Opinion of William T. Sherman

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

FF, of course.

[© tweed]

a college friend/acquaintance of mine named her cat 'General Sherman'... odd

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

FF, of course.

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[Oldiesfreak1854]

Massive FF.

[Goldwater]

Massive FF.

[minionofmidas]

FF, of course.

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Yep, his role in ending the Indian Wars was why I voted HP, too.

Though his opinion on running for President is badass. "If nominated, I will not stand; if elected, I will not serve."

[politicus]

HP FF, of course.

War criminal responsible for massacres on civilians, allowing mass rapes, lootings and genocide. Even by the standards of mid 1800th century military leaders Sherman was a truly HP.

[Lief 🗽]

FF, of course.

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Yeah, but he more than makes up for that with his destruction of the traitorous South.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Uber FF

[Donerail]

Pretty easily an HP.

[Rooney]

Sherman is a highly overrated general in the American Civil War. It is true that he showed a great deal of skill in arranging the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea but this does not change the fact that he could not lead men in pitched battle. At the Battle of First Bull Run he proved himself incompetent and his men were caught up in the great skedaddle back to Washington. In Kentucky he allowed his imagination to get the better of him and was sent packing home as that crucial border state was left nearly defenseless. Had Gideon Pillow and Leonidas Polk not made their missteps in invading Kentucky and alienated the the state legislature Sherman's weakness as Union commander in that state may well have proven disastrous for the United States war effort.

The Battle of Shiloh also shows the weakness of Sherman as a battlefield commander. He ignored warnings of Confederate soldiers and when the battle began he led a fighting retreat which almost ended Grant's campaign in Tennessee. The Vicksburg Campaign also shows Sherman as a poor battlefield commander and overall tactician. At the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou he was defeated by a much smaller Confederate force under Generals Pemberton and S.D. Lee and forced to retreat. This was a major setback for Grant's overland strategy to take Vicksburg. This would not be so bad (after all Sherman did fight the battle with no reinforcements due to the fact that Earl van Dorn had severed railroad connections between Sherman and Grant's headquarters) if it was not for the fact that Sherman opposed Grant's strategy to take Vicksburg from the south. Sherman told Grant that it was a foolish idea and when Grant ignored these complaints and sent Sherman to Grand Gulf Sherman wrote a series of "CYA (Cover Your Ass)" letters that explained that when the campaign failed it was not his fault.

To add to this, Sherman refused to do much during the campaign form Vickburg. He lagged behind General John McClernan, a politcal general who had some real skill in leading men in battle. Sherman did take Jackson, Mississippi, but he faced little to no resistance. Sherman did not choose to fight hard May 19 or May 22 when the first assaults on Vicksburg were made by Union forces. McClernand's sector saw some real progress because the political general believed in the Vicksburg Campaign. Sherman and his protege James McPherson held back because they thought the assault to be folly and this led to McClernand losing many men while nothing was gained. When McClernand justly complained about the failure of the West Point generals to fight Sherman and McPherson teamed up to remove McClernand from active command and in this they were successful.  

The Atlanta Campaign also illustrates the incompetence of Sherman as a field commander. He was fighting the retreating Joe Johnston. Yet, at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain he orders an attack on a fortified spot and this leads to a lot of unnecessary death. One soldier in Sherman;s army defined the battle as a "needless waste of lives" since Johnston was going to retreat further South anyway. Following the taking of Atlanta Sherman ignored the the fact that John Bell Hood had invaded Tennessee and Sherman retreated southward. Had Hood, Longstreet, Cleburne, Polk and Smith been able to work better together they may well have smashed General Thomas in Tennessee and forced Sherman to march all the way back to Tennessee. However, if this had occurred it would have taken a Sherman a long time to march back to the Volunteer State and the Confederates may well have reversed all of the progress Grant had made in 1862-1863.    

The last point to examine in critiquing Sherman's career as a commander is the Battle of Bentonville. Sherman, just like in Tennessee, had allowed his army to become to spread out and when the Confederates made a last ditch offensive in North Carolina the red-haired Ohioan was once again a day late but, due to the fact that the Confederates were so small in size, not a dollar short. O.O. Howard arrived very late but brought enough men to stave off disaster at Bentonville. Once again Sherman and Johnston had battled and the great retreated Johnston had won a strategic victory. Of Johnston had only had more men he would have been able to fight on and if he could have enticed Sherman to fight a few more Kennesaw Mountains Johnston may very well have won the war.

Sherman benefited in the March to the Sea and the Carolina Campaign from the fact that there was no army of considerable force that opposed him. Sherman was a poor field commander and lacked the mind of a battlefield tactician. If he has stayed in Louisiana and fought for the Confederacy he would be remembered today as an incompetent Dixie martinet. He would not have had the numbers of supplies to back up his battlefield incompetence.    

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

FF, of course.

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Yep, his role in ending the Indian Wars was why I voted HP, too.

Though his opinion on running for President is badass. "If nominated, I will not stand; if elected, I will not serve."

Mo Udall got a better quote: "If nominated, I shall run to Mexico. If elected, I shall fight extradition".

[minionofmidas]

FF, of course.

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Yep, his role in ending the Indian Wars was why I voted HP, too.

Though his opinion on running for President is badass. "If nominated, I will not stand; if elected, I will not serve."

Mo Udall got a better quote: "If nominated, I shall run to Mexico. If elected, I shall fight extradition".

That's a jocular extension of the original quote though, which is reasonably well known.