On the ground and on a much smaller scale, Sherman pioneered this process, becoming the first American to do so systematically. How did Shermans March to the Sea conclude? Walters, John Bennett (1948) "General William T. Sherman and Total War". The Union soldiers were just as unsparing. He entered the Confederate psyche and remains in some minds to the present day. Geary telegraphed Sherman, who advised him to accept the offer. Confederate political and military leaders Gov. When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering that 'nothing risked, nothing gained,' I did not interfere. Shermans army had now been marching for a week. Federal Identification Number (EIN): 54-1426643. The March to the Sea, which occurred over a six week period in November and December of 1864, is considered the most damaging action against civilian people in the Civil War of 1861 to 1865.The objective of Sherman's March to the Sea was to instil fear in the civilian population of Georgia to abandon the cause of the Confederacy. The state legislature extended the existing state draft to include men from 16 to 65 years of age. They wandered out five or more miles from the main columns and became experts at finding hidden food, horses, wagons and even slaves. Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but, in showing to the world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the whole Hoods army it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great light. "[24] On December 26, the president replied in a letter:[25]. 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. involuntary servitude of African-Americans in the United States from 1619-1865. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick led the forces single cavalry division. More Union troops entered the campaign from an unlikely direction. 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. However, a turn eastward convinced him that Augusta was the target. Sherman gave explicit instructions to his troops regarding their conduct while on the march. I never heard of any cases of murder or rape. Indeed relatively few charges of rape were made, and military medical records showed little sexual disease. Sherman's army marched 285 miles (458 km . Maj. Gen. John G. Foster dispatched 5,500 men and 10 guns under Brig. He seemed to be everywhere at once, and as he grew ever-larger in the Southern imagination, rumors about where he was and what he did to white women and slaves came to be accepted as fact. It confiscated 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of fodder, and destroyed uncounted cotton gins and mills. Determined not to lay a siege unless absolutely necessary, Sherman ordered 4,000 men from the XV Corps to seize Fort McCallister, a crucial element of the citys southern defense. On December 9, however, tragedy struck Brig. These orders have been depicted in popular culture as the origin of the "40 acres and a mule" promise. 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. Each regiment had one wagon and one ambulance, and each company had one pack mule for the baggage of its officers; the number of tents carried was curtailed. Shermans March to the Sea, (November 15December 21, 1864) American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia. Many scholars of military history contend that his psychological warfare was one of the first modern examples of total war. He returned at the Battle of Shiloh to victory and then gathered 100,000 troops . 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. Howard's wing, led by Kilpatrick's cavalry, marched south along the railroad to Lovejoy's Station, which caused the defenders there to conduct a fighting retreat to Macon. Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, officers and men. until 1864, the Confederacy had been winning the Civil War. Each division and brigade had a supply train, but the size of the train was strictly limited. Sherman's March to the Sea refers to a long stretch of devastating Union army movements that took place during the United States Civil War. [6], When Byers was freed by the Union Capture of Columbia, he approached General Sherman and handed him a scrap of paper. March to the Sea. [31], Sherman's scorched earth policies have always been highly controversial, and Sherman's memory has long been reviled by many Southerners. Confederate leadership was unable to discern the final destination of the two-pronged Union force. Federal troops sprinted the 600-yard stretch to the forts walls, and within 15 minutes they had captured the structure. Uncle Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us in Richmond? was a common sentiment along the march. To this day, many believe that Sherman did not bring any supplies with . All Rights Reserved. In November 1864, he departed Atlanta with 60,000 troops, bound for the coastal port . Shermans soldiers enthusiastically embraced his Special Field Order 120, which required every brigade to organize a foraging detachment under the direction of one of its more discreet officers with a goal of keeping a consistent three-day supply of gathered foodstuffs. Many troops who heard of their arrival retaliated by burning civilian barns and slaughtering their livestock. [35] Military historians Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones cited the significant damage wrought to railroads and Southern logistics in the campaign and stated that "Sherman's raid succeeded in 'knocking the Confederate war effort to pieces'. During his imprisonment, Byers wrote a poem about the Savannah campaign which he titled "Sherman's March to the Sea", which was set to music by fellow prisoner W. O. 