significance of sherman's march to the seasignificance of sherman's march to the sea

The cavalry captured two Confederate guns at Lovejoy's Station, and then two more and 50 prisoners at Bear Creek Station. After the war, Cox applies those same attributes to his books, Sherman's Battle for Atlanta and Sherman's March to the Sea, two volumes in the landmark series Campaigns of the Civil War. [34], The March to the Sea was devastating to Georgia and the Confederacy. Sherman pursued the smaller Confederate army west and south until mid-October, when Hood crossed into Alabama. Not realizing that these Federals had repeating rifles and were dug in, temporary commander Phillips ordered his motley force to attack, and they were ripped to pieces by the Federals. On the morning of November 16, Sherman set out for the coast at the head of roughly 62,000 men. To this day, many believe that Sherman did not bring any supplies with . Every purchase supports the mission. 15. until 1864, the Confederacy had been winning the Civil War. In short, the March to the Sea demonstrates not that Sherman was a brute, but that he wanted to wage a war that did not result in countless deaths. Compared to the 51,000 killed, wounded and missing at Gettysburg in the three days of fighting there or the 24,000 in the two days at Shiloh, the month-long March to the Sea was nearly bloodless. Gen. W.J. Sherman's March to the Sea With the full support of both Lincoln and Grant, Sherman devised an unusual plan. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. At the Battle of Buck Head Creek on November 28, Kilpatrick was surprised and nearly captured, but the 5th Ohio Cavalry halted Wheeler's advance, and Wheeler was later stopped decisively by Union barricades at Reynolds's Plantation. On November 22, 3,500 Confederate cavalry started a skirmish with the Union soldiers at Griswoldville, but that ended so badly650 Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded, compared to 62 Yankee casualtiesthat Southern troops initiated no more battles. Shermans 37-day campaign is remembered as one of the most successful examples of total war, and its psychological effects persisted in the postbellum South. Yet, whenever they had a choice, they preferred the Federals to Confederate soldiers and civilians who had no compunction about killing them or returning them to slavery. The destruction of Georgia displayed the unfettered might of the Union war machine. Since spreading terror farther afield only intensified the impact of his March to the Sea, all of this suited Shermans purposes perfectly. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1943. Shermans army had now been marching for a week. [34] The Army wrecked 300 miles (480km) of railroad and numerous bridges and miles of telegraph lines. However, if antagonized by Confederate soldiers, Union officers could destroy private and industrial property. Grant's armies in Virginia continued in a stalemate against Robert E. Lee's army, besieged in Petersburg, Virginia. Sherman's March to the Sea, (November 15-December 21, 1864) American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia. The portion of this march through South Carolina was even more destructive than the Savannah campaign, since Sherman and his men harbored much ill-will for that state's part in bringing on the start of the Civil War; the following portion, through North Carolina, was less so. Gen. John P. Hatch from Hilton Head, hoping to assist Sherman's arrival near Savannah by securing the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Neeley, Mark E., Jr. (1991) "Was the Civil War a Total War?". The March attracted a huge number of refugees, to whom Sherman assigned land with his Special Field Orders No. On December 4, Kilpatrick's cavalry routed Wheeler's at the Battle of Waynesboro. Sherman's march to the sea definition at Dictionary.com, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. Eighty percent of the remaining soldiers were long-time veterans of campaigns in both the Western theatre, primarily, and the Eastern, a minority. Sherman estimated a total Confederate economic loss of $100 million (more than $1.5 billion in the 21st century) in his official campaign report. Shermans March to the Sea started in Atlanta and ended in the coastal town of Savannah, Georgia. The campaign was designed by Grant and Sherman to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg campaign and Sherman's Meridian campaign, in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after consuming their 20 days of rations. Politicians hurried to escape the city, and its civilian inhabitants were infuriated when Shermans men celebrated Thanksgiving there and mockingly re-enacted a legislative session to vote Georgia back into the Union. He now dispatched the IV and XXIII Corps to Chattanooga, located along the railroad to Nashville. 120 (series 1864) were military orders issued during the American Civil War, on November 9, 1864, by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army. The most significant reason for General Sherman's explanation of hard war in the excerpt was that. At the same time, Slocum's left wing approached the state capital at Milledgeville, prompting the hasty departure of Governor Joseph Brown and the state legislature. He and the Union Army's commander, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, believed that the Civil War would come to an end only if the Confederacy's strategic capacity for warfare could be decisively broken. Shermans March to the Sea spanned some 285 miles (459 km) over 37 days. