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the best answer for this question in my opinion is another question, when an animal is injured beyond recovery, should you leave it to suffer or should you end it's suffering quickly? Men were dying at a rate never seen before in warfare so I believe Gen. Sherman's actions were warranted by circumstances.
General Lee surrendered at appomattox
Sherman - anti trust act
Under the command of General Grant, General Sherman's march to the sea and the capture of Atlanta was devastating to the Confederacy. Basically Sherman fought a "scorched earth" campaign. The reasoning behind this strategy was to totally demoralize the South and thus bring the War to an end more rapidly. Many of General Grant's tactics may have seen extreme and maybe even cruel. There are plenty of examples of this. One was between Grant & Lee. After a fierce battle, Lee requested a 2 day truce so he could properly bury his dead soldiers. Grant refused and renewed his attacks. In Grant's defense, his idea that by ending the war as soon as possible, it would in the end save more lives. Thus unlike the previous leaders of the Army of the Potomac, Grant seemed more ruthless.
Abolitionists
No,William Tecumseh Sherman died in 1891, 26 years after the end of the Civil War.
Union General Sherman had just finished his famous March to the Sea. In a communication with President Lincoln after the city of Savannah surrendered, he made his famous "War is hell". quote.
William Tecumseh ("Teak") Sherman, the Civil War General who teamed up successfully with Ulysses Grant, and helped to end the war by crossing Georgia almost unmolested, demonstrating that the Confederacy was too weak to survive.
Sherman invaded Georgia, with the "March to the Sea" campaign in order to end the war. He, as well as him men and the Union (U.S.A), were sick of the war and knew that the South would go on forever, for they had almost infinitely amount of people to throw into battle (slaves). He did so because the war needed to end, and if he didn't, then the war would have maybe lasted another 10 years.
General William Tecumseh Sherman led the notorious "March to the Sea" through Georgia during the American Civil War. Starting in Atlanta in November 1864, Sherman and his Union forces marched through the state, destroying infrastructure and civilian property as they went. The goal of the campaign was to cripple the Confederacy's ability to wage war and ultimately hasten the end of the Civil War.
Savannah.
The four generals who brought an end to the war were: 1. Ulysses S. Grant 2. William Tecumseh Sherman 3. George Henry Thomas 4. Philip Sheridan
Union General William T. Sherman was horrified by the bloody and often indecisive nature of the war's battles. Sherman instead, emphasized maneuver and the destruction of the South's ability and willingness to continue the war. This he believed was better then major assaults on the battlefield. He believed that if the South's population became weary of its losses, the sooner the war would end. With that in mind, Sherman preferred raids into Southern territory and destroying supplies and transportation facilities, railroads, and other resources the Southern armies needed to continue the war.
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman fought for the Union in the Western theater of the Civil War, serving under Ulysses S. Grant in the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Vicksburg. When President Lincoln ordered Grant to the Eastern theater to defeat Robert E. Lee, Sherman was promoted to commander in the Western theater. It was at this time that Sherman began his invasion of Georgia. On September 2, 1864, Sherman was able to capture Atlanta, which may have contributed to Lincoln's re-election in the presidential election of 1864. General Sherman's tactics were ruthless and were in line with both General Grant and US President Lincoln's ideas on how to end the war as fast as possible. This is questioned as many Union soldiers lost their lives needlessly and the "political agenda" of US President Lincoln may be viewed with a critical eye.
he brunt down houses, stole peoples prize possesions and killed people in an attempt to end the war
His campaign of destruction across the rich farmland of Georgia starved the Confederate troops in the field. It shortened the war by months at almost nil casualties.
From pre-civil war, southern culture to the reconstruction era, south Carolina played a significant role in the American civil war. Visit Fort Sumter National Monument where the first shots of the civil war were fired and the battleground where Confederate and Union troops clashed near the wars end during Sherman's march through the state of South Carolina. In other words When William Tecumseh Sherman finally crossed the Savannah River into South Carolina, destruction and fires were the game. There were no Confederate force remaining in the area that could possibly stop him. The battle of honey hill occurred in Jasper Co. He burned Orangeburgh and Columbia to the ground. Leaving Georgia, General Sherman continued his trip through South Carolina, burning Columbia, the capital. He had reached North Carolina when news came of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. From pre-civil war, southern culture to the reconstruction era, south Carolina played a significant role in the American civil war. Visit Fort Sumter National Monument where the first shots of the civil war were fired and the battleground where Confederate and Union troops clashed near the wars end during Sherman's march through the state of South Carolina. In other words When William Tecumseh Sherman finally crossed the Savannah River into South Carolina, destruction and fires were the game. There were no Confederate force remaining in the area that could possibly stop him. The battle of honey hill occurred in Jasper Co. He burned Orangeburgh and Columbia to the ground. Leaving Georgia, General Sherman continued his trip through South Carolina, burning Columbia, the capital. He had reached North Carolina when news came of Lee's surrender at Appomattox.