Sherman and his approach

Wm. T. Sherman

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's final rank was something like Lt. Gen. or full General. During the Civil War, though, Sherman was a Maj. General and Army Chief of Staff Phillip Sheridan's 'go to' guy. Sheridan was also pretty tight with the commander of the Army of the Potomac, and future U.S. president, Gen. Ulysses Grant and so Sherman was given a hale and hearty acceptance to the 'Blue Team' when he came on board.

Well, I don't think badly about Sherman's record in the South: He was a soldier who did what he had to do, to his view, and thus he introduced the "Total War" concept that, to some extent, our collective consciences still wrestle with. There are those who said he issued the final "death blow" to the South as he cut a bloody and fiery swath from Maryland to Florida. Was he right or wrong? I don't know. Give me one argument and I can give you the other.

Like so many others, Sherman was a veteran of the War in Mexico, where those classes from West Point (North and South) received their seasoning before the Civil War (aka War Between the States, War of Northern Aggression, etc.).

Anyway, between the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, Sherman was not, by and large, an Army officer. He tried his hand as a teacher in Pennsylvania. He poured his heart into it, was supported by his loving wife, and was certainly enthusiastic about the profession. It just didn't happen, though. He returned to the Army not for fame or glory, but simply to support his wife and children (at a trade he was trained to do).

Sherman was a reluctant warrior who, once in harness, brought Hell on Earth to the enemies of his country. So, once the war was over, like other heroes of the North, he was given many honors and positions of trust. He did well for himself and his family, indeed.

He also busied himself helping veterans of his Army in business ventures and charitably. He worked exhaustively at this, to the point of veterans knocking on his door at early morning hours, with no place to go, and he still accommodated them, down to the lowest private who served. In addition, Sherman was also generous to the veterans of the Confederate Army on many occasions. And, Sherman worked at charity privately and with all of his energy.

People would say he had a good heart, and that would be right. Perhaps they would say he might have been bearing the burden of his class, a common notion back then. Well, I have a different take on it.

MG Wm. Sherman demanded everything his soldiers had, bar none: their honor, their blood, sweat, friends, obedience and trust. It could be argued such a request was unreasonable. A war was on, though, and there was no time for courting his troops. One nation had to be saved, another had to go down, and Sherman's men were the difference between the Union going on or dissolving. In asking for and receiving some part of his men's souls, Sherman came under obligation to them. A good commander understands this. This is why it is hard to be a good commander: It is a job fraught with responsibility, first, and privilege, last.

Though Sherman may have been a reluctant warrior, he was a true warrior. He showed respect to his enemies in war and peace, and undying devotion to his men, in uniform and out. I daresay there are few officers I have ever seen capture the loyalty and imaginations of their men as totally and as quickly as Sherman, especially in light of the near-suicide mission his army was given to hasten the end of the war.

Though Sherman's "Total War" approach my have cemented his place in the history books of children in later generations, I cannot help but believe it was his heart and character that ensured his place in the ages among the greatest tactical leaders ever.