What happened during Union General Sherman's March to sea?

Answer 1

Union General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea stands out in US Civil War history because of the brutality Sherman's troops caused in their march from Atlanta Georgia to Savannah, Georgia. Savannah was a seaport town and the idea was for Sherman to hook up with the US Navy and capture Savannah. This was done. However, the actual "March" was controversial in that Sherman brought civilians into the fray by destroying and looting anything they believed would help the Union's efforts to end the rebellion.

Some historians support Sherman's policies, however, his own memoirs include his own statements that display his revenge towards the South. This was not just his "Civil War " face. After the war, his brutal tactics against American Native Tribes is well known.

Answer 2

Sherman wanted to accomplish several things on his "march to the sea". He wanted to bring the war home to the civilian population of the south, to make them feel the pain sufficiently that they would be ready for the war to end on any terms, just so it would stop. As he said when proposing his march, he "could make Georgia howl". And if he could make this march through the heart of the deep south, it would demonstrate to southerners that they could not win, if they could not stop enemy armies from trampling through their territory and going where they wished. Sherman also, as a practical matter, wanted to rearrange his supply lines. Before beginning his march he was in Atlanta, and his supply line stretched all the way back to Louisville, Kentucky, on the Ohio River. This was a single railroad line through hundreds of miles of hostile territory, which could be, and frequently was broken for a few days by raiding Confederates, who would burn a bridge or tear up a few miles of track, which could be easily repaired but would put the line out of operation for a few days, anyway. Sherman had been forced to leave behind at critical places along this rail line almost as many men as he had with him at the front, just to guard his supply line. When he left Atlanta, he abandoned this supply line. He carried with him a large supply of ammunition, but for food, he would feed his army off the land. This meant taking all the food from every home they passed. Once Sherman reached the sea, he could be supplied by Union ships, at any point along the coast. To accomplish this Sherman's army moved in four columns, along parallel roads, covering a front about forty miles wide, typically. Foraging parties went out on both sides of the line of march, to do the official plundering of food from the inhabitants. Other soldiers went off on their own, and unofficially robbed the inhabitants of anything of value they could find. These latter became famous as "bummers". In later years after the war, Sherman became uncomfortable as people began publishing their wartime experiences, and tried to downplay this wholesale looting. But there are published diaries at the time recounting the roadside littered, completely covered for mile after mile, with things stolen from homes, kept for a little while, and then thrown down by Union troops, and this was a description of roads which Sherman himself rode down the same days, and claimed later that he saw no evidence of any plundering. Sherman's men also burned Atlanta before they left, burned a great many houses and barns along the way, and after reaching the sea and then turning north, when they got into South Carolina they tried to burn the entire state down. Its still alleged to be controversial today who burned down the capital city of South Carolina, Columbia, but someone sure did, and it just happened to occur the day Sherman reached the city.

Answer 3

The false idea that Union Major General Sherman used "total war" tactics in the March to the Sea and during previous parts of the Atlanta campaign are false. Sherman did not target civilians, or ruthlessly employ his troops in any sort of "total war" tactics. What drew attention to his campaign in the South was his version of a war of attrition. Since decisive battles were infrequent, even victories often allowed the losing army to escape to live another day and fight again. The solution that President Lincoln, General Grant and Sherman endorsed is referred to as the strategy of attrition. The idea was to keep farm products and livestock from being used by Rebel armies. Civilian farms were raided, however civilians were not targeted. Back in Washington DC, Lincoln's now military advisor, General Halleck did not quite approve of this tactic. Halleck preferred winning the war by attacking enemy armies.

Answer 4

Georgia and South Carolina