To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman's March

In November, 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman and 60,000 of his finest veterans, divided among the Army of Georgia (XIV Corps and XX Corps) and the Army of the Tennessee, set off from Atlanta for Savannah, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean. Over the course of the next six weeks, Sherman and his men foraged off of the land liberally, committing some atrocities along the way. Just how many atrocities these men committed and the gravity of the situation seems to fluctuate the farther north or south of the Mason-Dixon line you go, so I'll leave it at that. Savannah was captured in late December, and the next Spring Sherman marched north through the Carolinas. South Carolina was ravaged as Sherman's men wreaked havoc on the state they believed had caused the war. Columbia, South Carolina was almost wholly burned in an extremely controversial event. The book ends with a description of the battles in North Carolina, especially Bentonville, and Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Bennett Place in late April 1865. The books in Jim Miles' series are intended to provide a solid introduction to the information while also providing solid information for potential tours of these campaigns. Miles succeeds in this with To The Sea. As I mentioned above, Sherman's March is a very controversial topic, and Miles does a good job of providing the reader with a non-biased introduction. The reader may wish to pursue some of these controversies, especially the burning of Columbia, South Carolina, by referring to other more detailed studies. The maps of the campaign are sub-par, but I do not mind this too much because the book is not meant to be a detailed description of the entire March. There are no notes, which I'm never fond of. You have no way of finding out where Miles got his information and on what specifically he bases his conclusions. All in all, this is a decent book to get if you are new to these events. It provides the starting point for tours of these places, and should lead those interested into further study of the material. 192 pp., 31 maps

If you enjoy reading about history and visiting the site this is an excellent book. The history and the tour guide are designed to provide an enjoyable and informative experience. Sherman's March is a subject fraught with controversy and still generates strong feelings over 140 years after the fact. Jim Miles faces this and provides a well balanced "warts n all" history of The March. He shows what was done well and what wasn't and the reasons that things happened that way. In doing this, the reader is given an excellent extended introduction to the subject. This is a comprehensive and enjoyable book. It will work well for the serious student or someone who wants information but not be overwhelmed by it. The driving tour follows the route and provides you with current conditions and locations. Keep in mind that the "current conditions" were when the author was working on the book. The Atlanta Savannah area is growing. This book is part of the history of preservation and what we have lost.

Jim Miles, a wonderful author who can captivate you in his subjects, wrote this criminally out of print book in an attempt to have average readers, like myself, experience the drama of Sherman's march to the sea first hand.Outside of his outstanding narrative are illustrations, both contemporary and modern that show the reader what to look for in a riding tour of Sherman's March to Sea.The march itself was not just one straight line starting from the capture and (somewhat accidental) burning of most of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, to the capture and evacuation of Savannah and the destruction of what little of the Confederacy's fleet was in its port.The two lines of march, the left wing and the right wing are both followed accurately and with great detail.Worth getting, if you can find it.