Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
1894. With Portraits. Introduction: Soon after beginning the work of arranging my father's papers for publication, I found a series of letters which awoke my deepest interest. They covered a period extending from 1837 to 1891, and proved to be the complete correspondence between my father and his brother John during those more than fifty years. These letters, exchanged by two brothers of such eminence, and many of them written during the most stirring events of our country's history, seem to me unique. They form a collection, complete in itself; they are of great historical value, and the expressions of opinion which they obtain are so freely given as to furnish an excellent idea of the relations that existed between my father and his brother. Realizing all this, I have decided to publish the correspondence by itself; and in so doing, my chief desire has been to let the letters speak for themselves, and to put them such form that they may be easily understood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Sherman Letters
The book was sent to Iraq as expeditiously as possible.The recipient enjoyed it very much.Thank you Carole Rhodes ... Read more

Book Description
Hailed as a prophet of modern war and condemned as a harbinger of modern barbarism, Sherman is the most controversial general of the Civil War. "War is cruelty, you cannot refine it," he wrote in fury to the Confederate mayor of Atlanta, and his memoir is filled with dozens of such wartime exchanges and a fascinating, eerie account of the famous march through the Carolinas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Read it !
Sherman is (perhaps arguably) the most articulate and intelligent autobiographer (and biographer) of the Civil War period. Yes, he was controversial, but that, in great part, came from the times, and the period politics, and later from the political agendas of modern politically correct historians/writers. The overriding elements in Sherman's autobiography are the matter-of-factness and the fairness with which he describes events and people in his life. With much the same exquisite Dignity as U. S. Grant in his memoiors, Sherman speaks to the reader with a clarity and honesty no decent person can help but admire. He is painstaking in relating military associations - sometimes wearily so. But his thorough and candid descriptions of events, people and places still present themselves in an entertaining manner time and time again. For the reader mature enough to accept those times without tainted sanctimonious judgement, Sherman's memoirs will be a fascinating and enlightening glimpse of the people and the soul of our country during one of our most trying eras.

"MEMOIRS" BY W.T. SHERMAN
INTERESTING TO READ "SHERMANS" SIDE OF THE STORY!! GOOD READ IN CONJUCTION WITH "CITIZEN SHERMAN" BY MICHAEL FELLMAN !!!

Sherman in his own words...
General William T. Sherman's memoirs, first published in 1875, are primarily an account of his service in uniform during the Civil War.Sherman rallied to the Union colors early in the conflict, but had indifferent success until the searing crucible of the Battle of Shiloh, where he fought under the command of the stalwart U.S. Grant.Shiloh was a turning point.With increasing confidence as a leader, Sherman played key roles in the siege of Vicksburg and in the relief of beseiged Union forces at Chattanooga.When Grant was called east to head up all Union forces, he hand-picked Sherman as his successor in the West.Sherman would go on to take Atlanta, march to the sea at Savannah, and pillage his way through the Carolinas to hasten the end of the war.

Sherman the man, and his memoirs, stand in vivid contrast to his contemporary and close friend U.S. Grant.Where Grant was modest and reserved, Sherman comes across as all nervous energy, talking up a storm and hardly able to sit still doing it.His memoirs are reflective of his personality, passionate and argumentative in between inserted copies of key correspondence.While less polished than Grant's, they are in many ways more entertaining and certainly more revealing of Sherman's feelings and personality.

Sherman expresses an opinion on practically everything.His battles with newspaper reporters, whom he despised, date from an alleged nervious breakdown in the first year of the war.His exchange of correspondence with Confederate General John Hood over the forced evacuation of Atlanta, are a malstrom in miniature of the passions behind the war itself.Sherman is more than frank about the politics within the Union Army, and its sometimes troubled relations with civilian authority.Above all, Sherman recognized the cruelty of the war, and was unwilling to sugarcoat that reality for anyone.Sherman and Grant each understood the grim arithmetic that the Confederate Armies must be bled to death in order for the Confederacy to be defeated and were prepared to carry out that strategy.

