When Sherman instituted his destructive war, he told Southerners that as long as they continued their resistance, he would make them pay dearly, but that the process would stop when they quit the fight. On October 9, while still chasing Hood, he had sent the following in a telegram to Grant: I propose we break up the railroad from Chattanooga, and strike out with wagons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah. Atlanta: After the Civil War. On December 4, Kilpatrick's cavalry routed Wheeler's at the Battle of Waynesboro. After capturing Atlanta in September 1864, General Sherman decided to use a different tactic to bring the South to its knees and . Those prisoners in the state jail willing to take up arms for the Confederacy 175 out of 200 were freed, although some of the newly liberated men burned down the penitentiary rather than report for duty. Sign up to receive the latest information on the American Battlefield Trust's efforts to blaze The Liberty Trail in South Carolina. Sherman's March to the Sea refers to a long stretch of devastating Union army movements that took place during the United States Civil War. After they lost Atlanta, the Confederate army headed west into Tennessee and Alabama, attacking Union supply lines as they went. Wheeler and some infantry struck in a rearguard action at Ball's Ferry on November 24 and November 25. Historian Barrett assesses that Sherman could have stopped Hardee, but failed to because he was hesitant to overcommit his forces. [1] When Joe Wheelers horsemen also began destroying property and looting, the psychological shock of Confederates abusing their own people was hard for the Georgia civilians to take. During this time he ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 civilians and seized their homes for his soldiers living quarters. He wanted his army to win the war and thus preserve the Union, but he also wanted to curtail the battlefield slaughter. Until we can repopulate Georgia it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources. Recognizing the significance of endometriosis as an unmet chronic disease for women and designating March 2023 as "Endometriosis Awareness Month". Slaves' opinions varied concerning the actions of Sherman and his army. In our collective memory, blue-clad soldiers march with impunity, their scavenged booty draped about them, leaving a trail of white women and children to sob at their losses and slaves to rejoice at their emancipation. Operating under varying degrees of supervision, their exploits formed the foundation of Shermans lasting reputation. Clearly this soldier was practicing the psychological destructive warfare against Georgia that his commander wanted. [23][bettersourceneeded], Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. However, news of brutal prisoner treatment at Camp Lawton would later prompt Sherman to order the destruction of several miles of track along the Augusta & Savannah Railroad. This would prevent the formerly enslaved people from crossing to safety. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. Sherman's . As the main columns had been marching all day, organized soldiers and others fanned out in all directions, looking for food and booty. In addition to its effects on Georgia and the South, Shermans March to the Sea revolutionized the military tactics of his time. more formally known as the Savannah Campaign, was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William T Sherman of the Union Army. (Since Atlanta, South Carolinian Mary Boykin Chestnut wrote in her diary, I have felt as ifwe are going to be wiped off the earth.). In short, the March to the Sea demonstrates not that Sherman was a brute, but that he wanted to wage a war that did not result in countless deaths. Union troops burned it to the ground. Walters, John Bennett (1948) "General William T. Sherman and Total War". With Wheeler close behind, many of them attempted to swim the distance. In Atlanta Cox offers readers a compact, comprehensive, and balanced history of that campaign. A Buffalo, N.Y., native and a Ph.D. from Notre Dame, John F. Marszalek taught for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2002. Although he personally considered them inferior to white men, Sherman treated the blacks he met with courtesies not widespread in the 19th century, shaking hands and carrying on conversations to glean their knowledge of the area. Certainly, Sherman practiced destructive war, but he did not do it out of personal cruelty. The purpose of Shermans March to the Sea was to frighten Georgias civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Davis, who was no stranger to scandal he was arrested for murdering fellow Union general William Nelson in August 1862, but escaped court martial took a great deal of blame for this horror, but Sherman defended him. Shermans troops arrived in Savannah on December 21, 1864, about three weeks after they left Atlanta. Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, officers and men. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Sherman was reluctant to set off on a wild goose chase across the South, however, and so he split his troops into two groups. Not all of the destruction was even Shermans doing: some one-third of the citys buildings were in ruins as a result of entrenchments dug by the Confederates and the detonation of ammunition performed as part of Hoods evacuation. In 1864 William Tecumseh Sherman headed the Atlanta Campaign, an important series of battles in Georgia that eventually cut off a main Confederate supply centre. The next morning, Savannah Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out (until they were unhorsed by fleeing Confederate cavalrymen) to offer a proposition: The city would surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Geary's promise to protect the city's citizens and their property. The March to the Sea, which occurred over a six week period in November and December of 1864, is considered the most damaging action against civilian people in the Civil War of 1861 