William T. Sherman

William T. Sherman
Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain · source
Name	William T. Sherman
Caption	Sherman in 1866
Birth date	February 8, 1820
Birth place	Lancaster, Ohio
Death date	February 14, 1891
Death place	New York City
Allegiance	United States
Serviceyears	1836–1853, 1861–1884
Rank	General of the Army
Command	Army of the Tennessee, Military Division of the Mississippi

William T. Sherman was a United States Army officer, author, and prominent Union leader during the American Civil War. He is best known for his command in the Western Theater, his capture of Atlanta, and his "March to the Sea" from Atlanta to Savannah, which greatly influenced the course of the American Civil War. Sherman's strategies and scorched-earth tactics made him a controversial figure in both contemporaneous politics and later historical debates involving Reconstruction, military doctrine, and civil-military relations.

Early life and military education

Born in Lancaster, Sherman was the son of Charles Robert Sherman and Mary Hoyt Sherman. After his father's death, he was raised by his older brother John Sherman, who later became a United States Senate leader and Treasury Secretary. Sherman attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated in 1840 alongside classmates such as George B. McClellan, Richard S. Ewell, and Darius N. Couch. Following graduation, he served in garrison duty at posts including Fort Gratiot and took assignments that connected him to figures like Winfield Scott and institutions such as the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Mexican–American War and pre-Civil War service

Sherman served in the Mexican–American War under Winfield Scott and participated in operations that linked him with officers like Robert E. Lee and Zachary Taylor during campaigns around Mexico City. After the war Sherman resigned from active duty and worked in banking in St. Louis and as a superintendent at the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, which later became LSU, connecting him with regional leaders and educators including Reuben Davis. His civilian years brought him into contact with commercial institutions such as steamboat companies and civic bodies in the Mississippi River valley, while his military acquaintances remained figures like George B. McClellan and Braxton Bragg.

Civil War service and campaigns

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Sherman returned to federal service and initially served under Brigadier Generals in the Western Theater, collaborating with commanders including Ulysses S. Grant, Henry Halleck, and Don Carlos Buell. Promoted to division and then corps command, Sherman led forces at the Battle of Shiloh and in operations against Vicksburg that tied him to the coordinated campaigns of Vicksburg Campaign and the Siege of Vicksburg. As commander of the Army of the Tennessee, Sherman executed the Atlanta Campaign against Confederate generals such as Joseph E. Johnston and John Bell Hood, culminating in the capture of Atlanta in 1864. Following Atlanta, Sherman conducted the March to the Sea across Georgia to Savannah, employing tactics that impacted civilian infrastructure and supply lines and brought him into direct strategic interplay with political leaders including Abraham Lincoln and Salmon P. Chase. In late 1864 and 1865 Sherman advanced through the Carolinas during the Carolinas Campaign, confronting Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and contributing to the surrender processes that paralleled the capitulation at Appomattox Court House.

Postwar military career and Reconstruction

After the Civil War, Sherman served as head of the Military Division of the Missouri and later as Commanding General of the United States Army, occupying senior posts that intersected with national figures like President Andrew Johnson and President Ulysses S. Grant. During Reconstruction, Sherman oversaw military districts and enforcement actions that interacted with political institutions such as the Freedmen's Bureau and federal regulatory measures in the former Confederate states, while also engaging in disputes with politicians including Thaddeus Stevens and military subordinates like Philip H. Sheridan. His postwar tenure included involvement in Indian Wars policies on the Great Plains and administrative reforms within the War Department, and he eventually succeeded Ulysses S. Grant as Commanding General before the establishment of the later General of the Army rank.

Personal life, writings, and legacy

Sherman married Ellen Ewing Sherman, connecting him to the Ewing family of Ohio and Catholic social networks that included figures such as Archbishop John Baptist Purcell. He authored memoirs and writings including his own Memoirs of William T. Sherman and correspondence that engaged historians and public figures like Mark Twain and George H. Thomas. Sherman's reputation influenced debates involving memorialization, leading to monuments and namesakes such as streets in Washington, D.C., institutions in Chicago, and the later reevaluation of monuments during movements involving Civil Rights Movement activism and modern reassessments by scholars in military history and Southern history. His strategic concept of "hard war" influenced later doctrine and practitioners including William Westmoreland and John J. Pershing, while controversies over wartime conduct continue to draw attention from historians like James M. McPherson and Gary W. Gallagher.

Category:1820 births Category:1891 deaths Category:Union Army generals