Okla-homey
11/15/2006, 08:07 AM
Nov. 15, 1864 : The "March to the Sea" begins
On this day, 142 years ago, US Major General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his famous expedition across Georgia after torching the industrial heart of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7967/2222222222450pxwilliamtecumsehshermanjx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman was originally from Ohio. He graduated from West Point but left the army after his initial commitment had ended. He drifted around trying a lot of stuff, including the practice of law in Kansas, without much success. He finally found a job he was good at when he became president of LSU, but resigned to serve again when the Civil War erupted.
For the next six weeks, on his "March to the Sea" Sherman's army destroyed everything of military and/or industrial significance in Georgia enroute to the Confederate seaport of Savannah.
This was pretty remarkable in military history, because leaving one's base of supply and heading off into hostile territory ,with the intent to travel a 250 miles, was generally considered a pretty dumb thing to try.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1328/22222222222222800pxwillhy5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman (center, seated) and his commanders
In the interest of being "fair and balanced," Sherman's troops were great fighters but not particularly well-disciplined and many of them helped themselves to anything of value (including silverware, foodstuffs, livestock, and home furnishings) they encountered along the way.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/990/222222222400pxsavannahcpa8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman divided his army into four wings, commanded by four of his corps commanders. That way, the swath of destruction would be wider, and each of the corps would be better able to supply themselves from the pantries and farm fields they would encounter enroute.
Sherman had captured Atlanta in early September after a long summer campaign. He recognized that he was vulnerable in the city, however, as his supply lines stretched all the way to Nashville. With Confederate forces still in the field, the risk was great that Sherman could "die on the vine" if he remained in Atlanta.
Confederate raiders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest threatened to cut his lines, and Sherman had to commit thousands of troops to protect the railroads and rivers that carried provisions from Nashville down to Atlanta for his massive army.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6084/222222222222forrestnbag3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
N.B. Forrest. A relatively uneducated and self-taught soldier, he was probably the best cavalry leader on either side in the war. He has been called "the greatest cavalryman ever foaled on the American continent."
Sherman split his army, keeping 60,000 men with him and sending the rest back to Nashville with General George Thomas (a/k/a "The Rock of Chickamauga) to deal with the threatening remnants of General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee -- the force Sherman had defeated to take Atlanta.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2030/2222222222thomasbwjv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
George Thomas. A Virginian by birth, he decided to fight against his home state to save the Union. His heroic "rock-like" stand at Chickamauga the previous November is all that saved the Federal defeat from turning into a complete disaster.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2996/2222222222222untitledko2.png (http://imageshack.us)
John Bell Hood. The Kentuckian for whom Ft. Hood in texass is named. A pretty good division commander, he was unable to meet the demands of larger command. (see "Peter Principle" -- you can "google" it.) Your correspondent refers to him as the "incredible shrinking general" having first lost an arm, then a leg in separate battles. He was probably addicted to opiates (the Oxycontin/Lortab of the period) he took for the pain, which may have affected his judgment. He ultimately literally threw away what was left of his Army by futilely, but gloriously, flinging them against strong US fortified positions outside of Nashville
After hearing that President Lincoln had won reelection on November 8, Sherman ordered 2,500 light wagons loaded with supplies. Doctors checked each soldier for illness or injuries, and those who were deemed unfit were sent to Nashville.
Sherman wrote to his general-in-chief, Ulysses S. Grant, that if he could march through Georgia it would be "proof positive that the North can prevail." Sherman believed the destruction of everything of military or economic significance in the path of his army would have a profound effect on the Confederacy and its ability to continue the war.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8845/2222222222222222222sherao8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman and his boys "making Georgia howl."
He told Grant that he would not send couriers back, but to "trust the Richmond papers to keep you well advised" because Sherman knew the Rebel papers would report his exploits. Sherman concluded by stating, he would "make Georgia howl." That he did, and about the only thing the Confederates in Georgia could throw in his path were militia units which were simply unable to block him.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1929/22222222222222222744pxdel7.jpg
Enroute to Savannah, Sherman's men pulled up Confederate railroad track, heated the rails on fires and then bent them around telegraph poles or trees, making them impossible to re-use. The resultant bent rails were called commonly called "Sherman's neckties."
Sherman then loaded his surplus supplies on trains and shipped them back to Nashville. On November 15, the the 60,000 man army began to move, burning the industrial section of Atlanta before they left. Sherman's intent was to be in Savannah by Christmas, where his veterans could be re-supplied by the Navy at the important Southern port.
As Sherman's blue-clad legions stepped off from Atlanta, one witness reported
"immense and raging fires lighting up whole heavens ... huge waves of fire roll up into the sky; presently the skeleton of great warehouses stand out in relief against sheets of roaring, blazing, furious flames."
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1293/222222222222shermansmarky0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
After taking Savannah at Christmas, Sherman aimed his blue legions north to repeat his performance by laying much of central South Carolina to waste. He burned Columbia on Feb. 18, 1865. From there, he proceeded into North Carolina where he was situated when the war ended later that spring.
Popular in the North after the war, when approached about running for the presidency, he is said to have remarked, "if nominated I will not run, if elected, I will not serve."