to 1865.The objective of Sherman's March to the Sea was to instil fear in the civilian population of Georgia to abandon the cause of the Confederacy. No doubt many acts of pillage, robbery, and violence were committed by these parties of foragers , Sherman acknowledged, but maintained that their crimes were generally against property, not individuals. Eighty percent of the remaining soldiers were long-time veterans of campaigns in both the Western theatre, primarily, and the Eastern, a minority. [41] In the years following World War II, several writers[42][43][44] argued that the total war tactics used during World War II were comparable to the tactics used during Sherman's March. Hundreds of African Americans drowned trying to cross in Ebenezer Creek north of Savannah while attempting to follow Sherman's Army in its March to the Sea. Sherman had his favorite regimental band present a concert for the city and brought supply ships from the North to help the city and its people regain a sense of normality. On November 24 several Union prisoners of war caught up with the left wing, having escaped a Confederate camp at Andersonville. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. They jumped into the water, frantically trying to swim across and evade Wheeler. Negroes who are able-bodied and can be of service to the several columns may be taken along, but each army commander will bear in mind that the question of supplies is a very important one and that his first duty is to see to them who bear arms Sherman, commanding the Military Division of the Mississippi, did not employ his entire army group in the campaign. By ripping up and melting down tracks, Union soldiers slowly crippled the states industrial and military potential in full view of its civilians. On November 23, Slocum's troops captured the city and held a mock legislative session in the capitol building, jokingly voting Georgia back into the Union.[22]. By the following day, soldiers were setting unauthorized fires, and the flames spread to business and residential districts. Very quickly, these foragers came to be called bummers, and it was they who did the most damage to the countryside and provided the most food for the troops. The army moved at a steady pace, covering as much as 15 miles a day. Howard's infantry marched through Jonesboro to Gordon, southwest of the state capital, Milledgeville. Factories, farms and railroads provided Confederate troops with the things they needed, he reasoned; and if he could destroy those things, the Confederate war effort would collapse. I know that this recent movement of mine through Georgia has had a wonderful effect in this respect. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2021. Infrastructure. On November 22 three Confederate militia brigades (comprising some 4,500 men) from Macon discovered the carnage before chancing upon 1,500 Union soldiers. After seizing Atlanta, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-earth campaign intended to cripple the South's war-making capacity and wound the Confederate psyche. Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee commanded the undermanned Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith led the small Georgia state militia. As one Georgia woman wrote in her diary: like Demons they rush in! However, some men, called bummers, roamed the countryside to intentionally terrorize and loot Confederate civilians. Instead, he sought to end the war as quickly as possible, with the least loss of life on both sides. This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 20:17. Although bummers engaged in prohibited activity, the overall psychological impact on the local population was precisely the purpose of the march. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In 2008 he took over as the executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. By attempting to hold the roads we will lose a thousand men monthly and will gain no result. Union soldiers sang many songs during the March, but it is one written afterward that has come to symbolize the campaign: "Marching Through Georgia", written by Henry Clay Work in 1865. Abilene, TX: McWhiney Foundation Press, 2005. The ensuing campaign and siege occupied most of the summer, with Sherman finally forcing a surrender on September 2. At the Battle of Buck Head Creek on November 28, Kilpatrick was surprised and nearly captured, but the 5th Ohio Cavalry halted Wheeler's advance, and Wheeler was later stopped decisively by Union barricades at Reynolds's Plantation. While the local high society turned its nose up at the Union Army, refusing to be seen at social events with Union officers present, Sherman was ironically focused on protecting them. Slavery. Like the morale-focused campaigns of future generals, Shermans march squeezed out a victory with ruthless precision. In fact, his true destination was the Georgia capital of Milledgeville. As the army would be out of touch with the North throughout the campaign, Sherman gave explicit orders, Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. Sherman's march to the sea was over. Stay up-to-date on the American Battlefield Trust's battlefield preservation efforts, travel tips, upcoming events, history content and more. They searched hollow logs and any hiding place imaginable. [4] Sherman's decision to operate deep within enemy territory without supply lines was unusual for its time, and the campaign is regarded by some historians as an early example of modern warfare or total war. Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith's Georgia militia had about 3,050 soldiers, most of whom were boys and elderly men. After a sparse breakfast, they formed the columns and began moving. "[24] On December 26, the president replied in a letter:[25]. Sherman pursued the smaller Confederate army west and south until mid-October, when Hood crossed into Alabama. Confederate political and military leaders Gov. William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War. It stood between the Union Army and two of its most prized targets: the Gulf of Mexico to the west and Charleston to the East. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. "[15] After his surrender to Sherman, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston said of Sherman's men that "there has been no such army since the days of Julius Caesar. [26], The Army's stay in Savannah was generally without incident. Sherman believed that the Confederacy derived its strength not from its fighting forces but from the material and moral support of sympathetic Southern whites. Stay up-to-date on our FREE educational resources & professional development opportunities, all designed to support your work teaching American history. He sought to utilize destructive war to convince Confederate citizens in their deepest psyche both that they could not win the war and that their government could not protect them from Federal forces. Sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, the lyrics detail the freeing of slaves and punishing the Confederacy for starting the war. Sherman's next major action was the capture of Columbia, the strategically important capital of South Carolina. Shermans 37-day campaign is remembered as one of the most successful examples of total war, and its psychological effects persisted in the postbellum South. The capital city panicked. To that end, Shermans troops marched south toward Savannah in two wings, about 30 miles apart. He fooled the Confederates into believing that one part of his army was heading toward Augusta, while the other wing was heading for Macon. Union men successfully defended the supply depot northwest of Atlanta at Allatoona Pass, but Hood seized Dalton with little resistance. Look it up now! 15. V. To army corps commanders alone is intrusted the power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, &c., and for them this general principle is laid down: In districts and neighborhoods where the army is unmolested no destruction of such property should be permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or otherwise manifest local hostility, then army commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless according to the measure of such hostility. We have over 8,000 cattle and 3,000,000 pounds of bread but no corn, but we can forage in the interior of the state. It was also a symbol of Confederate pride and strength, and its fall made even the most loyal Southerners doubt that they could win the war. There was no lunch stop; instead, the men ate whenever and whatever they could. And so, in Atlanta, Sherman instituted tactics later generations of American war leaders would use in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Jacqueline Campbell has written, on the other hand, that some slaves looked upon the Union army's ransacking and invasive actions with disdain. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster dispatched 5,500 men and 10 guns under Brig. Atlanta smoldered in his rear. Subscribe to the American Battlefield Trust's quarterly email series of curated stories for the curious-minded sort! The portion of this march through South Carolina was even more destructive than the Savannah campaign, since Sherman and his men harbored much ill-will for that state's part in bringing on the start of the Civil War; the following portion, through North Carolina, was less so. When Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered at Durham Station, N.C., in April 1865, Sherman offered a peace plan lenient enough that it caused many in the North to question his loyalty. Although beef cattle trudged along with his army, and he had his men fill their haversacks with food before they left, he knew that they could live off the Georgia land. However, a turn eastward convinced him that Augusta was the target. 1. On December 21 Savannahs mayor formally surrendered the city to the Union. Now that Sherman had contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he was able to obtain the supplies and siege artillery he required to invest Savannah. Each division and brigade had a supply train, but the size of the train was strictly limited. Daviss men lagged behind the rest of the left wing, and Wheelers cavalry was hot on their heels. (The 10,000 Confederates who were supposed to be guarding it had already fled.) This freed all his troops for the upcoming movement, rather than relegating a significant number for logistical duty, but this meant that the men would need to live off the land. From Atlanta, Sherman would set out across the Southern heartland toward the Atlantic Ocean, eventually turning north to pin Robert E. Lees army between his troops and those of Grant. Some of the 134 Union casualties were caused by torpedoes, a name for crude land mines that were used only rarely in the war. In the fall of 1864, the Union General William Tecumseh ("Cump") Sherman took 60,000 men and pillaged his way through Georgia's civilian farmsteads. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Sherman successfully fought a psychological war of destruction. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. The March to the Sea, which culminated with the fall of Savannah in December 1864, cut a swath of torn-up railroads, pillaged farms and burned-out plantations through the Georgia countryside . Sherman's armies reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in favorable fighting positions, and his soldiers had flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. One word still resonates more deeply in the American psyche than any other in the field of Civil War study: Sherman. He wanted to convey that southerners controlled their own fate through a duality of approach: as long as they remained in rebellion, they would suffer at his hands, once they surrendered, he would display remarkable largess. Lines as they went campaign and siege occupied most of whom were boys and elderly men several prisoners! To frighten Georgias civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause fled., 30. 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