I don't get it, how can you people like a man who upon taking command in Memphis, wrote a letter to his wife describing his ultimate purpose of the war is "extermination, not of soldiers alone, that is the least part of the trouble, but the people." He endorsed the sacking of cities, robbing of stores and homes, killing of livestock, among others. It goes against the 1863 Geneva Conventions ruling on what you cant do during times of war.
@RevBillyRayCollins War is all hell. Besides, Sherman was mostly talk when it came to that apocalyptic stuff. If you read Brooks Simpson's compilation of Sherman's letters, everything Sherman came across was either the greatest thing ever, or an absolute and total disaster. He employed a lot of hyperbole, and his bark was worse than his bite.
@eringobragh915 I realize war is a terrible thing and I realize the first casualty of war is always innocence but is it necessary to bring the war to the towns and cities? Its one thing when the city is evacuated and a battle commences in it, but towns like Randolph TN were just burned to the ground with no enemy troops around. People were robbed sometimes beat. It all just seems un-necessary. If you have to celebrate Union generals then make it John Buford, he was of the good sort.
@eringobragh915 The robbed and beaten part wasnt referring specifically to Randolph but a number of other occasions.
In the fall of 1862 Sherman and his army were trying to take Memphis TN under federal control, but their gunboats in the Mississippi River were being targeted by confederate snipers. Angered that Sherman couldnt find the snipers he took vengeance upon the local population by burning the entire town of Randolph TN to the ground. He wrote Gen Halleck that he decided to "hold
@eringobragh915 the neighborhood fully responsible... all the people are now guerillas." He ordered Col C C Walcutt to burn the entire town but leave one house standing to mark the place where a town once existed. His troops also beat to death a young man who was suspected guerilla, but whose family turned out to be Unionists. Sherman knew that he was harming civilians since in his order to Walcutt he stated he was sure the rebel snipers had left and "therefor you will find no one at Randolph,
@eringobragh915 in which case you will destroy the place." Mark Grimsley, historian who defends Sherman, asserts that Sherman must have been certain that none of the residents of Randolph TN whose homes were burned were actually responsible for the firing at Shermans gunboats. You can find this info in 'Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order", 'Merchant of Terror: General Sherman and Total War', 'The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy toward Southern Civilians 1861-1865', 'The Real Lincoln'
Hint: Where do you think the snipers lived? If you guessed Randolph, you get a cigar. My advice would have been, don't send your townsfolk out to be guerrillas and snipe at Sherman's men. Srsly.
@eringobragh915 Not necessarily, the confederate snipers could have been from anywhere not just a nearby town. Besides, where is the documented evidence to prove they were indeed from Randolph? Your statement cant be taken for granted.
I am fairly certain we were a bit busy in 1863 (BEING THERE WAS A WAR GOING ON), the south certainly didn't get to Geneva as they proved at Andersonville. But hey, looking back he won the war so whatever.
I wonder if the same Neo Secesh whiners who bitch about Lincoln, Grant and Sherman are the same ones who bitch about Truman bringing the War of the Pacific to an end by using the A-bomb. Have any those ahistorical mushheads heard of "Operation Downfall"?
The quicker you use all available resources to bring the war to an end, the better, lest the war drag on forever.
Lincoln, Grant and Sherman were men who so the future. It wasn't pretty, but it was NECESSARY.
"I confess, without shame, I am sick and tired of fighting—its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands and fathers ... tis only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ... that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation." - William Tecumseh Sherman.
I adore how people post ignorant comments about this man. I especially like the term "Northern aggression". What. A. Laugh. Ever read his memoirs? Read any books about him? Do a senior thesis on him? Oh...you haven't? I have! I'm telling you the man deserves a little better treatment. He was an interesting and complex man. He hated war and did what was necessary. It's so easy to criticize something when you know little about it. Read a book America!
@gdwlwiffleball Well said. Ad Sherman suffered great mental anguish from the war, well before the March through Georgia. A number of the Generals on both sides of the conflict were qu9ite mentally strained by the waste of human lie they were engaged in and witnessing constantly. Sherman shortened the war--and thereby saved lives on both sides--by executing a scorched earth policy as his army marched from Atlanta to the sea. This area was the bread basket for the southern army.
Did Jay Ungar and his stable of musicians win an award or something for the songs they did for Ken Burn's Civil War? Because goddamn do they deserve it. I think its great that they can take these antiquated songs from a bygone era and play it with a vitality that makes the songs very accessible.
Lies, lies and more lies. There were only two reports of rape during Sherman's campaign, let alone murdered. You have obviously been suckered in by the lies that have been passed down from generation to generation in the south. When I lived in North Carolina people would claim that their family farm was burned by Sherman. Even though Sherman never even set foot near where they lived. The south wanted a scapegoat for getting whooped and Sherman fit the bill.
"I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers ... it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ... that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation."
Ole Willie T's behavior defines the description of WAR CRIMINAL. He was the CIC and 100% responsible for his men's actions. That's how it worked when I was a US army officer -- how'd it work when YOU held your commision EGB915?
Then Willie T. confirmed he'd earned that distinctive title (WAR CRIMINAL) by his genocidal treatment of the Plains Indians.
Ever hear of Sand Creek or Wounded Knee? More war against kids & women?
Ya see "Uncle Bill" was real good against them! Real hero, huh?
Just so everyone will know what a dumbass you are, I'm leaving this ignorant post up, unlike your other drivel which will not see the light of day. Sand Creek occurred 11/29/64, during the march to the sea, eight years before Sherman had army command. Wounded Knee occurred 12/29/90, six years after Sherman retired, and two months before he died. He had nothing whatever to do with either event.
The rest of your mouth-froth speaks for itself. If you're an army officer, I'm Elton John.
I was just about to type a message telling Pillbox exactly where to get off- then I read your retort. Gee, I couldn't have said it any better myself! Congratulations.
