Sherman’s March to the Sea “It isn’t so sweet to secede, as [they] thought it would be,” a union soldier wrote a letter to home and this is explaining the Sherman’s march to the sea. There is many conversely about Sherman’s march to the sea, some people say that his march was blown out of proportion and others say that it was needed for the Union to defeat the confederates in the what seems never ending war. Sherman’s March to the sea started on November 15, 1864 in Atlanta, Georgia and went all the way to Savannah, Georgia which ended on December 21, 1864. In those few weeks Sherman’s army marched with totaled war on their mind. Total war means total destruction of enemies territory; as 62,000 union soldiers marched to Savannah, they destroyed everything in their path. After December 21, Sherman’s army continued to march on to North and South Carolina. William T. Sherman tactic to …show more content…
Groce states that some homes, especially those of wealthy slaveholders considered guilty of bringing on the war, were burned; private dwellings were entered and personal property was taken or ruined; and civilians were stripped of more food than the army needed or could possibly consume. Beyond food and livestock, high-value targets included anything that could be used by the Confederates to continue the struggle: factories, mills, cotton gins, warehouses, train depots, bridges and railroads. Sherman’s march brought more pain to southerners than what people really think. There has been many cases of Union soldiers raping southerner women and many cases of killing southerners, (History Staff). Some Historians called Sherman’s march “scorched earth,” (eyewitness to history). “Scorched Earth” basically means what these two words mean individually,burnt earth. Some Historians think that the march was burning the earth to get their way was not the best tactic they had in their
General Richard Sherman’s march to the sea has just finished. After successful capturing Atlanta, Georgia, General Sherman directed his Union army to Savannah, Georgia. Along the way, northerners wreaked havoc on Southern cotton mills and destroy train tracks while completely uprooting 20 percent of Georgian plantations. This effectively halted the Confederate’s means of transportation and economic structure subsequently w...
At the end of his “March to the Sea”, MG William T. Sherman led Union forces from Georgia to the north through the Carolinas to unite with LTG Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia. By doing so, he believed he would be able to cut Confederate forces General Robert E. Lee’s supply lines. In February 1865, MG Sherman captured Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina. The commander of Confederate forces was LTG Wade Hampton who led the force under the command of General P.G.T Beauregard. MG Sherman succeeded in defeating Confederate on the basis of the principles of mission command.
General Sherman had several objectives in mind when setting out from Atlanta aside from reaching and taking Savannah. Important objectives included destroying any buildings that could assist the Confederacy. Other valuable targets to the Union included excess livestock, railroad tracks and depots, and cotton and tobacco fields. Perhaps most critical to General Sherman was to defeat the Confederate spirit. “When requesting permission to proceed with his campaign Sherman wrote to General Grant ‘I can make this march and make Georgia howl.’” (Woodworth) Sherman’s presence in the heart of the South was an insult to the pride of local residents, and the fact the Confederate Army could do little to stop it severely belittled national unity.
... to win war. The Union blockade of Charleston is when the enemy fleet took over the Charleston harbor. Sherman’s march through South Carolina was a path of destruction from ransacking people and homes to burning down buildings. When Sherman set fire to Columbia that marked the end of this gruesome war. After Sherman had set fire to the city, the Confederacy was in such despair over there lost town. This caused the Confederacy to finally surrender to the union. The Civil War was a very dark time in American history. One of the bloodiest wars this country has ever experienced. South Carolina was a big player during this war, from battles to their ports, and then the burning of the capitol. This war was a very traumatic time for Americans but in my opinion I believe that if this war hadn’t happened we wouldn’t be the strong, free willed and brave country we are today.
From the day, the first European set foot on American soil up until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which occurred in 1865. Slavery was a controversial issue. The issue of slavery divided up the United States of America to ultimately put the two against each other. The Northern States who identifies themselves as the Union disapproved of the atrocious actions of the South who condone the crude treatment of slaves and the disturbing practices of slavery. Although slavery was not the sole cause of the Civil war, it played an important part in the disunion of the United States. The battle between states rights and federal rights rubbed more salt in the already enormous wound. Southern States who later considers themselves the confederates disapproved of the idea that the available actions of the states to act upon certain situations were dwindling, reducing the power and rights of the states. The set up of all these complications and disagreements led to the secession of the southern states which initiated the start of the brutal American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
... by the war and fight more viciously. Lincoln was very careful not to underestimate his enemies in the South and sternly advised the American public not to get overconfident, “Let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that just God, in His good time, will us the right result.” The siege of Vicksburg was in many ways the hardest blow to the South, because they lost their control of the river there, and lost communication with their western territories. In many respects, this was the day that I believe most of the southern soldiers believed the war had ended, and with Sherman making his march, the psychological impact was devastating. Without their beliefs, their way of life taken away, they had no reason to fight, and no reason to continue fighting because if Old Dixie could fall, so could anyone else.
