Sherman's March

I really enjoyed this book. it was well worth the purchase price and turned out to be better than I actually expected. The only thing that would have made it better would have been the inclusion of detailed maps. This book is an excellent historical narrative, filled with many eyewitness accounts. The idividual stories gave the book an emtional impact I didn't expect.

This is a fantastic book. It's great for a number of reasons: 1. It is full of so many personal accounts of the events (from Union men and Southern civilians) that it fills out the events. The March comes alive and you realize that this REALLY happened and that real human beings were affected by it. 2. It is never dry. Some military history books get so wrapped up in the movements of individual regiments, etc. that you feel as if the writer is more interested in showing how much detailed study they have done than relating the event in its many dimensions. This book never grows dry. This is certainly not a tactical history, but it is never grows boring. 3. Sherman emerges as a complex man who has a genuine affection for people, but at the same time believes that the best thing for the nation is quick suppression of the rebellion and the restoration of the Union - to this end he is willing to take war to a new level. 4. The brutality of the war comes out in full force - from atrocities, willful and meaningless destruction, quick death, and the pain of those caught up in the midst of it. If you're looking for a great book for some summer or vacation reading and you're fascinated by the Civil War, this is a great book to pick up.

When Lincoln won the election of 1864, any reasonable hope of winning the war, even of the most optimistic of Southerners, vanished. Yet still, they fought on, drawing out the bloody end game though its conclusion was already a certainty. General William T. Sherman had long considered that the war could not be won without completely breaking the will of the Southern people to continue fighting, and now, he was certain of it. His answer was to take war to the civilians - to pillage, burn, and destroy a large swath through Georgia and the Carolinas, mostly unopposed by any significant enemy resistance. Burke Davis' book, Sherman's March, grippingly tells the story of this dark chapter of American history. The book opens with the fall of Atlanta, and ends with Sherman's army marching triumphantly through the streets of Washington in the Grand Review. In between, Burke deals with the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville, as well as various skirmishes and demonstrations, but this is not a campaign book, full of detailed military maneuvers. My copy doesn't have a single map other than the one on the inside cover of the book. Instead, this book concentrates on the march itself, using hundreds of eyewitness accounts, both of civilians, and soldiers of both sides, to bring to life this incredible and terrible event. Though Mr. Davis is a Southerner, his account is largely a fair one. Sherman is neither presented as a devil or a hero, and a fair attempt was made to give an account that balanced the outrage of the Southerners with the reasons that Sherman believed his march to be necessary. Davis covers everything of significance, including the reactions of the politicians and generals to Sherman's bold maneuver, his capture of three Confederate State Capitols, and his burning of one of them. The greatest part of the book, however, is the story of the people who experienced the destruction, as well as those who brought it to them with the hope of ending the ongoing devastation of the war once and for all. This is a fascinating, well-researched and well-written account of Sherman's march through the South, and if there is any better, I don't know of it. Theo Logos

If you want an "up close and personal" look at Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas, this is the book for you. Burke Davis has compiled an impressive number and range of first-person accounts.....common soldiers from both sides, officers, civilians, etc. You come away from the book feeling as though you had been present.....and the author manages to provide a very even-handed account. You can see why, in the South, Sherman is reviled to this day. Sherman's men, like human locusts, cut a path of destruction....burning homes and businesses and stealing farm animals and family valuables, such as silverware as well as gold and silver coins. Many people were left hungry and destitute. Things were especially brutal in South Carolina.....intentionally so, as Sherman wanted to punish the state he held primarily responsible for causing the Civil War. The author does show that Sherman apparently suffered from a guilty conscience, at least sometimes, for the whirlwind he unleashed. It is also clear that, sporadically, he tried to restrain his troops and tried to curb some of the excesses....such as looting and rape. Unfortunately, since Sherman made it clear from the outset that the march was meant to terrorize and intimidate the civilian population, and since his efforts to restrain his men were half-hearted, it is difficult to have much sympathy for him. Mr. Davis does a brilliant job of bringing many figures to life. For example, there is the Confederate "Fightin' Joe Wheeler", who was five feet five and 120 pounds, "with a rock in each pocket and his hair combed down wet." There is also 19 year old Marie Boozer, said to be the prettiest girl in South Carolina, who became the mistress of Union general Hugh Kilpatrick...at least temporarily. Once up North, Marie left Kilpatrick for "better pickings." She married a wealthy Northerner and later on, after her well-publicized divorce, married a French count. The book is a bit short on military analysis, so if that is what you are looking for you should stay away. But if you love "you are there" history, you will love this book. By the way, the title for my review is a quote by Confederate Secretary of War John Breckinridge. During surrender discussions with Sherman, regarding Joe Johnston's troops amongst others, Breckinridge became annoyed when Sherman only offered him and Johnston one drink of whiskey each. After calling Sherman a hog for only giving himself a second drink, Breckinridge commented to Johnston, "Ah! No Kentucky gentleman would ever have taken that bottle away. He knew how much we needed it. Needed it badly." Very funny and very human....

This book is an excellent, readable treatise of Sherman's march. Davis skillfully puts together many sources of reference from both sides in order to accurately piece together the events which occurred during the march. Neither condoning nor villifying Sherman's actions, this account comes off as objective without being dry or ponderous to read.