This book is highly recommended to students of the Civil War, who will find Sherman to be an instructive and even at times entertaining guide through those portions that he personally experienced.

timeless lessons
Clearly historians and civil war buffs will acknowledge the brilliance of this memoir for its obvious window into the mind of this most important figure of his time.
I didn't come to this as either one of the former,but as a reader interested in understanding how this man accomplished the most decisive strokes in the war with such skill.
The greatness ofbook lies not so much in its explanation of military strategy(which it is) but the powerful definition of the principles of freedom as expressed through a common foot soldier.
Sherman understood that no elitist and patrician society could stand however strong there reputation ,against a soldier who fought for this principle.
I found it inciteful that Shermans experience in the prewar south,and his views of its imbalanced society, became more valuable in breaking it than his geographical knowledge.
That Lincoln approved Shermans plan to march through the heart of the confedreacy at the disapproval of all his advisors shows his wisdom to Shermans argument that the south was a shell,and hollow inside.
Grants reluctance to this plan,which he approved only out of his loyalty to Sherman, is poignant to read.Grant thought he'd never see his best friend again.
The genius of Sherman was his utter conviction in the goodness of men to destroy that which was evil,knowing that when his men saw not the soldiery of the south,but its hideous society,he needn't do more to motivate them.
The miserable condition of slavery was known,but the site of 90 percent of a white population virtually no better off providedSherman with a civilian population unable and unwilling to resist.Noone but Sherman thought this important,and that his diary records this as a current fact and not analysis years later is powerful reading.
Defeating the confedracy on this marchwith no major battles and losing but 100 men of his 62,000, told the south, as well as the north the myth of southern military advantage.
Sherman became so feared ,Southern commanders as well as thier soldiers fled before him,offering almost no opposition.
ShermansArmy of the West,recruited and trained by him,became the most feared army in the world,for it fought under the true belief of a free people against real evil.
His own words to that effect are awe inspiring.

Illuminating Generals Memoir
I just finished reading this book (from the library, a 19th century edition) and came to search for other books. There are modern histories, but reading the original memoirs is very satisfying. The book by Julius Ceasar of the Gallic wars comes to mind. Sherman is a clear and satisfying writer. He does remind me of Ceasar in his matter of fact recollections.

I enjoyed the section on the taking of California during the Mexican war. Talking about hundreds of ships abandoned in Yerba Buena (to become San Francisco) due to the desertion of all the crews was interesting.

The period between California and Louisiana and secession is less interesting, but he was preparing a memoir of his life.

The war is what everyone will be looking for, and specifically the March to the Sea. The advance down from Tennessee to Atlanta is more militarily interesting. After the fall of Atlanta the battle was all logistics. Could such a large army separate from it's supply lines? According to W.T. Sherman this was all his idea and he documents it exhaustively. Presumeably this was due to disparagements of his leadership in the decades after the war and the presidency of Johnson.

The extensive documentation of lines of battle and effective strength and copies of tremendous amounts of coorespondence can be tedious, but are easily scanned for what is of interest or skipped altogether.

Great read, interesting book. Tecumseh Sherman is one of my heroes. ... Read more

Amazon.com
William T. Sherman was Ulysses S. Grant's staunchest ally in the Union Army; in 1862 he even dissuaded his friend from resigning. This opinionated work on the leader of the merciless March to the Sea takes issue with many previous biographies. According to Stanley Hirshon, Sherman was not a racist (at least, not by 19th-century standards), not a philanderer (though he liked to flirt), and not a bad general (though he lost a lot of battles). The author makes a persuasive case for these contentions in his strongly argued text.Book Description
Hailed by his admirers as "a fighting prophet," cursed by his enemies as "the concentrated quintessence of Yankeedom," General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the most complex and fascinating figures in the history of the U.S. military. His fierce campaigns of the Civil War, climaxed by the burning of Atlanta and his famous march to the sea, are the stuff of legend. Yet, until now, much of Sherman's life and troubled times have remained mired in controversy. In this superbly detailed, scrupulously documented account, author Stanley P. Hirshson presents the most vivid, revealing, and complete biography ever of the controversial general.