Henry Steele Commager’s essay “The Defeat of the Confederacy: An Overview” is more summary than argument. Commager is more concerned with highlighting the complex causality of the war’s end rather than attempting to give a definitive answer. Commager briefly muses over both the South’s strengths
The collapse of the Confederacy in 1865 was due to a variety of reasons. These issues by and large involved the military along with a dire political and economic situation. The transfer of General Ulysses S. Grant, from the West, with his “aggressive” new war strategy, in addition to, Union General William T. Sherman’s "March to the Sea," and eventual capture of Atlanta, Georgia in the East, allowed the Northern military to strengthen the grip of their Anaconda Plan. The Confederate Gen. John B. Hood, pursuing his wasteful Tennessee campaign in the West and the eventual surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee, would mark the end of the Confederate military. The reelection of Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and the prior Emancipation Proclamation further undermined the institution of slavery, while strengthening Northern support of the war. With incredible inflation, and a losing war effort in the South, 1865, would mark the official end to the short life of the Confederacy, and a new reshaping of the Union. (N)
Following his defeat in the Atlanta Campaign, Hood had hoped to lure Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman into battle by disrupting his railroad supply line from Chattanooga to Atlanta. After a brief period in which he pursued Hood, Sherman decided instead to cut his main army off from these lines and "live off the land" in his famed March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah. By...
The Union Blockade did not go on quietly through the war but was severely tested by the Confederacy who would not take it laying down. With the blockade slowly strangling the Southern economy the Confederacy needed to break out in order for them to survive the long game in the war. In order for the Union to succeed in forming their blockade to its fullest extent they needed to destroy the small Confederate navy that was in the southern ports at the beginning of the war. One of the key events that would set the Union up nicely to expand the blockade was the blockading of the Chesapeake Bay. This was a key part in stopping the Confederate naval ships from reaching the sea that were stationed at Norfolk. When Union soldiers lost control of the shipping yards to Confederate soldiers it would lead to one of the most famous and technological advanced naval battle of the war, the Battle of Hampton Roads.
It is towards the last day of the battle that the results appeared much clear. The barely made victory was enough to motivate and encourage the Union armies to a string of victories over the next year and to throw Confederate forces back on their defenses among an increasingly despairing population. This battle was responsible for marking the last major southern invasion of the North in history. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington were safe form the rebels of the North.
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.
“War is at best barbarism….Its glory is all moonshine….War is hell. (Union General William Tecumseh Sherman) A wise quote by an even wiser man, The Civil War was agreed a “hell”. For four years (1862-1865) a war was fought between both Northern Union states and Southern Confederate states over the matter of slavery. During this time period many changes were happening in the United States; the election of an anti-slavery president, Southern states trying to secede to become their own independent country. These factors and many more including slavery were the main causes of The Civil War. To begin slavery was the main income for southern states.
Sherman was a very logical man, even from a young age, but sometimes his logic deceived him. By the time Sherman was in his mid 40’s he already had 4 war crimes under his belt. Since I’m already on the topic of war crimes, let me define it for you: an action carried out during the conduct of war that violates accepted international rules of war. Now, I know that they did not have the rules of war that we have now, but killing over 2,000 people and sending starving families away just so you can make yourself look good? Now that just isn’t right. Just imagine that you are one of the 50 families that were sent out of their hometown. Just imagine that your entire life work has just
BOOM! BANG! Everyday people in the half-torn countries of Israel and Palestine hear these terrible, dangerous sounds often. The fighting in Israel and Palestine has been going on for more than a century. This fighting never seemed to slow down, it is only getting worst. In my opinion, these countries shouldn’t fight because it doesn't solve problems, people are killing each other, and fighting will only create more issues. These countries say they are fighting over land, religious beliefs, and past issues. But should they?