@eringobragh915 I also wonder what excuse for an "army officer" would ever regard an army commander as "the CIC" (Commander in chief") when Article II of the Constitution he supposedly swore to "preserve , protect, and defend" defines the President as the commander in chief.
@TheBoberton He commanded the Army of the Tennessee at that time, but if you read the conversation in context, it was eight years before he was General in Chief of the entire U.S. Army, and thus could exert any control over what was happening in the far west.
eringobragh915 gave you a fine come uppance, you primping ass! If you served in the US Army, you are a disgrace to the uniform for unfairly soiling the reputation of one of the finest Americans who ever served his country.
@Pillboxesghost Sherman exceuted what is known as a "scorched earth policy". He did it because Georgia was a strong source of material support to the Southern army. Sherman did not authorize or condone crimes against civilians (e.g. rape or murder). The purpose of his march across George was to break the South's morale and to weaken the southern army by eliminating the source of much of its supplies (especially food stuffs). The purpose was to spare lives by shortening the war.
He is not referring to "acts of the army." He is referring to acts of the guerrillas, who were civilians. Get it now? Mr. Guerrilla fires on Sherman's army, then runs & hides in his house and claims he's just an innocent civilian. That's BS, man. Sherman was out to put a stop to that. I hate to use the "T Word" for these guys, so I'll use the term Jeb Stuart used for the majority of guerrillas: "a worthless rabble."
Oh and by the way, I do feel sorry for anyone who was mistreated by miscreant soldiers in any army, acting against the orders of their superiors. This happens in every army. Any time you get that many people together, a certain percentage of them are going to be jackasses. There's no way to avoid it.
I don't know who Alan Stang was, but he needs to find out more about Sherman. What Sherman liked was not war, but winning a war. Shocking in a general, eh?
You fail at history. The first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864, and concerned treatment of the sick, wounded, and shipwrecked. The second was adopted in 1909. As for your quotes, the first one is Sherman's BS, the land was not devastated for 30 miles around, give me a break. Maybe if he had 10 times as many men. As for the 2nd, you left out the rest, "...and let them know it will be repeated every time a train is fired upon from Resaca to Kingston." He had a thing about guerrilla warfare.
(Part 1) Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation helped to precipitate New York's draft riots (July 11-16, 1863) whereat 100's of innocent blacks were killed (even a black orphanage was torched). There was no love for Negroes north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Indeed, the incidents of lynchings, per capita, were often higher in the Union. The European powers saw Lincoln's pronouncement as a plea for plantation Negroes to slaughter their absent masters' wives & children.
sounds accurate. thats why two of the best-selling songs in the north, battle cry of freedom and marching through georgia, both have explicit and oft-repeated (especially then) lines talking about freeing the slaves
"There was no love for Negroes north of the Mason-Dixon Line."
The riots you speak of were Draft Riots begun by Irish immigrants who saw a war for liberating slaves as one they'd have to fight so that freedmen would compete for the same low paying jobs they held. To imply that the burning of a Negro orphanage was typical of the racism of Northerners is as assinine as implying that the massacre of surrendering black union soldiers at Fort Pillow or the Crater typified the racism of the South.
His March to the Sea is far less impressive when you realize that he only faced negligible opposision after Hood buggered off into Tennessee.After all William J Hardee only had about 10,000 men, mostly recruits, to face Sheman's 60,000 plus army.
The March to the Sea was not Sherman's finest campaign, the Atlanta Campaign was. His contribution to that campaign gets ignored often as people argue the pros and cons of Joe Johnston and John Bell Hood while ignoring Sherman.
rly got to give this man som credit. hes been fighting through the war alongside Ulysses S Grant. He marched through Georgia and then through the carolinas without much help from union supplies. ill never forget the "march to the sea"
God bless ya, Uncle Billy! 144+ years later, the neo-Secesh are still blubbering in their muscatel about how you brought that long horrible war to a definitive conclusion- but those of us whose ancestors fought with you will forever hold you in high esteem. And when Johnston surrendered, you offered more generous terms than Grant offered Lee. The politicians may have loathed you, but your soldiers were always proud of having served under you- and that's all that matters .
R.I.P. WTS you're march through Georgia was daring & brutal but for a good cause. The abolition of slavery, and the progress of this great United States of America! George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Abe Lincoln are proud of you!
while shermans march to the seaa may have hurt the confederates morale i often wonder why sherman is praised in todays world his move would throw up so many red flags would it not be better to fight the confederate soldiers than burn non militarily occupied towns?
The plan was to burn factories or other facilities where items for the benefit of the Confederate army were being produced. These were usually located in towns. Sherman did not run through the south burning towns per se. If private dwellings were burned, it was either against Sherman's orders OR those dwellings were being used as cover for sharpshooters firing on Sherman's army.
...or the fires set in the factories and mills got out of control and spread to nearby houses. Which is a tragedy, but it isn't what Sherman planned, intended, or purposely carried out.
There are lots of myths about Sherman's march. The truth is his men rarely burned private homes. On a couple of occasions they only burned plantation houses that were unoccuppied and where they found whipping posts and other evidences of slave cruelty on the property.
Attention, Internet Tough Guys... you may as well stop wasting your time posting your childish accusations and threats, because they aren't seeing the light of day. Thx.
Lee's army oversaw the 'round-up' of Pennsylvania's black citizens. They were considered contraband. The captured were marched back to the South, to be sold. White citizens were threatened with death, or property destruction if they interfered, and were forced at gun point to assist with capture efforts. Even so, Whites resisted, and saved as many as they could.
One of the participants in this atrocity was a CSA chaplain.
Well, those without papers were sent south as suspected runaways, yes. But not by Lee. By Gen. Imboden's and Jenkins' cavalry. Lee had bigger fish to fry at the time.