Drawing on a wealth of new information, including actual regimental histories, The White Tecumseh offers a refreshing new perspective on a brilliant, tormented soul and often misunderstood leader. Peeling away layers of myth and misconception, Hirshson draws a remarkable portrait of an enigmatic, temperamental, and unique individual-a man of enormous contradictions, strengths, and weaknesses; a loyal but largely absent husband and father; a determined and courageous, yet deeply flawed, military man.

Born in 1820, "Cump" Sherman attended West Point, where his undisputed brilliance in tactics, artillery, ethics, and engineering far outshone his erratic conduct. Despite a slew of disciplinary demerits, he graduated sixth in a class of over two hundred. As a young soldier, he served in Florida during the Seminole Wars, before embarking on a checkered career as a banker in San Francisco, a lawyer in Kansas, and finally, a military school master in Louisiana.

When secession came, practicality more than principle led Sherman to Washington, where an appointment from Abraham Lincoln spurred his rise through the ranks.

The White Tecumseh offers a fresh and frank assessment of Sherman as a military tactician. For the first time, we learn how he was regarded by his own men. The battle of Shiloh made Sherman a national figure, while defeat at Bull Run cast doubt on his judgment and abilities. Publicly portrayed as an unbalanced hysteric—a perception fueled by his own proclamations of collusion and conspiracy—privately he suffered from depression, forever haunted by the mental instability that had plagued his mother's family.

However, it was on the long campaigns and marches, such as his march across Mississippi in the summer of 1863, that Sherman's logistical and leadership abilities excelled. With the capture and razing of Atlanta in 1864, Sherman's notoriety — and historical legacy — was assured. As one newspaper put it, "Grant walked into Vicksburg, McClellan walked around Richmond, but Sherman is walking upon Atlanta." In fact, his understanding of logistics would be admired and studied half a century later by another West Pointer: George S. Patton.

With previously unpublished photos taken from the West Point Archives, this thoroughly researched, wonderfully balanced account of one of history's most famous and provocative figures is a compelling, beautifully crafted biography. ... Read more

Book Description
>I can make this march, and make Georgia howl. -William Tecumseh ShermanThe March to the Sea shocked Georgians from Atlanta to Savannah. In the late autumn of 1864, as Sherman's troops cut a four-week long path of terror through Georgia, Sherman ... Read more

Book Description
Sherman's March is the vivid narrative of General William T. Sherman's devastating sweep through Georgia and the Carolinas in the closing days of the Civil War. Weaving together hundreds of eyewitness stories, Burke Davis graphically brings to life the dramatic experiences of the 65,000 Federal troops who plundered their way through the South and those of the anguished -- and often defiant -- Confederate women and men who sought to protect themselves and their family treasures, usually in vain. Dominating these events is the general himself -- "Uncle Billy" to his troops, the devil incarnate to the Southerners he encountered.

"What gives this narrative its unusual richness is the author's collation of hundreds of eyewitness accounts...The actions are described in the words, often picturesque and often eloquent, of those who were there, either as participants -- Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers -- in the fighting and destruction or as victims of Sherman's frank vow to 'make Georgia howl.' Mr. Davis intercuts these scenes with closeups of the chief actors in this nightmarish drama, and he also manages to give us a coherent historical account of the whole episode. A powerful illustration of the proposition put forth in Sherman's most famous remark." -- The New Yorker ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

SHERMEN'S MARCH
tHIS BOOK SHOULD BE READ BY SOMEONE WHO ALREADY HAS READ MUCH ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR, iT IS CHOCK FULL OF PERSONAL INFO,BUT WILL BE CONFUSING TO THE A READER WHO IS NOT FAMILAR WITH THE CHARACTERS AND PLACES

One Of The Best Books I've Read
This book is easy to read!The author does not write above or below the reader.It's a great straight forward book filled with a large amount of information. The information presented will be appreciated by Civil War buffs of any level.He covers both the military and civilian angles.

And Now for the Details...
I have been a Civil War buff all my life and thought I knew a fair amount of detail on all of the major engagements of the war.However, until I read "Sherman's March", I really didn't know anything about his post-Atlanta campaign except that he marched to Savannah.Presumably his soldiers fought battles along the way and presumably they did something after capturing Savannah but I guess my curiosity never led me to find out more.It was in the Atlanta campaign that my great great grandfather was captured so I thought I should find out what happened after that.