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/903/insane7zosw1.jpg
On this day, 142 years ago, US Major General William Tecumseh Sherman begins his famous expedition across Georgia after torching the industrial heart of Atlanta and pulling away from his supply lines.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7967/2222222222450pxwilliamtecumsehshermanjx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman was originally from Ohio. He graduated from West Point but left the army after his initial commitment had ended. He drifted around trying a lot of stuff, including the practice of law in Kansas, without much success. He finally found a job he was good at when he became president of LSU, but resigned to serve again when the Civil War erupted.
For the next six weeks, on his "March to the Sea" Sherman's army destroyed everything of military and/or industrial significance in Georgia enroute to the Confederate seaport of Savannah.
This was pretty remarkable in military history, because leaving one's base of supply and heading off into hostile territory ,with the intent to travel a 250 miles, was generally considered a pretty dumb thing to try.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/1328/22222222222222800pxwillhy5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman (center, seated) and his commanders
In the interest of being "fair and balanced," Sherman's troops were great fighters but not particularly well-disciplined and many of them helped themselves to anything of value (including silverware, foodstuffs, livestock, and home furnishings) they encountered along the way.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/990/222222222400pxsavannahcpa8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman divided his army into four wings, commanded by four of his corps commanders. That way, the swath of destruction would be wider, and each of the corps would be better able to supply themselves from the pantries and farm fields they would encounter enroute.
Sherman had captured Atlanta in early September after a long summer campaign. He recognized that he was vulnerable in the city, however, as his supply lines stretched all the way to Nashville. With Confederate forces still in the field, the risk was great that Sherman could "die on the vine" if he remained in Atlanta.
Confederate raiders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest threatened to cut his lines, and Sherman had to commit thousands of troops to protect the railroads and rivers that carried provisions from Nashville down to Atlanta for his massive army.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6084/222222222222forrestnbag3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
N.B. Forrest. A relatively uneducated and self-taught soldier, he was probably the best cavalry leader on either side in the war. He has been called "the greatest cavalryman ever foaled on the American continent."
Sherman split his army, keeping 60,000 men with him and sending the rest back to Nashville with General George Thomas (a/k/a "The Rock of Chickamauga) to deal with the threatening remnants of General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee -- the force Sherman had defeated to take Atlanta.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2030/2222222222thomasbwjv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
George Thomas. A Virginian by birth, he decided to fight against his home state to save the Union. His heroic "rock-like" stand at Chickamauga the previous November is all that saved the Federal defeat from turning into a complete disaster.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2996/2222222222222untitledko2.png (http://imageshack.us)
John Bell Hood. The Kentuckian for whom Ft. Hood in texass is named. A pretty good division commander, he was unable to meet the demands of larger command. (see "Peter Principle" -- you can "google" it.) Your correspondent refers to him as the "incredible shrinking general" having first lost an arm, then a leg in separate battles. He was probably addicted to opiates (the Oxycontin/Lortab of the period) he took for the pain, which may have affected his judgment. He ultimately literally threw away what was left of his Army by futilely, but gloriously, flinging them against strong US fortified positions outside of Nashville
After hearing that President Lincoln had won reelection on November 8, Sherman ordered 2,500 light wagons loaded with supplies. Doctors checked each soldier for illness or injuries, and those who were deemed unfit were sent to Nashville.
Sherman wrote to his general-in-chief, Ulysses S. Grant, that if he could march through Georgia it would be "proof positive that the North can prevail." Sherman believed the destruction of everything of military or economic significance in the path of his army would have a profound effect on the Confederacy and its ability to continue the war.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8845/2222222222222222222sherao8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Sherman and his boys "making Georgia howl."
He told Grant that he would not send couriers back, but to "trust the Richmond papers to keep you well advised" because Sherman knew the Rebel papers would report his exploits. Sherman concluded by stating, he would "make Georgia howl." That he did, and about the only thing the Confederates in Georgia could throw in his path were militia units which were simply unable to block him.
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1929/22222222222222222744pxdel7.jpg
Enroute to Savannah, Sherman's men pulled up Confederate railroad track, heated the rails on fires and then bent them around telegraph poles or trees, making them impossible to re-use. The resultant bent rails were called commonly called "Sherman's neckties."
Sherman then loaded his surplus supplies on trains and shipped them back to Nashville. On November 15, the the 60,000 man army began to move, burning the industrial section of Atlanta before they left. Sherman's intent was to be in Savannah by Christmas, where his veterans could be re-supplied by the Navy at the important Southern port.
As Sherman's blue-clad legions stepped off from Atlanta, one witness reported
"immense and raging fires lighting up whole heavens ... huge waves of fire roll up into the sky; presently the skeleton of great warehouses stand out in relief against sheets of roaring, blazing, furious flames."
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1293/222222222222shermansmarky0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
After taking Savannah at Christmas, Sherman aimed his blue legions north to repeat his performance by laying much of central South Carolina to waste. He burned Columbia on Feb. 18, 1865. From there, he proceeded into North Carolina where he was situated when the war ended later that spring.
Popular in the North after the war, when approached about running for the presidency, he is said to have remarked, "if nominated I will not run, if elected, I will not serve."
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/903/insane7zosw1.jpg