General Lee was a great general of both the CSA and the Union. When the outbreak of the civil war, he was offered to be the commander of the Poto Mac. But declined because he would not fight his homestate and kill his fellow virginians. God Bless CSA
On the 125th anniversary of Sherman's "War is Hell" speech, I attended a reception that included a lecture that included a lecture by a professor from Georgia Tech. He stated the Lee's army made off with more horses from Pa. than Sherman's did from Ga.
Gods & Generals cost a lot of $ to make and didn't do well financially. I don't think Ted Turner wants to spend more money on the 3rd book. Maybe he will, though!
Well everything is possible, in my opinion gods and generals was very good, what happens is that many actors of Gettysburg did not repeat as Tom Berenger or Martin Sheen but I have to say that Duvall is also a great actor and you have to take in count that this is a movie that focuses the attention on jackson, but it isn't a bad movie, now if Ted Turner wont make it another will do it, and I think that Dennis Quaid is perfect for the interpretation of Sherman
Dennis Quaid is all right but I liked the guy who played Sherman in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," Colm Feore. I wished he had been in more than just one small scene.
40AcreMule What about the Plains Indians, were they too hateful to learn the facts about sherman.Oh wait, I forgot he murdered most of them. Or as sherman himself put it he wanted to eradicate them. Choose your heros wisley, they reflect on your character.
Please show us this quote from Sherman saying he wanted to eradicate the Indians. His job was to keep the peace. If people resisted this, his job was to send troops to stop it. Just like the Confederates. How come it was OK there but not OK with the Indians? Same concept, dude.
Accordingly, Sherman wrote to Grant: "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women and children." Writing two days later to his brother John, General Sherman said: "I suppose the Sioux must be exterminated . . ."
Oh, stop taking things out of context. Sherman was referring to punishment he wanted to inflict against the three tribes (one of them Red Cloud's Oglala Sioux) who had massacred a party of settlers gathering wood and the 80 soldiers who came out to try and save them. Every one of them was killed. Again, if you cause trouble, yeah, he's going to come down on you. As it turned out, however, the punishment was not inflicted and settlers just kept moving west and pushing the Indians out that way.
Im from Ga. and no sherman didnt just skip through Georgia whistling dixie freeing the slaveslike you people seem to think. As I stated before choose your heros wisely. MLK jr, Robert E. Lee etc, are good for starters.
In other words, you have no backup whatsoever for your claims. Thought so. You make the accusation; burden of proof is on you. Nice job throwing in another false claim and ad hominem attack about skipping around whistling Dixie, by the way.
Don't try finding out what Lee thought about Indians, by the way. It might scare you.
Sherman issued the following order to his troops at the beginning of the Indian Wars: "During an assault, the soldiers cannot pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age. As long as resistance is made, death must be meted out . . ."
Hm, 1st reply seems to have disappeared. The key here is, "as long as resistance is made." He's right. If a group of people is firing at you or throwing tomahawks or whatever, are you going to stop and determine if all of them are over 18, or if all are men, or whatever? Or are you going to defend yourself? See also Viet Cong.
Sherman had no desire to concern himself with those not making trouble. That quote shows it. Any soldier doing otherwise was disobeying his direct orders.
40Acre, you are totally correct.... At Shermans Funeral Johnston stood in te rain. When asked why, his response " he would do it for me." about 2 weeks later Johnston died... from an illness from Sherman's funeral
Most Southerns today are too hateful to learn the facts about Sherman. Sherman offered better surrender terms to Confederate General Joe Johnston than Grant did to Lee. As a result Johnston and Sherman remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Johnston was amazed at how Sherman's army could bridge a river or ford a swamp without hardly slowing their march. He said there was no army like Sherman's since the days of Julius Caesar.
Yea, its great to have a tribute over a man who destroyed Atlanta, stole food and livestock from citizens, and burned Mansions and slaughtered animals in a church in Midway, GA. Burned the city of Columbia and laid S.C. in ruins. You disgust me.
yes he did that but only for the good of his army he needed that food and who the hell cares if he takes animals he didn't kill anyone and only fought if they attacked first
When Lincoln said that, he was talking about his proposed policy for how to treat the South once the war was over. "Let 'em up easy" as he put it. When the war was still going on, he was a hard man, as were all these guys. Unfortunately he was then assassinated, which was the worst thing that could have happened for the South.
He only destroyed about a 1/4 of it. The rebs destroyed more than that when they fled Atlanta.
And yes, it is a great tribute to a great American. He had his faults like all men, but his strategy ended the war much faster than otherwise would have been done and there is mercy and genius in that.
Columbia too was already burning when federal troops got there. Seems the rebels liked to burn as they retreated.
William T. Sherman was a man ahead of his time but he also had a dark side. He was in favor of slavery and thought "it wasn't such a bad idea." Still, he saved the Union so he has my respecdt.
Sherman was in favor of the status quo in general. Before the war, he thought slavery should be reformed in certain ways, but not eliminated, not because he hated black people but because it was the status quo. However, Sherman actually wound up freeing more slaves than anyone. It was army policy, so being a good soldier, he followed orders and thousands of freed slaves followed his army through Georgia and the Carolinas.
God bless Uncle Billy! He did more to save the Union than Mr. Lincoln. And when the fighting was over he offered more generous terms of surrender to Johnston than Grant offered Lee.
And what a contrast to some generals we have today: a true warrior who would never stoop to sucking up to the Oval Office holder for the sake of mere careerism.
It's February 8. Happy birthday Uncle Billy!
BetaDeltaCebu 2 weeks ago
God bless William T. Sherman.
ted1045 4 months ago
Proud descendant of the 50th Illinois in the Army of the Tennessee. God bless you Uncle Billy.
cuchulainn424 4 months ago
Tecumseh was the MAN.
drdst17 6 months ago 8
Hoorah for Uncle Billy. Hoorah. Let the Rebs know they reaped what they sowed. Hoorah!