What the author, Burke Davis, chronicles is what exactly DID happen after the fall of Atlanta.He has put together a fascinating account of the March to the Sea (and beyond) by compiling first-hand accounts of the events of the campaign.Sherman's men found little oppostition after Atlanta but their march had a devestating effect on the South.The brutal, unforgiving thievery that his foragers and "bummers" committed led to a great loss of resources and morale for the Southern folks.What few battles there were did not register on the richter scale of war but the destruction wrought by his troops was of tsunami proportion.There is much about the various communities put to the torch (beginning with Atlanta) and focussing on Columbia, SC.There is also much to suggest that Sherman was guilty of oversight by not maintaining tight control over his troops.His attitude was that the South needed to learn the consequences of their wrongly conceived rebellion.The sooner their morale was broken, the sooner the war would end and the fewer number of soldiers would become casualties (on both sides).While the reader may find truth in Sherman's attitude, it is hard not to become enraged at the extent of the mayhem.

Davis also presents a fair amount of information of the slaves that were freed along the way and the attitude of the different Union Generals towards their emacipation.In the 21st Century it is pretty commonly felt that the Civil War was about slavery.However, a significant percentage of the Union's fighting men felt the issue of the South's secession from the Union was the cause they were fighting for, Sherman included.Nonetheless, they used the freed slaves whenever it was to their advantage and abandoned them when it wasn't.

Sherman's concept of a large army invading deep into enemy territory with no lifeline of support was a challenging concept at the time and its' success influenced military strategy thereafter.Although Davis documents that the soldiers were able to take far more than they needed, it was still an impressive campaign.There were plenty of things the men did without for roughly six months; clothing, pay, letters from home, and many other things that the Army of the Potomac took for granted.

After Savannah, their march through the Carolinas spelled the defeat of the South and Davis does a good job of detailing Sherman's significant involvement in the war's end.There was controversy surrounding that and Sherman found himself at odds with the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton.Davis concludes by giving us a brief synopsis of the rest of Sherman's life after the war.

During the first chapter I was apprehensive about Davis's style of writing but the rest of the book made me appreciate his approach to the subject.His frequent use of primary sources was helpful yet not overdone.His writing gave way to some editorial comments but, overall, I thought the book was pretty well balanced.I gave it 5 stars because, after the first chapter, I couldn't put it down and because I learned so much about an aspect of the Civil War that no one else seems to make much mention of.

Unrelenting aggressive slash and burn good read
Based upon civilian, military, and reporters eyewitness accounts.Davis' wonderfully written account of this mercurial Union general's march through the South moves along at a fast pace.There are those who would have us believe Sherman was just a troubled man and his military actions were inhuman; he may, in part, had these attributes, but we shouldn't disregard his compassion.His brilliance as a military leader is unquestionable; ruthless against the enemy but sensitive to the woman and children.I found myself shaking my head with sorrow through one paragraph only to switch to a chuckle on the very next.The bibliography is extensive.

Beginning with the fall of Atlanta, we follow the unrelenting aggressive slash and burn total warfare of General Sherman's Union troops, and then the final march into Raleigh.The strategy was to beat the Rebels into submission----a quicker end to the war.Although not stated in the book, I think the "march" introduced the creation of mobile warfare.Sherman to wife Ellen: "there are some very elegant people here who I knew in better days and who do not seem ashamed to call on the 'Vandal Chief'.They regard us just as the Romans did the Goths and the parallel is not unjust.Many of my men with red beards and stalwart frames look like giants".In battle was not the only way a soldier lost his life: many union troops died after a forced march back home; despicable and troubling.The finale march was a victory parade through Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are stories of rescue and caring among the carnage, such as the feeding of confederate families.Davis does a good job of showing the human side of the lives of the confederate people.Atrocities occurred on both sides; alcohol and the lax in discipline were no doubt the culprit in the burning of property.Sherman made the mistake of overextending negotiations for surrender; he was relieved, but Grant kept him on; only small changes were made in negotiations.Sherman to a friend: "General Grant is a great general.I know him well.He stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he ws drunk; and not, sir, we stand by each other always".Just a note: the free press aided the enemy then as it does so today.

