Sherman's March to the Sea

My Son is a war reading nut. He loved this book as well as other book he has read.

This is a brief but highly informative look at Sherman's march through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah in Nov-Dec of 1864. Both Sherman's reasoning in undertaking such a campaign and the main details of the march are discussed. Beyond that the author corrects many misconceptions about that decisive march of 150 years ago. Sherman was hardly the brutal, non-caring individual often portrayed by apologists for the South. It is certainly true that Sherman desired to destroy infrastructure in Georgia (railroads, etc) and ravage the countryside to supply his huge army of 70,000 men, consisting of four corps, with up to four divisions per corps. However, it was a campaign of demoralization instead of massive killing intended to persuade Southerners of the futility of continuing to fight the war - at least for those who did not already know that. Sherman basically cut off all communications with the outside world - telegraphs not allowed. The Southerners had no idea of his destination, believing that either Macon or Augusta were most likely. He completely surprised state government officials at Milledgeville forcing them to flee on a moment's notice. His use of an overwhelming force avoided a bloody siege at Savannah. He left an escape route for the small Confederate army which was wisely taken just a few days after Sherman had easily assaulted Fort McAllister. An interesting side to the book is the manner of warfare in pre-airplane days. It was simply assumed that soldiers would have to be sacrificed in taking positions. Hopefully, enough troops would get through the fusillade of bullets to take the objective. That was the strategy for capturing Fort McAllister. Sherman was hailed as a military hero for his devastating and quick march through Georgia and capture of Savannah. Some have focused on Sherman's racist views and he was a racist by modern standards. Yet he did oppose slavery, if not equality. There were many eyewitness accounts of his shaking hands and talking with blacks on his march but especially so in Savannah. The author also intersperses about 15 brief biographies of key individuals directly or indirectly involved in Sherman's campaign, most of them being generals for either the North or the South. There is no doubt that 1864 was a bad year for Atlanta and Georgia. It is easy to speculate that Sherman's campaign was not necessary as the South was already on its last legs. But he may well have spared lives as was his intention.

John F. Marszalek, Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Mississippi State University, presents Sherman's March to the Sea, a no-nonsense examination of General Sherman and his role in enabling the Union's victory during the American Civil War. Sherman's March to the Sea looks critically at sources that would vilify or sanctify Sherman's actions or personality beyond what the events of history say, and focuses upon what Sherman himself intended his wartime strategy to be: not a "total war" in which civilians are brutally slaughtered en masse, but rather extreme property, city, and supplies destruction designed to force the South to end the war as quickly as possible, therefore saving lives in the long run. Sherman's March to the Sea also analyzes Sherman's tactics, recounts the destructive details of Sherman's march, portrays Sherman through both white and black eyes as well as scrutinizing what positive and negative propaganda had to say about him. Of particular interest are the conclusions drawn about Sherman's racial views - while he was definitely racist enough to believe that black Americans were inferior to whites, neither was he the monstrous, hate-filled demon toward blacks that past and contemporary propaganda would portray him as. An absorbing portrait of a complex man and his unforgettable contribution to both American and world warfare history unfolds.