Mahbu 6 months ago 3
I don't get it, how can you people like a man who upon taking command in Memphis, wrote a letter to his wife describing his ultimate purpose of the war is "extermination, not of soldiers alone, that is the least part of the trouble, but the people." He endorsed the sacking of cities, robbing of stores and homes, killing of livestock, among others. It goes against the 1863 Geneva Conventions ruling on what you cant do during times of war.
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@RevBillyRayCollins War is all hell. Besides, Sherman was mostly talk when it came to that apocalyptic stuff. If you read Brooks Simpson's compilation of Sherman's letters, everything Sherman came across was either the greatest thing ever, or an absolute and total disaster. He employed a lot of hyperbole, and his bark was worse than his bite.
eringobragh915 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 I realize war is a terrible thing and I realize the first casualty of war is always innocence but is it necessary to bring the war to the towns and cities? Its one thing when the city is evacuated and a battle commences in it, but towns like Randolph TN were just burned to the ground with no enemy troops around. People were robbed sometimes beat. It all just seems un-necessary. If you have to celebrate Union generals then make it John Buford, he was of the good sort.
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@RevBillyRayCollins Are you saying Sherman ordered Randolph, TN burned to the ground and citizens robbed and beaten? Come on.
eringobragh915 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 The robbed and beaten part wasnt referring specifically to Randolph but a number of other occasions.
In the fall of 1862 Sherman and his army were trying to take Memphis TN under federal control, but their gunboats in the Mississippi River were being targeted by confederate snipers. Angered that Sherman couldnt find the snipers he took vengeance upon the local population by burning the entire town of Randolph TN to the ground. He wrote Gen Halleck that he decided to "hold
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 the neighborhood fully responsible... all the people are now guerillas." He ordered Col C C Walcutt to burn the entire town but leave one house standing to mark the place where a town once existed. His troops also beat to death a young man who was suspected guerilla, but whose family turned out to be Unionists. Sherman knew that he was harming civilians since in his order to Walcutt he stated he was sure the rebel snipers had left and "therefor you will find no one at Randolph,
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 in which case you will destroy the place." Mark Grimsley, historian who defends Sherman, asserts that Sherman must have been certain that none of the residents of Randolph TN whose homes were burned were actually responsible for the firing at Shermans gunboats. You can find this info in 'Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order", 'Merchant of Terror: General Sherman and Total War', 'The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy toward Southern Civilians 1861-1865', 'The Real Lincoln'
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@RevBillyRayCollins War is all hell.
Hint: Where do you think the snipers lived? If you guessed Randolph, you get a cigar. My advice would have been, don't send your townsfolk out to be guerrillas and snipe at Sherman's men. Srsly.
eringobragh915 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 Not necessarily, the confederate snipers could have been from anywhere not just a nearby town. Besides, where is the documented evidence to prove they were indeed from Randolph? Your statement cant be taken for granted.
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
@RevBillyRayCollins Sure, perhaps they were from, say, Montana or the like, eh? :)
eringobragh915 6 months ago
@eringobragh915 I somewhat doubt that....
RevBillyRayCollins 6 months ago
I am fairly certain we were a bit busy in 1863 (BEING THERE WAS A WAR GOING ON), the south certainly didn't get to Geneva as they proved at Andersonville. But hey, looking back he won the war so whatever.
defoley5 6 months ago
I wonder if the same Neo Secesh whiners who bitch about Lincoln, Grant and Sherman are the same ones who bitch about Truman bringing the War of the Pacific to an end by using the A-bomb. Have any those ahistorical mushheads heard of "Operation Downfall"?
The quicker you use all available resources to bring the war to an end, the better, lest the war drag on forever.
Lincoln, Grant and Sherman were men who so the future. It wasn't pretty, but it was NECESSARY.
archer1949 7 months ago
"I confess, without shame, I am sick and tired of fighting—its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands and fathers ... tis only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ... that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation." - William Tecumseh Sherman.
TTeun 10 months ago
I adore how people post ignorant comments about this man. I especially like the term "Northern aggression". What. A. Laugh. Ever read his memoirs? Read any books about him? Do a senior thesis on him? Oh...you haven't? I have! I'm telling you the man deserves a little better treatment. He was an interesting and complex man. He hated war and did what was necessary. It's so easy to criticize something when you know little about it. Read a book America!
gdwlwiffleball 1 year ago 3
@gdwlwiffleball Well said. Ad Sherman suffered great mental anguish from the war, well before the March through Georgia. A number of the Generals on both sides of the conflict were qu9ite mentally strained by the waste of human lie they were engaged in and witnessing constantly. Sherman shortened the war--and thereby saved lives on both sides--by executing a scorched earth policy as his army marched from Atlanta to the sea. This area was the bread basket for the southern army.
MsTruNorth 11 months ago
Did Jay Ungar and his stable of musicians win an award or something for the songs they did for Ken Burn's Civil War? Because goddamn do they deserve it. I think its great that they can take these antiquated songs from a bygone era and play it with a vitality that makes the songs very accessible.
cartoonistkid001 1 year ago
An American Hero
goldenkola 1 year ago 2
i dont c y atlanta has a statue of him when he burned their countryside and all of their resources with it.
rediculousnicholas 1 year ago
@rediculousnicholas There's no statue of Sherman in Atlanta. Also, he did not burn "their countryside and all of their resources."
eringobragh915 1 year ago 2
Great video, General Sherman was a stud!
Thanks
parrow1978 1 year ago
Thank You, Gen. Sherman....a real HERO of the USA!
Huzza for the 7th MO VOL CAV (USA)!