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.. He destroyed much of the South's potential and psychology to wage war. Accordingly, on November 19, he dispatched Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheelers cavalry corps and some local militiamen to slow the Unions right flank. His vision of hard war brought the Confederacy to its knees, but forestalled thousands of battlefield and civilian deaths. They were divided into two columns for the march:[1], In 1929, British military historian B. H. Liddell Hart described the men of Sherman's army as "probably the finest army of military 'workmen' the modern world has seen. The march to the sea,the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during Civil War.It all begain in Atlanta on Novemeber 15,1864,and concluded in Savannah on December 21,1864.As a person who is searching and learning history day by day I am learning about Union general William T. Sherman and his march.Sherman divided his troops into two roughly equal wings,there was 60,000 . [1] After they lost Atlanta, the Confederate army headed west into Tennessee and Alabama, attacking Union supply lines as they went. However, if antagonized by Confederate soldiers, Union officers could destroy private and industrial property. "Sherman's March to the Sea". The following is an excerpt from those orders: IV. I suppose it will be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide. 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. Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, the capture of Savannah. In 2011 a historical marker was erected there by the Georgia Historical Society to commemorate the African Americans who had risked so much for freedom. Railroad tracks were upended and destroyed. The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. On November 2526 at Sandersville, Wheeler struck at Slocum's advance guard. Soldiers dug up buried food, valuables and keepsakes, seemingly at will. Arnold presented him with the key to the city, and Sherman's men, led by Geary's division of the XX Corps, occupied the city the same day. Sherman further arranged for 50,000 bushels of captured rice to be sold in the North to raise money to feed Savannah. 40 Charles Royster's The Destructive War looks at the March's increasing violence through the figure of . Sign up for our quarterly email series highlighting the environmental benefits of battlefield preservation. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. Look it up now! On December 24th, Sherman then presented the Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas present. [12] On December 20, Hardee led his men across the Savannah River on a makeshift pontoon bridge. Just before pivoting east past Macon, Howards right wing came upon the industrial town of Griswoldville. The full story, however, is not this simple. Only then, did Sherman and his army begin the March to the Sea. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. General William Tecumseh Sherman's march to the sea during the Civil War was a strategy to break the morale of Confederate supporters by marching a division . Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. No matter Sherman kept marching. Railroads doubled as a conduit for industrial growth and transportation for the military. 120 he encouraged foraging and the confiscation of livestock but forbade home invasions. Sherman demanded a surrender on December 17, but his request was promptly rejected. On November 24 several Union prisoners of war caught up with the left wing, having escaped a Confederate camp at Andersonville. Sherman remained in Atlanta for a little over a month. The pontoons floated away, leaving the slaves unable to cross the deep water. The staffs of the various headquarters were ruthlessly restricted, and much clerical work was done by permanent offices in the rear. Meanwhile, his troops could undermine Southern morale by making life so unpleasant for Georgias civilians that they would demand an end to the war. The March to the Sea, the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War (1861-65), began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. Observing the movements of Howards right wing, Confederate Lieut. [41] In the years following World War II, several writers[42][43][44] argued that the total war tactics used during World War II were comparable to the tactics used during Sherman's March. And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, as it should be taken, it is indeed a great success. Smith's 1,500 Georgia militiamen, 3 miles (4.8km) south of Grahamville Station, South Carolina. This Union and its Government must be sustained, at any and every cost, explained one of Shermans subordinates. The infantry brigade of Brig. more formally known as the Savannah Campaign, was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William T Sherman of the Union Army. In our collective memory, blue-clad soldiers march with impunity, their scavenged booty draped about them, leaving a trail of white women and children to sob at their losses and slaves to rejoice at their emancipation. Almost miraculously, damage and destruction immediately ceased. 