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
Before his spectacular career as General of the Union forces, William Tecumseh Sherman experienced decades of failure and depression. Drifting between the Old South and new West, Sherman witnessed firsthand many of the critical events of early nineteenth-century America: the Mexican War, the gold rush, the banking panics, and the battles with the Plains Indians. It wasn't until his victory at Shiloh, in 1862, that Sherman assumed his legendary place in American history. After Shiloh, Sherman sacked Atlanta and proceeded to burn a trail of destruction that split the Confederacy and ended the war. His strategy forever changed the nature of warfare and earned him eternal infamy throughout the South.

Sherman's Memoirs evoke the uncompromising and deeply complex general as well as the turbulent times that transformed America into a world power. This Penguin Classics edition includes a fascinating introduction and notes by Sherman biographer Michael Fellman.

"Because [Sherman] was a ruthlessly sharp intellect and a writer of considerable power, his memoirs succeed in presenting a vivid picture not only of his actions and reactions, but of the world through which he moved with wit and bluster and broadsword."--Michael Fellman, from the Introduction ... 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
A brief, objective biography of one of America's most controversial military leaders. ... 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
Bright, compulsively articulate, famous, loved, hated, and deeply troubled, William T. Sherman was perhaps one of the most compelling personalities in American history. This groundbreaking, in-depth portrait of this significant Civil War figure reveals much about Sherman--and about the concept of manliness in his culture. 8 pages of photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Beautifully written, excessive psychoanalysis
Fellman's prose is dynamic and his knowledge of the events of Sherman's life is apparently up to the task, but his psychoanalysis is overblown.Sherman's psychological problems clearly must be discussed and psychohistory is valid within limits, but almost all of Fellman's paragraphs drip with analysis of what Sherman or Ellen was thinking, why they thought or said it, and, worse, what they might have said but didn't.One example:Sherman hated newspapermen, claiming, with a degree of truth, the military is chained to a rock while reporters were vultures that flew freely.Fellman claims, "Sherman fancied himself the modern Prometheus, the vulture-tortured embodiment of truthful duty."The mere presence of a rock and vultures, frequently used analogies, does not by definition constitute a paranoic self-vision.Fellman paints an ugly picture of W. T. Sherman that smacks of late 20th century attitudes.If you consider Fellman's approach to be valid, ask youself why a used hardback version only costs $1.39 while a used hardcover of Isaac Robertson's Stonewall Jackson bio starts at $19.30.I want to read one of his competitors' works.

Outstanding Character Study
Citizen Sherman is not so much an attempt to put Sherman on the couch, so to speak, as a study of his character and personality as evinced through his personal relationships and in his voluminous correspondence. Fellman isn't just making things up or shooting from the hip as some reviewers imply; most of the light shed on Sherman's life and character comes from his own words. You will not find most of this information anywhere else. If you want an analysis of Sherman the Civil War general you won't find it here. But that doesn't mean that an understanding of Sherman the man is not worthwhile. This is a wonderful biography, a beautifully constructed and poignant character study of Sherman the man. If all the Civil War buffs out there don't like its lack of reliable military information, too bad; there are many other places to find that. And since when should an author be hesitant to seek an understanding of an individual's motives, emotions, and psychological processes? This is what the finest biographers do. Fellman does not cross the line by asserting theories that are not backed up by evidence. Indeed, his assertions as to Sherman's feelings and emotions are supported by a great deal of evidence.
I will acknowledge that Fellman, on occasion, does let his liberal bias show as when he claims Sherman was "an utterly inhumane warrior" and the like. After making a brilliant case for the necessity of Sherman's kind of warfare, and letting Sherman speak for himself as to his motivations, very human motivations we all can relate to, Fellman seems to be one of those authors who feels it is necessary to damn any kind of practice that seems to make liberal minded Americansuncomfortable with humanity or themselves. He, as an author, seems to be one of those people who just couldn't live with himself if he didn't somehow pretend he is beyond that, and we all should be too. Well, sometimes just plain old nasty stuff just has to be done, and when it does need doing, we should be glad we have guys like Billy Sherman around to do it for us. This is more a minor annoyance, however, and does not detract from the power of the character study. All-in-all, this is a book well worth reading. You will surely come away with a much enhanced picture of Sherman the man.

This book left a huge impression on me - couldnt put it down
I have read dozens of autobiographical accounts of the Civil War by its leaders, both Northern and Southern. Most of these accounts were, of course, written in the sentimental, shielded, "polite society" style of the post-civil war/turn of the century years. Although these books offer valuable insight into the author's actions and reactions, philosophy, and basic moral structure, they leave the modern reader without a real knowledge who the author was as a person. It is only through a thorough understanding of the subject of a biography/autobiography that the reader can truly appreciate the way in which a subject continues to influence us years after that person made his mark on the world. For example, everyone knows that Sherman was a hard-headed, all-out warrior whose unwavering determination helped the Union win the Civil War. But not everybody knows about the Sherman who, during the war years, was an unhappily married man whose heart died when his favorite son did; a man who, years after the dust and gunsmoke settled, sought to recover dormant emotional feelings by seeking the companionship of women half his age. It does seem that there are a few very minute points in this book that are historical misrepresentations, most likely caused by oversight. But despite its few flaws, it gives a full and complete portrait of Sherman, the human being - someone we must see for all he was in truth, before we can truly understand his impact on American History.