The UNION FOREVER....God Save the USA! :)
USAsoldier1955 1 year ago 5
I want a T-shirt with Uncle Billie's face on it! He was ssssoooo COOL!
gheldmann 1 year ago 4
Lies, lies and more lies. There were only two reports of rape during Sherman's campaign, let alone murdered. You have obviously been suckered in by the lies that have been passed down from generation to generation in the south. When I lived in North Carolina people would claim that their family farm was burned by Sherman. Even though Sherman never even set foot near where they lived. The south wanted a scapegoat for getting whooped and Sherman fit the bill.
Deeganmb 2 years ago 10
@Deeganmb Thank you. People from the South get mad at me because I'm his realitive.
pementaloaf 1 year ago
"I confess, without shame, that I am sick and tired of fighting — its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies, with the anguish and lamentations of distant families, appealing to me for sons, husbands, and fathers ... it is only those who have never heard a shot, never heard the shriek and groans of the wounded and lacerated ... that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, more desolation."
William T Sherman
skykid 2 years ago 9
He truly was the 19th century Chuck Norris...
Osseofootball6 2 years ago 10
Ole Willie T's behavior defines the description of WAR CRIMINAL. He was the CIC and 100% responsible for his men's actions. That's how it worked when I was a US army officer -- how'd it work when YOU held your commision EGB915?
Then Willie T. confirmed he'd earned that distinctive title (WAR CRIMINAL) by his genocidal treatment of the Plains Indians.
Ever hear of Sand Creek or Wounded Knee? More war against kids & women?
Ya see "Uncle Bill" was real good against them! Real hero, huh?
Pillboxesghost 2 years ago
Just so everyone will know what a dumbass you are, I'm leaving this ignorant post up, unlike your other drivel which will not see the light of day. Sand Creek occurred 11/29/64, during the march to the sea, eight years before Sherman had army command. Wounded Knee occurred 12/29/90, six years after Sherman retired, and two months before he died. He had nothing whatever to do with either event.
The rest of your mouth-froth speaks for itself. If you're an army officer, I'm Elton John.
eringobragh915 2 years ago 31
@eringobragh915
I was just about to type a message telling Pillbox exactly where to get off- then I read your retort. Gee, I couldn't have said it any better myself! Congratulations.
Sherman was DA MAN!!!
kentamitchell 2 years ago 3
Nice rebuttal, it's shameful how people can show such disrespect for such a great American hero.
SeagullPuncher 2 years ago 4
@eringobragh915 I also wonder what excuse for an "army officer" would ever regard an army commander as "the CIC" (Commander in chief") when Article II of the Constitution he supposedly swore to "preserve , protect, and defend" defines the President as the commander in chief.
BenAliGtor 1 year ago
@eringobragh915
"11/29/64, during the march to the sea, eight years before Sherman had army command."
So he didn't command an army during the War of Northern Aggression?
TheBoberton 1 year ago
@TheBoberton He commanded the Army of the Tennessee at that time, but if you read the conversation in context, it was eight years before he was General in Chief of the entire U.S. Army, and thus could exert any control over what was happening in the far west.
eringobragh915 1 year ago
@eringobragh915
Ah, ok. I guess I misread that. I thought you meant it was before he gained any command.
TheBoberton 1 year ago
eringobragh915 gave you a fine come uppance, you primping ass! If you served in the US Army, you are a disgrace to the uniform for unfairly soiling the reputation of one of the finest Americans who ever served his country.
dougalmac54 2 years ago
@Pillboxesghost Maybe not to you.
verlox 1 year ago
@Pillboxesghost God Bless William Tecumseh Sherman.
drdst17 1 year ago
@Pillboxesghost Sherman exceuted what is known as a "scorched earth policy". He did it because Georgia was a strong source of material support to the Southern army. Sherman did not authorize or condone crimes against civilians (e.g. rape or murder). The purpose of his march across George was to break the South's morale and to weaken the southern army by eliminating the source of much of its supplies (especially food stuffs). The purpose was to spare lives by shortening the war.
MsTruNorth 11 months ago
@Pillboxesghost Uncle billy was not at Wounded Knee or Sand Creek
landefelda2 10 months ago
Ironiclly, he hated this song! xD He heard it so freaking much I can only imagine why...
Illusenfan35 2 years ago 4
My brother in law is directly related to him, they look very alike...
Revelat0r 2 years ago
Oh cool!
Illusenfan35 2 years ago
A TRUE American hero General Sherman, may a loving God hold him in his arms for all eternity!!
OldGuyOhio 2 years ago 11
Sherman was a true American hero who was eager to put an end to the war as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
spartanwarrior1 2 years ago 7
He is not referring to "acts of the army." He is referring to acts of the guerrillas, who were civilians. Get it now? Mr. Guerrilla fires on Sherman's army, then runs & hides in his house and claims he's just an innocent civilian. That's BS, man. Sherman was out to put a stop to that. I hate to use the "T Word" for these guys, so I'll use the term Jeb Stuart used for the majority of guerrillas: "a worthless rabble."
eringobragh915 2 years ago
Oh and by the way, I do feel sorry for anyone who was mistreated by miscreant soldiers in any army, acting against the orders of their superiors. This happens in every army. Any time you get that many people together, a certain percentage of them are going to be jackasses. There's no way to avoid it.
I don't know who Alan Stang was, but he needs to find out more about Sherman. What Sherman liked was not war, but winning a war. Shocking in a general, eh?
eringobragh915 2 years ago
By the way, Mr. Benson, you have far too much time on your hands.
eringobragh915 2 years ago
you left him speechless!!
HOORAY!!!!!!!!
nalgaface123456789 2 years ago
@eringobragh915
Somebody put up a new backboard- because you just slam dunked his ass!
kentamitchell 2 years ago 4
Son, there ain't a squib on that page about any of those things. Are you hallucinating? Plus--
1. The cities and towns weren't defenseless
2. Anyone plundering & destroying civilian property did so against Sherman's express orders
3. See #2.
FAIL.
eringobragh915 2 years ago
Sherman made war on civilians, because he knew that civilians supported the army.