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. The purpose of Sherman's March to the . Atlanta: After the Civil War. It had some large plantations, but many more small farms growing a variety of products: vegetables, cotton, sweet potatoes and, in marshy areas, rice and sugar cane. Major General George Thomas took some 60,000 men to meet the Confederates in Nashville, while Sherman took the remaining 62,000 on an offensive march through Georgia to Savannah, smashing things (he wrote) to the sea.. 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). The only real combat of the March took place on November 22, near Griswoldville. Soldiers became model gentlemen, no longer foraging, but paying for what they wanted or needed. The Cavalry Corps of Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, reinforced by a brigade under Brig. 120 had permitted Black labourers to accompany the column, despite being a potential drain on resources and slowing the armys pace. During this time he ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 civilians and seized their homes for his soldiers living quarters. 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. The army moved at a steady pace, covering as much as 15 miles a day. Kilpatrick abandoned his plans to destroy the railroad bridge and he also learned that the prisoners had been moved from Camp Lawton, so he rejoined the army at Louisville. The two cavalry units clashed again at nearby Waynesboro on December 4. Sherman was charged with three armies totaling some 100,000 men: the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the Ohio. Brig. Although clearly headed eastward, Sherman was determined to conceal his movements from Confederate eyes. They destroyed the bridge across the Oconee River and then turned south.[21]. When it came time to march through the Carolinas, states still in rebellion against the United States, however, destructive war returned. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. After seizing Atlanta, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-earth campaign intended to cripple the South's war-making capacity and wound the Confederate psyche. Perhaps in denial of this reality, they came to accuse Sherman of carrying out countless grim acts. While Howard's wing was delayed near Ball's Bluff, the 1st Alabama Cavalry (a Federal regiment) engaged Confederate pickets. [13], Sherman had ruthlessly cut to the bone the supplies carried, intending as he did for the army to live off the land as much as possible. Historians consider the march and the psychological warfare it waged to be an early example of total war. Georgia, stretching before Shermans army with its red clay hills and sandy terrain, was the largest of the Confederate states. "[20] The 300-mile (480km) march began on November 15. 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. 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. [11] The twisted and broken railroad rails that the troops heated over fires, wrapped around tree trunks and left behind became known as "Sherman's neckties.". On the left, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum commanded the Army of Georgia. Gen. William H. Jackson, had approximately 10,000 troopers. Barns, gardens and farms were overrun. [32] Some who welcomed him as a liberator chose to follow his armies. Where did Shermans March to the Sea start and end? The approach was backbreaking, but simple: rails were torn from the ties, which were stacked to make a bonfire beneath them. 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. The militia, temporarily under the inexperienced command of Brig. Jacqueline Campbell has written, on the other hand, that some slaves looked upon the Union army's ransacking and invasive actions with disdain. 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. But as the last unit of Daviss rear guard, the 58th Indiana, reached the far side, the bridge was unlashed. He had for a long time hated the idea of having to kill and maim Confederates, many of whom had been pre-war friends. It was also a symbol of Confederate pride and strength, and its fall made even the most loyal Southerners doubt that they could win the war. "[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. The marauding Yankees needed the supplies, but they also wanted to teach Georgians a lesson: it isnt so sweet to secede, one soldier wrote in a letter home, as [they] thought it would be.. Marszalek, John F. Sherman's March to the Sea. Once, Sherman encountered a soldier walking along a road weighed down by all victuals who quoted from the order to him in a stage whisper: Forage liberally on the country. The general said his was a too-liberal interpretation of the order, but he took no action to punish the forager. Photos Library of Congress, Colorized by MADS MADSEN of Colorized History. Field Order No. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1943. Sherman's . In 2008 he took over as the executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. The economic impact of the march was staggering. Sherman's march to the sea was over. Away off in the distance, on the McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. By encroaching into the rear of Lee's positions, Sherman could increase pressure on Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and keep Confederate reinforcements from reaching him. Union men successfully defended the supply depot northwest of Atlanta at Allatoona Pass, but Hood seized Dalton with little resistance. Both U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant had serious reservations about Sherman's plans. In fact, his true destination was the Georgia capital of Milledgeville. The death count on November 15, 1864 stood at around 12,100. From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. He wanted his army to win the war and thus preserve the Union, but he also wanted to curtail the battlefield slaughter. The arrival of the main columns was even more frightening to the Georgians in their path than the passage of the foragers. Shermans troops arrived in Savannah on December 21, 1864, about three weeks after they left Atlanta. Hoods new strategy was to recoup before striking north at Union-occupied Nashville, Tennessee. Sherman successfully fought a psychological war of destruction. By attempting to hold the roads we will lose a thousand men monthly and will gain no result. This caused Sherman, who was trying to move quickly and live off the land, to worry about their impact on his speed and the supply of food meant for his soldiers. Sherman received numerous letters from the very Confederate officers he was fighting against, requesting that Sherman ensure the protection of their families. 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. Foragers, known as "bummers," would provide food seized from local farms for the army while they destroyed the railroads and the manufacturing and agricultural infrastructure of Georgia. 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. His scorched-earth tactics changed the history of warfare and are still studied and taught in military institutions . When Sherman instituted his destructive war, he told Southerners that as long as they continued their resistance, he would make them pay dearly, but that the process would stop when they quit the fight. To regular foraging parties must be intrusted the gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the road traveled. Factories, farms and railroads provided Confederate troops with the things they needed, he reasoned; and if he could destroy those things, the Confederate war effort would collapse. He organized relief for the flood of refugees that had inundated the city. The two wings of the army attempted to confuse and deceive the enemy about their destinations; the Confederates could not tell from the initial movements whether Sherman would march on Macon, Augusta, or Savannah. Abraham Lincoln: I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.. On December 21, Union forces captured Savannah; Sherman presented the city to Lincoln as a Christmas gift. Black and white pioneers cleared the path ahead, with Sherman himself sometimes joining in the physical labor. Savannah was now surrounded on land. [23][bettersourceneeded], Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. Slavery. Some of the 134 Union casualties were caused by torpedoes, a name for crude land mines that were used only rarely in the war. Updated: October 4, 2018 | Original: February 22, 2010, From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. In theyears afterthe Civil War, fighting forces around the world have made use of Shermans total war strategy. Before leaving Atlanta . [26], The Army's stay in Savannah was generally without incident. Donations to the Trust are tax deductible to the full extent allowable under the law. 1. 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. The most significant reason for General Sherman's explanation of hard war in the excerpt was that. Barrett, John G. (1960) "Sherman and Total War in the Carolinas". When Sherman began his March to the Sea on November 15, 1864, there were less than 200 prisoners in the stockade and less than 2,000 in the hospital. The March to the Sea played psychological warfare in which . What were the effects of Shermans March to the Sea? To the north of this action, Sherman advanced with the left wing into Milledgeville on November 23. As the marching Federals progressed, they attracted a growing throng of ex-slaves, who greeted them as emancipators. As the main columns had been marching all day, organized soldiers and others fanned out in all directions, looking for food and booty. Atlanta smoldered in his rear. The March to the Sea. Shermans army marched 285 miles (458 km) east from Atlanta to the coastal town of Savannah, which surrendered without a siege. Stop the Largest Rezoning in Orange County History, The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, A little more butchery. Sherman's March to the Sea was one of the most stunning operations of the Civil War, yet few people outside of Georgia knew anything about it while it was underway. Sherman came to dislike the song, in part because he was never one to rejoice over a fallen foe, and in part because it was played at almost every public appearance that he attended. Pleasant J. Phillips, came upon part of Shermans rear guard of some 1,700 men. (The 10,000 Confederates who were supposed to be guarding it had already fled.) There was no lunch stop; instead, the men ate whenever and whatever they could. 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. Shermans March to the Sea started in Atlanta and ended in the coastal town of Savannah, Georgia. Sherman would later defend Daviss actions at Ebenezer Creek as a necessary reality of war. [19] Still, Grant trusted Sherman's assessment and on November 2, 1864, he sent Sherman a telegram stating simply, "Go as you propose. 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