an enjoyable read left me wanting for more info
Some of the above reviews have merit, Fellman definitely puts Sherman on the couch, and, I also don't usually like this, as it takes some liberties that may not be entirely correct.However, it will take more than one source on Sherman to help the reader draw their own conclusions about the man.This said, I very much enjoyed reading Fellman's analysis.I did find it light militarily, however, I really wasn't looking for that kind of bio on Sherman.A history teacher, this was my first exposure to "Cumpy" the man, as opposed to military commander.I found myself wanting to research him more as a result of reading this book, as I feel it inspired me to learn more about him.There is an implication here that the book did not tell me everything I needed to know, but, as stated above, I found myself not really minding as I enjoyed Fellman's ease with words and the simplicity of the smooth flowing text.Therefore, I didn't critique it so much for being a bit on the lighter side of research work.I found that I would need to consult other sources for more information anyway.Having read Grant's bio and Foote's Civil War trilogy, I found this to be a good introduction to Sherman as an individual, especially after hearing Grant's praise of the man in his own work.I'm interested to read Sherman's own book after reading Citizen Sherman, can compare some of Fellman's analysis with Sherman's own.I very much enjoyed the section on Sherman's women, and the way that the text was oriented less chronologically than in the different departments of Sherman's life.

Psychobiography at its best
I usually loathe any historical book which puts its subject on the couch, but this is a notable exception. Fellman infuses this book with his own spin on certain matters, but much of the interpretation is accurate! If you enjoy a "National Enquirer" approach to biography, then this is your bag, though a more intellectual, sobering and accurate analysis of events than a tabloid rag. Fellman delves deeply into Sherman's womanizing and the reasons behind it: Ellen, WTS's wife, was a passionless prig, obsessed with Catholicism and being the type of prim, straightlaced wife that Sherman would ultimately abhor. Can we blame him for repeatedly cheating on Ellen? Of course not.

Fellman is much weaker on the military end of the biography and his limitations show. There are numerous factual gaffes and the author is on safer ground when restricting himself to purely personal matters. This is hardly the definitive treatment of Sherman, try John Marszalek's biography (available on Amazon) for an exceptional and scholarly approach. But if you want a book focused primarily on the private life of Sherman, this nicely fits the bill ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Quite Constructive Overview
Robert A. Athearn spins an amazingly good yarn quite out of step with both the Hollywood version of Native American / Military relationships during the settlement of the American West as well as today's apologetic view of Native American / white relationships during that time. Sourced almost entirely from Sherman's and others official correspondence, Athearn drives home the important points that the settlement of the West revolved around four key issues: the railroads, continued Congressional reduction of Army personnel, the complete failure of the Interior Department in developing effective Indian policies and the polar opposite attitudes of frontier whites and their more civilized (safer) East and West coast fellow citizens.

This is a very well done review of one of the key participants who directly set a good portion of the Military policy that was pursued in dealing with Native Americans during this era. From Sherman's own writings we see an Army commander who was pragmatic, yet very evenhanded.

Very well written, this is an easy read that accurately reports Military policy in the West from 1865 - 1885. You will not be disappointed.

A great work on an overlooked portion of Sherman's life
There are literally dozens of biographies on General William T. Sherman.But this is the only one, at least of which I am aware, that deals with the eighteen years of Sherman's military career AFTER the Civil War in any amount of detail. It is sad that such an important work as Sherman's in the West should be overlooked, but Robert G. Athearn attempts to correct this oversight with this work.Athearn's treatment of Sherman commences right after the Civil War, when Sherman became commander of the Division of the Missouri, and ends with Sherman's retirement.The book deals with Sherman's relations with the railroad, with his dealings with the press, and with how he treated the Indian question.

As stated, this book is not a biography of Sherman's whole life.Instead, it is a concise and detailed study of what Athearn considers the most important years of Sherman's professional life.It is Athearn's contention that, though he had been the hero of Atlanta and the march to the sea, Sherman's most important military contributions took place East of the Mississippi River.His argument, while perhaps not totally convincing, is nevertheless worthy of consideration.Sherman saw the importance of the intercontinental railroad and, as Athearn points out at some length, did all he could to help push that project along.He also devotes considerable space to Sherman's relations with the Indians.

This is a very good book.Sherman's part in the Indian Wars is often overlooked, but Athearn narrates the problems with the Native Americans through Sherman's eyes, and looks, in a sense, at a larger view of the problem.Throughout the book Athearn maintains objectivity, though it does seem his sympathies lie with the general.The only problem I have with this book is when Athearn tries to get inside his subject's head.Though it happens fairly often, this does not really detract from the book.Still, such statements as "Sherman must have felt that..." or "Sherman longed to be..." are annoying, and detract from the overall quality of the book.

This book is unique, and as such is a very valuable resource.I consider this book to be essential to any study of the life of Sherman, as well as essential to any student of the postwar Army or the Plains Indian Wars. ... 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
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