The March to the Sea had two goals: get to Savannah, and destroy as much on the way as possible.
bookkeeper57 2 years ago
You fail at history. The first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864, and concerned treatment of the sick, wounded, and shipwrecked. The second was adopted in 1909. As for your quotes, the first one is Sherman's BS, the land was not devastated for 30 miles around, give me a break. Maybe if he had 10 times as many men. As for the 2nd, you left out the rest, "...and let them know it will be repeated every time a train is fired upon from Resaca to Kingston." He had a thing about guerrilla warfare.
eringobragh915 2 years ago
Oh and by the way, as some famous guy once said, war is hell.
eringobragh915 2 years ago
Sherman was one of the finest General in American history.
hoodoo961 2 years ago
(Part 1) Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation helped to precipitate New York's draft riots (July 11-16, 1863) whereat 100's of innocent blacks were killed (even a black orphanage was torched). There was no love for Negroes north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Indeed, the incidents of lynchings, per capita, were often higher in the Union. The European powers saw Lincoln's pronouncement as a plea for plantation Negroes to slaughter their absent masters' wives & children.
Asparagusville 2 years ago 2
state your sources please
backnumber1662 2 years ago
That's definitely true! The North hated blacks as much or more than the South did.
IloveMary35 2 years ago
sounds accurate. thats why two of the best-selling songs in the north, battle cry of freedom and marching through georgia, both have explicit and oft-repeated (especially then) lines talking about freeing the slaves
kennybase1 1 year ago 2
"There was no love for Negroes north of the Mason-Dixon Line."
The riots you speak of were Draft Riots begun by Irish immigrants who saw a war for liberating slaves as one they'd have to fight so that freedmen would compete for the same low paying jobs they held. To imply that the burning of a Negro orphanage was typical of the racism of Northerners is as assinine as implying that the massacre of surrendering black union soldiers at Fort Pillow or the Crater typified the racism of the South.
BenAliGtor 2 years ago 2
His March to the Sea is far less impressive when you realize that he only faced negligible opposision after Hood buggered off into Tennessee.After all William J Hardee only had about 10,000 men, mostly recruits, to face Sheman's 60,000 plus army.
The March to the Sea was not Sherman's finest campaign, the Atlanta Campaign was. His contribution to that campaign gets ignored often as people argue the pros and cons of Joe Johnston and John Bell Hood while ignoring Sherman.
11nytram11 2 years ago 4
Well, you see what happens when you ignore Sherman. ;)
eringobragh915 2 years ago
rly got to give this man som credit. hes been fighting through the war alongside Ulysses S Grant. He marched through Georgia and then through the carolinas without much help from union supplies. ill never forget the "march to the sea"
Eagles895 3 years ago 6
God bless ya, Uncle Billy! 144+ years later, the neo-Secesh are still blubbering in their muscatel about how you brought that long horrible war to a definitive conclusion- but those of us whose ancestors fought with you will forever hold you in high esteem. And when Johnston surrendered, you offered more generous terms than Grant offered Lee. The politicians may have loathed you, but your soldiers were always proud of having served under you- and that's all that matters .
BenAliGtor 3 years ago 41
lol nice !
kevmarkpat 3 years ago
@BenAliGtor yeh my ancestor seved with him at Vicksburg
forty8r 1 year ago
Yup! Uncle Billy was a hell raiser!
carnisero43 3 years ago 6
I can totally relate to Sherman!
ScrewtapeLiberal787 3 years ago
Ironically enough, Sherman never particularly liked the song "Marching through Georgia"
He much prefered the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
kentamitchell 3 years ago
Alright. I'll look that up. Thanks.
JimmyEatWorld55 3 years ago
R.I.P. WTS you're march through Georgia was daring & brutal but for a good cause. The abolition of slavery, and the progress of this great United States of America! George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Abe Lincoln are proud of you!
camprandle 3 years ago 3
while shermans march to the seaa may have hurt the confederates morale i often wonder why sherman is praised in todays world his move would throw up so many red flags would it not be better to fight the confederate soldiers than burn non militarily occupied towns?
civilwaronezeroone 3 years ago
The plan was to burn factories or other facilities where items for the benefit of the Confederate army were being produced. These were usually located in towns. Sherman did not run through the south burning towns per se. If private dwellings were burned, it was either against Sherman's orders OR those dwellings were being used as cover for sharpshooters firing on Sherman's army.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
...or the fires set in the factories and mills got out of control and spread to nearby houses. Which is a tragedy, but it isn't what Sherman planned, intended, or purposely carried out.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Yes it was.
Total war was to attack the towns, and plantations to break the moral of the rebel troops.
It was a bit unconventional, but by golly it worked. Thank goodness for that.
JimmyEatWorld55 3 years ago
No... read Sherman's orders. "Attack the towns and plantations" does not appear in there.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Where could I find them?
JimmyEatWorld55 3 years ago
Gee... I don't know... in any book about Sherman? Wikipedia? Google? The ORs?
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Alright thanks. I'll look them up.
I've been trying to find ways to argue about Shermans good side, but always thought he did make the orders.
JimmyEatWorld55 3 years ago
Try a biography. I recommend John Marszalek's "Sherman: A Soldier's Passion for Order."
Googling "Sherman special field order 120" will give you the text of the orders in question.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
There are lots of myths about Sherman's march. The truth is his men rarely burned private homes. On a couple of occasions they only burned plantation houses that were unoccuppied and where they found whipping posts and other evidences of slave cruelty on the property.
waterloo2you 3 years ago
The first modern general.
lancechamplain 3 years ago 2
Ironically, Sherman came to loathe this song.