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [5], The March to the Sea owes its common name to a poem written by S. H. M. Byers in late 1864. The arrival of the main columns was even more frightening to the Georgians in their path than the passage of the foragers. The 62,000-man army usually spent the night in tents, the campsites stretching in all directions. "[15] After his surrender to Sherman, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston said of Sherman's men that "there has been no such army since the days of Julius Caesar. Pleasant J. Phillips, came upon part of Shermans rear guard of some 1,700 men. Gen. Charles C. Walcutt arrived to stabilize the defense, and the division of Georgia militia launched several hours of badly coordinated attacks, eventually retreating with about 1,100 casualties (of which about 600 were prisoners), versus the Union's 100. The state legislature extended the existing state draft to include men from 16 to 65 years of age. Wheeler and some infantry struck in a rearguard action at Ball's Ferry on November 24 and November 25. No doubt many acts of pillage, robbery, and violence were committed by these parties of foragers , Sherman acknowledged, but maintained that their crimes were generally against property, not individuals. Sherman successfully fought a psychological war of destruction. Wheelers Confederate cavalry responded by killing Union prisoners. When Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered at Durham Station, N.C., in April 1865, Sherman offered a peace plan lenient enough that it caused many in the North to question his loyalty. During the march, between 17,000 and 25,000 enslaved Black people were freed. We have over 8,000 cattle and 3,000,000 pounds of bread but no corn, but we can forage in the interior of the state. Within a week, some 40 percent of the city was in ashes. In these later conflicts, largely through the use of air power, Americans attempted to destroy enemy will and logistics (a doctrine colloquially known as shock and awe in Operation Iraqi Freedom). In Atlanta Cox offers readers a compact, comprehensive, and balanced history of that campaign. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. Locals experienced a sense of growing dread as they anticipated the main columns advancing through their property and seizing everything of value. Sherman's next major action was the capture of Columbia, the strategically important capital of South Carolina. The Yankees were not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people, Sherman explained; as a result, they needed to make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war., General Shermans troops captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864. Send Students on School Field Trips to Battlefields Your Gift Tripled! They often felt betrayed, as they "suffered along with their owners, complicating their decision of whether to flee with or from Union troops", although that is now seen as a post synopsis of Confederate nationalism. The soldiers entertained themselves by letter writing, card games and other such diversions, but the favorite activity was to hear the adventures of the foragers. Sherman presented the city of Savannah and its 25,000 bales of cotton to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.Early in 1865, Sherman and his men left Savannah and pillaged and burned their way through South Carolina to Charleston. Union forces sustained more than 1,300 casualties, whereas the Confederates suffered roughly 2,300. On November 24 several Union prisoners of war caught up with the left wing, having escaped a Confederate camp at Andersonville. Omissions? Sherman, reading the paper later in the day, was moved by Byers' poem, and promoted Byers to his staff; the two became lifelong friends. Now that Sherman had contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he was able to obtain the supplies and siege artillery he required to invest Savannah. Sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, the lyrics detail the freeing of slaves and punishing the Confederacy for starting the war. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Gen. They wandered out five or more miles from the main columns and became experts at finding hidden food, horses, wagons and even slaves. Sherman then turned his attention back to the pacification of Georgia. Between 17,000 and 25,000 enslaved Black people were freed while on the march, including more than 7,500 in and around Savannah. In the fall of 1864, the Union General William Tecumseh ("Cump") Sherman took 60,000 men and pillaged his way through Georgia's civilian farmsteads. On November 15 th, 1864 Union General William Tecumseh Sherman marched his army of 60,000 troops out of the burning city of Atlanta, Georgia to embark upon a military campaign that stretched 300 miles to Savannah, leaving utter destruction in their wake. Whereas more than 6,500,000 women in the United States are living with endometriosis; Whereas endometriosis is a chronic disease that can be painful and debilitating and affects He wanted to convey that southerners controlled their own fate through a duality of approach: as long as they remained in rebellion, they would suffer at his hands, once they surrendered, he would display remarkable largess. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1985. On December 24th, Sherman then presented the Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas present. Black and white pioneers cleared the path ahead, with Sherman himself sometimes joining in the physical labor. So Sherman proposed to split his Union force, taking 62,000 of his best troops on a destructive march, while Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas used the remainder to contain Hood. Hardee commanding, November 20, 1864", "The Civil War This Week: Oct 27Nov 2, 1864", "Savannah Campaign Confederate order of battle", "Capital Destruction and Economic Growth: The Effects of Sherman's March, 18501920", American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, "Historical markers illustrate overlooked stories", "Savannah Campaign Union order of battle" (, "Savannah Campaign Confederate order of battle" (, Today in Georgia History: March to the Sea, Today in Georgia History: Sherman in Savannah, National Park Service battle descriptions for the Savannah Campaign, National Park Service report on preservation and historic boundaries at the Savannah Campaign battlefields, New Georgia Encyclopedia article on the March, Noah Andre Trudeau Webcast Author Lecture, Georgia Public Broadcasting: 37 weeks Sherman on the March, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sherman%27s_March_to_the_Sea&oldid=1149848697, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Nevin, David and the Editors of Time-Life Books (1986). Sherman demanded a surrender on December 17, but his request was promptly rejected. In the summer of 1864, during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65), Union General William T. Sherman faced off against Confederate . To sustain it, we must war upon and destroy the organized rebel forces,must cut off their supplies, destroy their communicationsand produce among the people of Georgia a thorough conviction of the personal misery which attends war, and the utter helplessness and inability of their rulers to protect themIf that terror and grief and even want shall help to paralyze their husbands and fathers who are fighting usit is mercy in the end.. It is estimated that during the six-week March to the Sea fewer than 3,000 casualties resulted. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shermans-March-to-the-Sea, Warfare History Network - Shermans March to the Sea, New Georgia Encyclopedia - Shermans March to the Sea, scorched-earth policy during the Atlanta Campaign, American Civil War: western and Carolina campaigns, American Civil War: Union soldiers wrecking railroads in Atlanta. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c., belonging to the inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and without limit, discriminating, however, between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually neutral or friendly. VII. The city was undefended when they got there. It seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle. Some economists have measured residual agricultural effects lasting through 1920. "[37], According to a 2022 American Economic Journal study which sought to measure the medium- and long-term economic impact of Sherman's March, "the capital destruction induced by the March led to a large contraction in agricultural investment, farming asset prices, and manufacturing activity. Hoods new strategy was to recoup before striking north at Union-occupied Nashville, Tennessee. Sherman's armies reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in favorable fighting positions, and his soldiers had flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster dispatched 5,500 men and 10 guns under Brig. This December marks the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War's surrender of Savannah, where in 1864 Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman ended his infamous March to the Sea. To my smoke house, my Dairy, Pantry, kitchen & cellar. It was difficult to hide anything from the foragers or the massive main column. Show your pride in battlefield preservation by shopping in our store. Instead, he sought to end the war as quickly as possible, with the least loss of life on both sides. Sherman moved against Hood on October 5. Sherman's March to the Sea marked a new development in the war. Subscribe to the American Battlefield Trust's quarterly email series of curated stories for the curious-minded sort! The infantry brigade of Brig. And so, in Atlanta, Sherman instituted tactics later generations of American war leaders would use in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The former slaves grew increasingly hesitant about getting too close to the white soldiers, who might be their source of freedom, but who often treated them with harshness and disrespect. Meanwhile, his troops could undermine Southern morale by making life so unpleasant for Georgias civilians that they would demand an end to the war. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. He issued these orders in preparation for his famous March to the Sea, also known as the Savannah Campaign. As the main columns had been marching all day, organized soldiers and others fanned out in all directions, looking for food and booty. Clearly this soldier was practicing the psychological destructive warfare against Georgia that his commander wanted. Sherman's March To The Sea summary: Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman taking place from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864. which followed the successful Atlanta . Sherman's army marched 285 miles (458 km . Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for the regiments or brigades. In South Carolina Sherman waged a new scorched-earth campaign with a vengeance reserved for the first state to have seceded from the Union. (These groups of foraging soldiers were nicknamed bummers, and they burned whatever they could not carry.) After they lost Atlanta, the Confederate army headed west into Tennessee and Alabama, attacking Union supply lines as they went. The next morning, Savannah Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out (until they were unhorsed by fleeing Confederate cavalrymen) to offer a proposition: The city would surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Geary's promise to protect the city's citizens and their property. Those prisoners in the state jail willing to take up arms for the Confederacy 175 out of 200 were freed, although some of the newly liberated men burned down the penitentiary rather than report for duty. On December 21 Savannahs mayor formally surrendered the city to the Union. "Sherman's March to the Sea". Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any trespass, but during a halt or a camp they may be permitted to gather turnips, apples, and other vegetables, and to drive in stock in sight of their camp. The two cavalry units clashed again at nearby Waynesboro on December 4. Although he personally considered them inferior to white men, Sherman treated the blacks he met with courtesies not widespread in the 19th century, shaking hands and carrying on conversations to glean their knowledge of the area. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Getty Images / Print Collector / Contributor, https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/shermans-march.

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