significance of sherman's march to the sea
On January 16, 1865, during the Civil War (1861-65), Union general William T. Sherman issued his Special Field Order No. Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant preferred for Sherman to destroy the Southern army first and then initiate his psychological war of destruction. Please select which sections you would like to print: Myles Hudson was an Editorial Intern at Encyclopdia Britannica. Almost miraculously, damage and destruction immediately ceased. His force faced little resistance. Sherman's March to the Sea, (November 15-December 21, 1864) American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia. However, some men, called bummers, roamed the countryside to intentionally terrorize and loot Confederate civilians. Locals experienced a sense of growing dread as they anticipated the main columns advancing through their property and seizing everything of value. He returned at the Battle of Shiloh to victory and then gathered 100,000 troops . One word still resonates more deeply in the American psyche than any other in the field of Civil War study: Sherman. Sherman would later defend Daviss actions at Ebenezer Creek as a necessary reality of war. Many scholars of military history contend that his psychological warfare was one of the first modern examples of total war. Sherman, reading the paper later in the day, was moved by Byers' poem, and promoted Byers to his staff; the two became lifelong friends. Sherman's personal escort on the march was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, a unit made up entirely of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union. In escaping Savannah, several Confederate generals left their wives and children to Shermans personal protection, and he took this responsibility seriously, despite laughing that Confederates were willing to leave their families in the care of someone they considered a brute. Hundreds of African Americans drowned trying to cross in Ebenezer Creek north of Savannah while attempting to follow Sherman's Army in its March to the Sea. Field Order No. Union general William T. Sherman abandoned his supply line and marched across Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean to prove to the Confederate . Atlanta: After the Civil War. Sherman moved against Hood on October 5. The Union soldiers were just as unsparing. Desertions soared as news of Georgias devastation began to reach the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, which was engaged in some of the wars most intense combat. Letter, Sherman to Henry W. Halleck, December 24, 1864. Just before pivoting east past Macon, Howards right wing came upon the industrial town of Griswoldville. Stay up-to-date on the American Battlefield Trust's battlefield preservation efforts, travel tips, upcoming events, history content and more. After Sherman's crushing campaign through the Carolinas, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett House near Durham Station. Some bummers escalated their attacks on the local population. From the outset, Shermans men destroyed tunnels and bridges, expending particular effort to make railroad tracks unusable. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. Sherman's March To The Sea: Gen. William T. Sherman. Expert Answers. after earning a reputation at Shiloh and earning key victories in Vicksburg, promoted to . Instead, he sought to end the war as quickly as possible, with the least loss of life on both sides. March to the Sea. Perhaps in denial of this reality, they came to accuse Sherman of carrying out countless grim acts. 120 he encouraged foraging and the confiscation of livestock but forbade home invasions. 15, which confiscated as Union property a strip of coastline stretching from Charleston, South Carolina, to the St. John's River in Florida, including Georgia's Sea Islands and the mainland thirty miles in from the coast. The portion of this march through South Carolina was even more destructive than the Savannah campaign, since Sherman and his men harbored much ill-will for that state's part in bringing on the start of the Civil War; the following portion, through North Carolina, was less so. Union forces sustained more than 1,300 casualties, whereas the Confederates suffered roughly 2,300. With Kilpatrick as a mobile screen, Howard took the right wing southeast of Atlanta in the direction of Macon, while Slocums left wing marched east toward Augusta. Gen. John P. Hatch from Hilton Head, hoping to assist Sherman's arrival near Savannah by securing the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Hardee decided not to surrender but to escape. The Majority of our funds go directly to Preservation and Education. 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. 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. Until we can repopulate Georgia it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources. 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. By December 12 Shermans force had neared Savannahs outer defenses. This freed all his troops for the upcoming movement, rather than relegating a significant number for logistical duty, but this meant that the men would need to live off the land. From Atlanta, Sherman would set out across the Southern heartland toward the Atlantic Ocean, eventually turning north to pin Robert E. Lees army between his troops and those of Grant. Sherman wasted no time. In preparation, he moved the few people remaining in the city about 10 percent of its 20,000-person population in early 1864 out of the area, and cut his supply line. Clearly this soldier was practicing the psychological destructive warfare against Georgia that his commander wanted. Sherman himself is remembered through a nearly ubiquitous photograph, with a glare so icy it can chill us even across time. He saw destruction of property as less onerous than casualties. This would prevent the formerly enslaved people from crossing to safety. Their fates remain largely unknown. 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. Sherman's March to the Sea With the full support of both Lincoln and Grant, Sherman devised an unusual plan. While Howard's wing was delayed near Ball's Bluff, the 1st Alabama Cavalry (a Federal regiment) engaged Confederate pickets. By ripping up and melting down tracks, Union soldiers slowly crippled the states industrial and military potential in full view of its civilians. Wheeler and some infantry struck in a rearguard action at Ball's Ferry on November 24 and November 25. He now dispatched the IV and XXIII Corps to Chattanooga, located along the railroad to Nashville. On September 29 Hood set out again, this time with the goal of cutting off Shermans supply lines along the Western & Atlantic Railroad in northern Georgia. Together with Shermans Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea may have tipped the scales of victory toward the Union. Sherman had his favorite regimental band present a concert for the city and brought supply ships from the North to help the city and its people regain a sense of normality. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. "[16], The Confederate opposition from Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida was meager. More Union troops entered the campaign from an unlikely direction. The Union lost 130 men in this assault and the Confederacy 40. The ensuing campaign and siege occupied most of the summer, with Sherman finally forcing a surrender on September 2. [40], There has been disagreement among historians on whether Sherman's March constituted total war. They raided farms and plantations, stealing and slaughtering cows, chickens, turkeys, sheep and hogs and taking as much other foodespecially bread and potatoesas they could carry. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wheeler's cavalry struck Brig. When Joe Wheelers horsemen also began destroying property and looting, the psychological shock of Confederates abusing their own people was hard for the Georgia civilians to take. The cavalry captured two Confederate guns at Lovejoy's Station, and then two more and 50 prisoners at Bear Creek Station. To this day, many believe that Sherman did not bring any supplies with . In 1870, five years after the wars end, the Souths overall agricultural output was 28 percent of the nations total output, some 10 percent below prewar levels. 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. Meanwhile, his troops could undermine Southern morale by making life so unpleasant for Georgias civilians that they would demand an end to the war. His armies sustained more than 1,300 casualties, with the Confederacy suffering roughly 2,300. The Confederacy suffered only 70 losses to the Unions 100, with Kilpatrick himself narrowly escaping capture. It seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle. it was necessary to make the entire Confederate population, not just the military, feel the pain of war in order to defeat the rebellion. With the Georgia state legislature having quit the capital, Union troops held a mock legislative session and voted to repeal Georgias ordinance of secession. Sherman's famed March to the Sea began in November 15, 1864, when Federal forces began leaving Atlanta. They jumped into the water, frantically trying to swim across and evade Wheeler. For this reason, he divided his expeditionary force into two infantry groups. In reality it was a final iteration of his campaign to show mercy immediately upon surrender. [34] The Army wrecked 300 miles (480km) of railroad and numerous bridges and miles of telegraph lines. (The 10,000 Confederates who were supposed to be guarding it had already fled.) But as the last unit of Daviss rear guard, the 58th Indiana, reached the far side, the bridge was unlashed. Elements of the decline in agriculture persisted through 1920".[38]. He is rightly called the American father of total warfare, a harbinger of the psychological tactics of the next century. Slaves' opinions varied concerning the actions of Sherman and his army. In fact, South Carolina suffered more at Shermans hands than Georgia had during the March to the Sea. 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. 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