Kev95682 3 years ago 2
LOL! I think he got sick and tired of hearing it every time he appeared in public.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
south hate him
north like him
note my profile is named after the tank not him. but the tank was named after him so i guess my profile is somewhat named after him
lol
shermankim777 3 years ago
HAIL TO THE UNION!!
2big4TX 3 years ago 5
he did what he had to do
read what he said
gtubyyy 3 years ago
God rest your soul Uncle Billy!!Your genius and courage will never be forgotten
LITEBRITE65 3 years ago 18
Attention, Internet Tough Guys... you may as well stop wasting your time posting your childish accusations and threats, because they aren't seeing the light of day. Thx.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
guys u better respect him becuz he is my great times 8 uncle so dont talk him about him like that
skler100 3 years ago
u are related to general sherman if u are then i am related to u cuz he is my great great great great great uncle
skler100 3 years ago
That's not always true.
JimmyEatWorld55 3 years ago
i am realated to him and the last name sherman isnt german its british and if you dont belive me check my page
McRtOdDwOvErMaRmAr97 3 years ago
Like him or hate him,Sherman was the first truly modern general.
PaulieRomanov 3 years ago 5
Like him
kevefc2007 3 years ago 8
Not really, I'd say Kitchener was
maxine2win 3 years ago
Lee's army oversaw the 'round-up' of Pennsylvania's black citizens. They were considered contraband. The captured were marched back to the South, to be sold. White citizens were threatened with death, or property destruction if they interfered, and were forced at gun point to assist with capture efforts. Even so, Whites resisted, and saved as many as they could.
One of the participants in this atrocity was a CSA chaplain.
Lee was no hero.
God bless General Sherman
wolfencrow 3 years ago 2
Well, those without papers were sent south as suspected runaways, yes. But not by Lee. By Gen. Imboden's and Jenkins' cavalry. Lee had bigger fish to fry at the time.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
General Lee was a great general of both the CSA and the Union. When the outbreak of the civil war, he was offered to be the commander of the Poto Mac. But declined because he would not fight his homestate and kill his fellow virginians. God Bless CSA
SanchezAccount 3 years ago
William T. Sherman, One Badass Mother Fucker.
ellomynameisjohnny 3 years ago 8
On the 125th anniversary of Sherman's "War is Hell" speech, I attended a reception that included a lecture that included a lecture by a professor from Georgia Tech. He stated the Lee's army made off with more horses from Pa. than Sherman's did from Ga.
kentamitchell 3 years ago
Stuart was a good confiscator. ;) He told the farmers to charge the cost of the horses to the U.S. government...
eringobragh915 3 years ago
I hope that in the movie "the last full measure" Sherman is played by Dennis Quaid's who he seems more
escala1985 3 years ago
I don't think they're ever going to make that.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
why?
Dennis Quaid has a lot like Sherman and also a good actor his interpretation of Doc Holliday in Wyatt Earp was brilliant.
escala1985 3 years ago 2
Gods & Generals cost a lot of $ to make and didn't do well financially. I don't think Ted Turner wants to spend more money on the 3rd book. Maybe he will, though!
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Well everything is possible, in my opinion gods and generals was very good, what happens is that many actors of Gettysburg did not repeat as Tom Berenger or Martin Sheen but I have to say that Duvall is also a great actor and you have to take in count that this is a movie that focuses the attention on jackson, but it isn't a bad movie, now if Ted Turner wont make it another will do it, and I think that Dennis Quaid is perfect for the interpretation of Sherman
escala1985 3 years ago
Dennis Quaid is all right but I liked the guy who played Sherman in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," Colm Feore. I wished he had been in more than just one small scene.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
I think Dennis Quaid wins the audition, their facial features are similar to those of Sherman
escala1985 3 years ago
Mark Wahlberg already looks a great deal like Sherman in the face, especially when he scowls. When he gets older he'll be perfect to play Sherman.
40AcreMule 3 years ago
Sherman is cooler than Chuck Norris, thats right, I said it!
Grandove 3 years ago
Perhaps they would have won the war if they had. It is what Jackson wanted to do as far back as 1861. No one listened to him.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
40AcreMule What about the Plains Indians, were they too hateful to learn the facts about sherman.Oh wait, I forgot he murdered most of them. Or as sherman himself put it he wanted to eradicate them. Choose your heros wisley, they reflect on your character.
crj823 3 years ago
Please show us this quote from Sherman saying he wanted to eradicate the Indians. His job was to keep the peace. If people resisted this, his job was to send troops to stop it. Just like the Confederates. How come it was OK there but not OK with the Indians? Same concept, dude.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Accordingly, Sherman wrote to Grant: "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women and children." Writing two days later to his brother John, General Sherman said: "I suppose the Sioux must be exterminated . . ."
jlkendri 3 years ago
Oh, stop taking things out of context. Sherman was referring to punishment he wanted to inflict against the three tribes (one of them Red Cloud's Oglala Sioux) who had massacred a party of settlers gathering wood and the 80 soldiers who came out to try and save them. Every one of them was killed. Again, if you cause trouble, yeah, he's going to come down on you. As it turned out, however, the punishment was not inflicted and settlers just kept moving west and pushing the Indians out that way.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
It's pathetic how many quotes are taken out of context in there sad attempt to defame sherman.
SeagullPuncher 2 years ago 4
Show us also some evidence that Sherman murdered most of the Plains Indians... or else quit making stuff up to prove your politically correct point.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
The answers you seek are at your fingertips. w
t sherman and the Plains Indians, just that easy.
Im from Ga. and no sherman didnt just skip through Georgia whistling dixie freeing the slaveslike you people seem to think. As I stated before choose your heros wisely. MLK jr, Robert E. Lee etc, are good for starters.
crj823 3 years ago
In other words, you have no backup whatsoever for your claims. Thought so. You make the accusation; burden of proof is on you. Nice job throwing in another false claim and ad hominem attack about skipping around whistling Dixie, by the way.