"It was to be almost a century before military scholars proclaimed the general as the most original and influential of Civil Warfield commanders, whose concepts forecast developments in the twentieth century."

Wish you well
Scott

A Genuine Thriller
Some of us who neither grew up in, nor have familial roots in the deep south sometimes find it difficult to fathom why many of our born and bred Redneck brethern are still upset about the Civil War. This book gave me understanding. It also ignited in me an abiding passion for American history that my high school and college courses completely failed to stimulate.

Comparing "Sherman's March" to Michael Schaara's "Killer Angels" [which I also enjoyed hugely]... I'd say Schaara's book is a very fine historical novel... but in "Sherman's March" Burke Davis has accomplished the IMO much more difficult task of rendering rigorously-documented history so that it reads as if it were a novel. ... Read more

Book Description
The first major modern edition of the wartime correspondence of General William T. Sherman, this volume features more than 400 letters written between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the day Sherman bade farewell to his troops in 1865. Together, they trace Sherman's rise from obscurity to become one of the Union's most famous and effective warriors.

Arranged chronologically and grouped into chapters that correspond to significant phases in Sherman's life, the letters—many of which have never before been published—reveal Sherman's thoughts on politics, military operations, slavery and emancipation, the South, and daily life in the Union army, as well as his reactions to such important figures as General Ulysses S. Grant and President Lincoln.

Lively, frank, opinionated, discerning, and occasionally extremely wrong-headed, these letters mirror the colorful personality and complex mentality of the man who wrote them. They offer the reader an invaluable glimpse of the Civil War as Sherman saw it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A man of war, a man of letters...a magnificent collection of Uncle Billy's writings!!
William Tecumseh Sherman was a brilliant military genius and a true eccentric.
A fascinating and complex man, who found his destiny in war. Sherman revelled in war and owed much to it: he began it as an former officer of modest means and ended it hailed as the Union greatest general next to Grant. At the same time he loathed and despised war and was horrified by it. He was shocked by what the war did to his country, his people, his soldiers and to himself. At times he was appalled by his duties as an officer, but he was always highly resolved to perform these duties.

Everybody who has ever read his memoirs knows that Sherman was not only a great general but also a very talented writer. His memoirs are not a dry succession of events and his part in it, but they convey how he lived through the war and how and why he did what he did in it.
Now professor Brooks D. Simpson has edited a big volume of his Sherman's correspondence from the Civil War years. Again it is the quality of the Sherman's writing which catches the eye and pleases the mind. His letters, as are his memoirs, are a joy to read. This book offers an interesting perspective on Sherman and his part in the war. Reading the memoirs is like having Sherman telling his war experiences to you, long after the facts. This is interesting enough but reading his letters is even more so. It feels like being there with him in his tent, in some Union camp during the war, looking over his shoulder while events are shaping. A truly fascinating experience.
He pours his heart out to his brother John, to his wife Ellen, to his friend Grant and to many others.
So many aspects of his personality appear: his quicksilver intelligence, his warmth and humanity, his wicked and dry sense of humour, his fundamental decency and his military capability.
Read this book and look intro Sherman's mind: it is an interesting place.

The book itself is a big b*gger, but once you've started, you'll be grateful that is is so big: you'll hate to finish it. It looks great, which I like in books and it's very nicely turned out, with good quality binding , high grade paper, a pretty typesetting and a nice dust jacket design. Listings and indexes are clear and elaborate, which is useful in a book like this. So here's a big thumbs up to thepublisher's (Chapel Hill North Carolina State University Press): very well done, a fine piece of work!!!

I can't recommend this too highly. A must for all those who are interested in history, in the American Civil War and/or in Sherman. Read and enjoy the letters uncle Billy wrote in those four years of war and enjoy the sight and the feel of this beautifully made book.

