid-November of that year, Sherman’s army had been sweeping from Atlanta across the state to the south and east towards Savannah, one of the last Confederate seaports still unoccupied by Union forces. Along the way, Sherman destroyed farms and railroads, burned storehouses, and fed his army off the land. In his own words, Sherman intended to “make Georgia howl,” a plan that was approved by President Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Union armies.
The city of Savannah was fortified and defended by some 10,000 Confederates under the command of General William Hardee. The Rebels flooded the rice fields around Savannah, so only a few narrow causeways provided access to the city. Sherman’s army was running low on supplies and he had not made contact with supply ships off the coast. His army had been completely cut off from the North, and only the reports of destruction provided any evidence of its whereabouts.
Sherman directed General Oliver O. Howard to the coast to locate friendly ships. Howard dispatched Captain William Duncan and two comrades to contact the Union fleet, but nothing was heard of the trio for several days. Duncan located a Union gunboat that carried him to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Supply ships were sent to Savannah, and Duncan continued on to Washington, D.C.,to deliver news of the successful March to the Sea to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
For ten days, Hardee held out as Sherman prepared for an attack. Realizing the futility of the situation, Hardee fled the city on December 20 and slipped northward to fight another day.
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In Sherman’s own words. One of the greatest generals who ever lived. The South never knew what hit them.
Memoirs of General William T. Sherman
https://archive.org/details/memoirsgeneralw11shergoog/page/n11
Motivations aside,Sherman knew two things. There is no substitute for victory. When you Fight you kick their ass and you kick it real hard.
He was sprung from an insane asylum to join the war. Up until that point wars were largely fought between opposing soldiers. Sherman, along with co conspirators lincoln and grant, turned war into slaughter as he raped and pillaged his way through defenseless civilians. Henceforth, more civilians would die in war than soldiers. It was the model that set the stage for the 20th century wars and the end of western civilization. It’s also the model that turned americans into warmongers. One day will come atonement-God help us.
I’ve heard this one attributed to Clausewitz but I am not sure:
“In war, one leaves his enemy with only his eyes with which to weep”.
Geneva convention and Henry V’s ‘rules of war’ aside.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/henry-v-and-law-armed-conflict
OK, Boomer. Maybe you missed the Mongols, the various slaughter by Muslims, Christians and even those filthy joos got in a few massacres…..the Romans, barbarians of various stripes the Greeks slaughtering each other and Persians and let’s not forget Cannae and Hannibal and on and on and on…..you simply lack the proper perspective. I was taught to hate Sherman, Lincoln and the North….and the Battle Hymn of the Republic was verboten in our house.
Sherman simply did what any commander who wants to win would do…cold resolve and without mercy but no outright malice…..and yes my ancestors were totally defeated and didn’t even try to go, insurgent…..a lesson that we have seemed to have forgotten.
Make no mistake though, in the next decade, the so-called atrocities of Sherman will pale in comparison to what we are going to do to each other. War is what humans do best…and there are no rules…..
Lee could’ve learned a few things from Sherman and I say this from position of one who’s family was starved, murdered and robbed by the hordes of Sherman’s Yankee devils. My family fought and died for the CSA and lost everything as a result. So don’t let your little girl emotions cloud your ability to reason. The South needed a Sherman of their own instead of pack of plantation owning entitled brats jockeying for personal glory over national victory.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of Wa
Jew Bastard!
One of America’s first truly great war criminals (far more would follow).
Atlanta was burned because Union soldiers were being sniped from the upper floors of buildings after the city was defeated and fully ‘occupied’. It was simply an order from an officer looking out for his troops.
Johnny Rebel put Sherman in a bad mood after the snipings
That was the excuse used in Vietnam for the slaughter of women and children.
Sherman was a war criminal and responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians.
Aren’t, they all .
William Tecumseh Sherman. A good soldier following orders. Shame on him. A coward and a prick.