Don't try finding out what Lee thought about Indians, by the way. It might scare you.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
Sherman issued the following order to his troops at the beginning of the Indian Wars: "During an assault, the soldiers cannot pause to distinguish between male and female, or even discriminate as to age. As long as resistance is made, death must be meted out . . ."
jlkendri 3 years ago
Hm, 1st reply seems to have disappeared. The key here is, "as long as resistance is made." He's right. If a group of people is firing at you or throwing tomahawks or whatever, are you going to stop and determine if all of them are over 18, or if all are men, or whatever? Or are you going to defend yourself? See also Viet Cong.
Sherman had no desire to concern himself with those not making trouble. That quote shows it. Any soldier doing otherwise was disobeying his direct orders.
eringobragh915 3 years ago
40Acre, you are totally correct.... At Shermans Funeral Johnston stood in te rain. When asked why, his response " he would do it for me." about 2 weeks later Johnston died... from an illness from Sherman's funeral
cwcav3tn 3 years ago
i love this guy some people say he was crazy though
cujoenyo 3 years ago
Most Southerns today are too hateful to learn the facts about Sherman. Sherman offered better surrender terms to Confederate General Joe Johnston than Grant did to Lee. As a result Johnston and Sherman remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Johnston was amazed at how Sherman's army could bridge a river or ford a swamp without hardly slowing their march. He said there was no army like Sherman's since the days of Julius Caesar.
40AcreMule 3 years ago
Love the song, used it in my video on the Russo-Japanese war. (Not your audio)
lamnaa 3 years ago
tecumseh was more of a man than you'll ever be
richxredrum16 3 years ago 2
Wonderful tribute.
Any idea who this version of the song belongs too?
bubba11793 4 years ago
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, from their album "Songs of the Civil War." Sorry for not crediting them already!
eringobragh915 4 years ago
Yea, its great to have a tribute over a man who destroyed Atlanta, stole food and livestock from citizens, and burned Mansions and slaughtered animals in a church in Midway, GA. Burned the city of Columbia and laid S.C. in ruins. You disgust me.
CSXTransportation 4 years ago
This just in: War is hell.
eringobragh915 4 years ago
yes he did that but only for the good of his army he needed that food and who the hell cares if he takes animals he didn't kill anyone and only fought if they attacked first
Bati1307 4 years ago 2
My Grandmother was Georgia born and bred. I never dared
sing this one around her, even in jest.
Taking away the context it was a great piece of music but
let us remember: Sherman's march engendered over a century
of hatred and bitterness.
William111061 4 years ago 2
Ah, but what engendered Sherman's march?
eringobragh915 4 years ago
Agreed, but what about Lincoln's idea: "With malice toward
none, with charity for all"? I like to think I would have been
an anti-slavery Southerner on principle, but many people
felt they were defending their homes from a hostile invasion.
BTW, my Grandmother was remarkably unprejudiced for a
person of her generation. She said she would have been
happy to sit with the students at the lunch counters.
William111061 4 years ago
When Lincoln said that, he was talking about his proposed policy for how to treat the South once the war was over. "Let 'em up easy" as he put it. When the war was still going on, he was a hard man, as were all these guys. Unfortunately he was then assassinated, which was the worst thing that could have happened for the South.
eringobragh915 4 years ago
By marching to the sea, sherman saved lives by fighting total war instead of fighting head to head with Johnston and causing more bloodshead
mario15pens 4 years ago
You can find someone like that from any side in any war.
lamnaa 3 years ago
not any more
cujoenyo 3 years ago
He only destroyed about a 1/4 of it. The rebs destroyed more than that when they fled Atlanta.
And yes, it is a great tribute to a great American. He had his faults like all men, but his strategy ended the war much faster than otherwise would have been done and there is mercy and genius in that.
Columbia too was already burning when federal troops got there. Seems the rebels liked to burn as they retreated.
Redlegpete 3 years ago
He had a tamk named after him!!!
aceofhicks 4 years ago
so nice from catalonia
Konkolikonaa 4 years ago
From Chimeny Town in Mississippi to Goergia to South Carolina a True Amaerican who was a great general
tbags155 4 years ago
Sherman Pwned the south
specter96 4 years ago 7
William T. Sherman was a man ahead of his time but he also had a dark side. He was in favor of slavery and thought "it wasn't such a bad idea." Still, he saved the Union so he has my respecdt.
inmyheart31 4 years ago
Sherman was in favor of the status quo in general. Before the war, he thought slavery should be reformed in certain ways, but not eliminated, not because he hated black people but because it was the status quo. However, Sherman actually wound up freeing more slaves than anyone. It was army policy, so being a good soldier, he followed orders and thousands of freed slaves followed his army through Georgia and the Carolinas.
eringobragh915 4 years ago
Yes,I have to agree with you on that. I think you gave a more complete statement than I did.
inmyheart31 4 years ago
I see your point. But he did help defeat the South and with that slavery.
BLO68 4 years ago
people say he was barbaric. no, he wasnt. he used advanced military tactics to win the war. he was a brilliant man.
bullyboy1863 4 years ago 3
God bless Uncle Billy! He did more to save the Union than Mr. Lincoln. And when the fighting was over he offered more generous terms of surrender to Johnston than Grant offered Lee.
And what a contrast to some generals we have today: a true warrior who would never stoop to sucking up to the Oval Office holder for the sake of mere careerism.
BenAliGtor 4 years ago
Love the song, even if he hated it.
RichardSwayne 4 years ago
It's ture, Sherman hated the song, but I love it.
RichardSwayne 4 years ago
I think he just got tired of hearing it every time he appeared in public. He preferred "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
eringobragh915 4 years ago