A great collection of primary documents
It's difficult to rate a collection of primary documents such as this one for several reasons.The quality of the documents themselves might be very good but the arrangement or editing of them might be very poor, in which case it becomes a question of whether you should rate the volume well for the documents themselves or poorly for the editing job.Fortunately this collection does not have that issue, as both the primary documents themselves and the editing of them are excellent.

This massive volume contains much of Sherman's correspondence during the war.Surprisingly, these letters are enjoyable to read, and the editors have done a great job of compiling and editing them.Reading these letters, orders, etc of General Sherman can give someone a very unique perspective of the Civil War as Sherman himself saw it, without the bias of authors who have written about it since and without the inevitable coloring of events that happens later when war heroes write about their experiences (and which certainly affected his memoirs, though I do believe they were very honest and straightforward).General Sherman is one of my heroes from the Civil War, and this collection of glimpses into his brilliant mind certainly fed my understanding and fascination of the man.

Wonderful glimpse into the mind of Sherman
William T. Sherman was an irascible, unpredictably brilliant man and his letters bring out these myriad traits. He was a fascinating man and his own words illuminate his fiery personality. Sherman's own 1875 memoirs are a mixed bag, marred by an over-abundance of wartime correspondence and ancillary material. This collection of his letters actually makes for more engrossing, instructive reading. We hear his opinions on the major players of the Civil War: Grant, Halleck and Lincoln. We gain an understanding of his tortured relationship with his wife, Ellen, to whom many of the letters are addressed. His visceral hatred of the press and reporters is well represented.

The collection is expertly edited by Brooks Simpson, someone who thoroughly understands both Sherman and the civil war era. The notes are instructive and unobtrusive and the introduction lays the groundwork for appreciating Sherman and his correspondence. This is an outstanding book for anyone who wishes to get to know the erratic and intellectual General who was second only to Ulysses S. Grant in ability and results. ... Read more

Book Description
Perhaps the most feared and fearless Union general in the war, Sherman's determination, courage, and skill were a key factor in ultimate Northern victory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A look at 'Uncle Billy's boys
This book contains an examination of the army that General William Tecumseh Sherman led through Georgia and the Carolinas, in late 1864 and early 1865.Instead of being just another narrative of the March to the Sea and Carolina campaigns, however, Glatthaar's book is a look at the individuals that composed the army.In it, he examines the social and ideological backgrounds of the men in Sherman's army, and evaluates how they felt about various factors of the war--slavery, the union, and, most significantly, the campaign in which they were participating.The result is a fascinating look at Sherman's campaigns through the eyes of the everyday soldier.Glatthaar makes the army come alive, and shows the men not as heartless animals who delighted in wanton destruction, not as mechanized marching machines who could perform the most difficult marches without even flinching, but instead as real human beings, complete with sore feet, empty stomachs, and minds engaged in contemplation over the ethical ramifications of what they were doing to the people of the South.

This book, and others like it (such as James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades), is a refreshing change from the norm in Civil War history.The value of this book lies in its helping the reader understand that the war was fought by individuals, not masses of blue and gray, and that these individuals felt and thought a great deal about the cause they were engaged in.I have read much on the subject of Sherman's march, but never before this book did I truly feel like I understood the mentality of the 60,000 man army he led.This book will not give you a detailed and thorough account of Sherman's campaigns, but it will give anyone who already is somewhat familiar with the marches an incredible amount of insight that, I believe, cannot be gained elsewhere.

A view of the war from ground level
I have to confess a bias; Professor Glatthaar taught me US history in myfirst semester of college and was a very engaging, entertaining and clearteacher.

This book is history of the very best kind.It is extensivelydocumented from primary sources, it is well written and draws the reader inand the text of the book is free from cumbersome and often distractingacademic citation apparatus.It also has selected a topic of almost epicproportions.

The March to the Sea, coming on the heels of thedevastating fall of Atlanta was the straw that broke the South's back. After years of war and the related hardships, the devastation that thismarch produced in the South dealt a death blow to the South's war effort.

In one of the great strategic decisions of the war, Sherman breaks hislines of communication and supply and, like a modern day nuclear sub,disappears only to resurface at Savannah.The freedom of movement thatthis decision allowed made this march even more effective.

