There is a lot in this article about William Tecumseh Sherman that misses the point. Basically it’s a psychoanalysis after the fact of one of the greatest generals in our history, and it doesn’t work very well.
This quote directly follows a sub-head of “Criminal acts?”
Lincoln and Grant initially opposed the idea of the march, and Sherman went to great lengths to promote it, even advocating it on the basis of the diplomatic benefits when military reasons alone were not enough to justify it: The world would witness the awesome power of the Union and the utter helplessness of the South.
Actually the reason Lincoln and Grant opposed the idea of the march was that they figured it was a great way for Sherman to be destroyed in detail by Hood’s remnants, Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry, and Georgia state militia. They weren’t too worried about the legalities of the case.
Sherman’s actions, however, belied his words, typified by the incident when he made his headquarters at the plantation of Gen. Howell Cobb, a leading Rebel. “Spare nothing,” he ordered, and everything was burned, despite the fact that the deserted plantation offered no significant material aid to the Confederacy.
Uh huh. Let’s see what Mr. Foote has to say about that.
A leading secessionist and one-time speaker of the U.S. House and Treasury Secretary under Buchanan, Cobb had been appointed by [Governor] Joe Brown to command the state reserves in the present crisis; in which capacity — though it turned out there were no “reserves” for him to command — he had been exhorting his fellow Georgians to resist the blue invasion by the destruction of everything edible in its path. “Of course, we confiscated his property,” Sherman would recall, “and found it rich in corn, beans, peanuts, and sorghum molasses. . . . I sent back word to General Davis to explain whose plantation it was, and instructed him to spare nothing. That night huge bonfires consumed the fence rails, kept our soldiers warm, and the teamsters and men, as well as the slaves, carried off an immense quantity of corn and provisions of all sorts.”
His aim, he said, in thus enforcing “a devastation more or less relentless,” was to convince the planters roundabout “that it is in their interest not to impede our movements.” [Unfortunately his own foragers didn’t pay any attention to his orders and destroyed and confiscated these planters’ property along the line of march.]
…In time Sherman would concede that “many acts of pillage, robbery, and violence were committed by these parties of foragers. . . .” [He estimated that the march inflicted damage of at least $100,000,000,] “at least twenty millions of which has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is simple waste and destruction. This may seem a hard species of warfare,” he declared, “but it brings the sad realities of war home to those who have been directly or indirectly instrumental in involving us in its attendant calamities.” Such, after all, was one of the main purposes of the expedition, and if, in its course, southern women had been subjected to certain discourtesies in their homes, there was a measure of justice in that as well, since they were among the fieriest proponents of a war that might have ended by now except for their insistence that it be fought to the last ditch. Many of the soldiers believed as much, at any rate. “You urge young men to the battlefield where men are being killed by the thousands, while you stay home and sing The Bonnie Blue Flag,” an Ohio colonel heard one of his troopers lecture a resentful housewife, “but you set up a howl when you see the Yankees down here getting your chickens. Many of your young men have told us they are tired of war, and would quit, but you women would shame them and drive them back.”
Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative. Volume III, Red River to Appomattox, pp. 643-645
Mr. Trammell should pay a bit more attention to detail before using something like the burning of Cobb’s plantation out of context. And he should also remember that we don’t judge the Civil War by modern standards. It was a law unto itself.
According to Maj. Robisch, “Soldiers serving in the U.S. Army today would be criminally liable for larceny or destruction of property for similar conduct.” It was hardly the kind of action that would engender international support.
Indeed. However, let’s remember something: Our Civil War wasn’t an international event. Although they were invited by the South to play, the English and French opted to stay out. The rules are usually different in fratricidal conflicts…and again, you’re judging the Civil War by modern standards that simply do not apply.
The fact, mostly ignored for more than 137 years, is that Lee’s army was defeated by Grant’s tactical maneuvers, and not a lack of materiel. When the war closed, vast quantities of ammunition, clothing and food were still in warehouses in western North Carolina, and isolated parts of Virginia. Sherman’s march did not destroy a fraction of the total goods manufactured in Richmond, for example.
That’s true. But it’s also true that Grant’s army destroyed and occupied the FUCKING ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY RAILROADS, you numbskull. Lee’s army was out of food, ill-clad, and nearly out of ammunition when Grant ground it to a halt at Appomattox Courthouse, because for months its lines of supply had been cut or nearly so. Richmond was abandoned at least partly because the troops couldn’t be fed! Once Grant got across the Southside Railway, Lee knew the game was up, and tried to break out.
As for Georgia, the local effect was more devastating. The march set the Georgia economy back for almost 100 years, and left deep psychological scars.
Excuse me, but did I just hear the world’s tiniest violin playing?
Would the war have ended sooner if Sherman had taken the course Grant did in Virginia, and pursued Hood’s army to the death? No one can know, but it’s certainly a reasonable possibility.
Not to anyone who actually knows Civil War history. Sherman wasn’t about to go after Hood’s remnants. That was an ambush waiting to happen, what with Forrest waiting in the wings just itching to get his cavalry into Sherman’s flanks. Hood’s army was finished as a fighting force by the time Sherman started out on his march.
All in all I don’t think much of this article. The WashTimes’ Civil War page has been declining of late, unfortunately.