Further, theproductivity of the South, even after years of warfare is evidenced.Theauthor presents data showing an increase in the weight of soldiers due tothe richness of the diet they were able to secure from those unfortunateenough to be in the path of Sherman's army.

To quibble with a priorreviewer, this is not a novel.This is academic history of the best sortbut written in a easy and accesible manner. A great book.

Learn more about Sherman's Soldiers- in their own words
Joseph Glatthaar wrote this book in order to examine Sherman's march across the South "from the level of the common soldier, both enlisted and officer".In the introduction he states that by writing the bookfrom this perspective, he hoped "to restore the reality of thecampaigns, to understand the underlying motivation of Sherman's men foradopting a policy of devestation and to shed light on the total-war conceptin military history".

Mr. Glatthaar's efforts have resulted in thisvery informative and engaging book.I did not know a lot about Sherman'sArmy before reading this book, and feel that I now have a much betterunderstanding of the men who filled the ranks and led the regiments intheir famous march to the sea.In his text, Mr. Glatthaar presents manyquotes directly from letters and diaries written by Sherman's men, whichreally enhances the story and his conclusions.

I recommend this bookfor anyone wanting to learn about Sherman's Army- why it was successful,why it adopted a policy of total war, destroying much of the South, and whyit remains controversial to this day.

A great justice in the portrayal of MG Sherman's force.
Individuals who belong to a Civil War reenacting association, history buffs, and serious scholars of the Civil War will all find quiet enjoyment in Joseph Glatthaar's historical novel on Major General Sherman's march to Savannah and through the Carolinas.Glatthaar's perspective of bringing the war down to the level of the individual soldier is not always found in historical novels.He writes about the soldier's innermost feelings, not about the glorious generals, the great armies, or the magnificent campaigns.I believe that individual battles do not win wars, but that it is the men composing the fighting force that can turn a potential devastating defeat into a glorious victory.Mr. Glatthaar has done a great justice in his portrayal of the men who conducted the march to the sea and beyond.I would highly recommend the book to anyone who wishes better to understand the soldiers that fought for Sherman ... Read more

Book Description
William Tecumseh Sherman possessed not only the most unusual middle name, but also the most orginal mind among Civil War generals. His great campaign of destruction through the South was 100 years ahead of its time and foreshadowed both the totality and mobility of WW II. His mind was imaginative and uncompromising, and no matter our profession, we can study its working with profit.

"Liddell Hart was a great interpretive historian. He saw into the heart of things. He wrote with clarity and intelligence about men and events. His analyses, concerned as they are chiefly with conflict, cut through the superfluous and deal with bedrock issues of character and intelligence, qualities that determine how each of us fares in life." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The psychology of leadership
This biography of Sherman is a study of the man Liddell Hart believes to be the great strategic thinker of the American Civil War. It is more a study of his psychology, much of it derived from original sources such as telegraphic messages, than an account of battles. Sherman was a complex man with a background in banking and commerce that served him well in planning his campaigns in the Confederacy. At the outbreak of hostilities, he was headmaster of a military academy in Louisiana and the local people tried to induce him to stay in spite of his open Union sympathies. He was offered a positon as Assistant Secretary of War but declined to seek a military command. His contempt for politicians was later expressed in his famous refusal to accept a nomination for the Presidency. He was the most intellectual general of the war and Liddell Hart is very interested in his thinking. This is a valuable book for those interested in leadership.

Classic Study of Sherman by Military Expert Hart
This is a classic written by Liddell Hart in highly readable compact detail. Hart, an English veteran of WWI, was a 20th century military expert who had a great appreciation for Sherman's strategic ability and understanding of an enemy morale. In contrast to what Hart calls a game of "shuttle cock" in the east, Sherman's strategic maneuvers and splitting of command out frequently force Johnson to give up ground while shedding very little blood. Hart notes that he does not spend too much analytical detail on where every "man stood" in reference to regimental history but Hart provides the reader the necessary detail to appreciate the battles and over all campaign. Hart's appreciation of Sherman's ability to take the war to the Deep South, live off the land and take a great risk of literally disappearing from his line of communications is well detailed here as Sherman's penetration through three states eventually undermines Lee's great efforts in Virginia. Hart, the veteran of the stalemate battle of trenches that featured great loss appreciates Sherman's successful plan of warfare. Of course, there are many historians who believe that General Joe Johnston's propensity to retreat may have made him a weak opponent but Johnston did keep a strong army in the field until Hood decimated the Army of Tennessee.This is a great book written by a man who not only lived through "The Great War" but was highly capable of writing about a war that was very similar in the eastern theater by late 1864.

An Excellent Work
When I first began to read this book I was concerned that it might be outdated. However, I found much of the subject matter to be quite timely. Of particular interest was the impact that Sherman's successful (albeit violent) trek through Georgia had on the 1864 elections. I never realized how close the Copperhead (Peace) Democrats came to winning that election and perhaps bringing the Civil War to a far differnet conclusion . Hart bring Sherman to life. He also vividly illustrates the behind the scene politics that almost prevented Sherman (not to mention Grant) from their historic roles in the Civil War. Don't be put off by the subject matter or the age of the book. It's worth the read.

The Greatest Strategist of the Civil War
Sherman was both the most original genius of the Civil War, and "the typical American". His career provides lessons to the modern world and to modern warfare. It was his conscious exploitation of the economic and psychological factors of war in his "March through Georgia" which helped to end the Civil War. The long and expensive battles in Northern Virginia were replayed on the battlefields of France in the Great War.

The Union attempted to take Richmond by the shortest and most direct route; but this way was blocked with natural obstacles. If the Confederates fell back they would be closer to their reserves, supplies, and reinforcements. These facts favored the entrenched defenders.

The western campaign ended in the capture of Vicksburg and control of the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans. Liddell Hart contrasts the maneuvers here to the stalemate back east. But the conditions, or politics, did not allow a wide flanking invasion through West Virginia or North Carolina. The threat to Richmond kept Confederate troops there. Longstreet proposed an invasion of Kentucky, a far flanking attack, but was turned down by Lee.

It explains how Sherman out-maneuvered Johnston fromChattanooga to Atlanta. By threatening to outflank Johnston, the Confederates fell back. His replacement by Hood did not prevent the capture of Atlanta. This revived the hope of victory for the North, and helped to re-elect Lincoln.

Sherman then abandoned his supply and communication lines (vulnerable to attack) and marched on to Savannah and the ocean. His army lived off the land. This enabled his army to be resupplied by the Navy. He then marched north, seeming to attack other cities, but passed between and continued to destroy railroads and bridges.

The end came soon after this, as other armies invaded the South. Sherman designed an armistice and amnesty where the Confederates would be disbanded, and their arms turned over to the states. The latter would allow repression of bandits and guerillas. He was criticized for this.

Sherman was a man of modest habits. When admirers raised [money]to buy him a house, he refused to accept unless he received bonds that would pay the taxes! He lived within his means. The resisting power of a state depends more on the strength of popular will than on the strength of its armies, and this depends on economic and social security (p.429).

Liddell Hart gave preference to contemporaneous correspondence rather than Official Reports (which are written for history to justify a policy). Some of the ideas in this 72-year old book may not coincide with more recent history.

not up to Liddel Hart's usual level
I will start by saying Liddel Hart is my favorite military historian/author and I own half a dozen books by him, and regard them as gospel. However I felt that Liddel Hart was not as well versed in this area as he is in European History. He lets his ingrained contrariness run away with him. He wants to create a "great captain" where there is none. He also, I believe, wants to convince the reader of the genius of the "inderect approach" which he expounds in his excellent book "Strategy". However I think considering Sherman's campaign as indirect is like calling D-Day indirect because the allies invaded Normandy as opposed to Calais. ( I must admit that I am biased because I am a Lee fan)Like every other book by Liddel hart though, it is a very quick and pleasant read. I would recommend his book on Scipio as a great intro to his work. ... Read more

Book Description
A brief, objective biography of one of America's most controversial military leaders. ... Read more