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- Birth nameTecumseh Sherman
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- William Tecumseh Sherman was a general in the Union army during the American Civil War (and the man who coined the phrase, "War is hell"). He was regarded as one of the most able generals on either side, and his famous "March to the Sea" was credited with greatly shortening the length of the war and is considered by many military historians to be one of the first examples of "total war" in the history of modern warfare.
One of eight children, Sherman was born Tecumseh Sherman (in honor of the famous Shawnee Indian warrior) in Lancaster, OH, in 1820. His father was a judge who died when William was only nine. He was adopted by William Ewing, a family friend, and Ewing's wife added "William" to his name. At 16 years of age young William received an appointment to the US Army Military Academy at West Point, NY, graduating in 1840 near the top of his class. Upon graduation Sherman was posted to Florida, where he took part in the war with the Seminole Indian tribe, and he was later transferred to Fort Moultrie, SC. When the Mexican War broke out in 1848 Sherman was stationed in California as an administrative officer and was unable to take part in it. In 1850 he married Ellen Ewing--her father William, who had adopted Sherman as a youth, was by this time the US Secretary of the Interior--and the newlyweds settled in St. Louis, MO.
Sherman resigned from the army in 1853 and traveled to California to try his luck during the Gold Rush. He wound up taking a position in San Francisco with a St. Louis banking company. His business career, however, was severely damaged by the Panic of 1857. He found himself unemployed but was helped out by two friends from his West Point days, Braxton Bragg and P.G.T. Beauregard--who would later find themselves on the opposite side of Sherman during the Civil War as generals in the Confederate army--who got him a job as the superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana. However, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, Sherman resigned from the academy and rejoined the army as a colonel in that same year.
Sherman was given command of a brigade in the army of Gen. Irvin McDowell and took part in the First Battle of Bull Run, a disastrous defeat for the Union. Despite that, Sherman was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned to Kentucky as second-in-command to Gen. Robert Anderson. He did not fit well into that position and was soon transferred to the army of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, where he served as a division commander. Sherman took part in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, and his performance so impressed his superiors that he was promoted to the rank of Major General.
Grant and Sherman worked extremely well together They planned and executed the siege and eventual capture of Vicksburg, MS, destroying the Confederate defenses and allowing Union supplies and reinforcements to use the Mississippi River again. Although Sherman suffered a defeat at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, he made up for that by capturing Fort Hindman, a feat that resulted in his being given command of the Union's XV Corps.
President Abraham Lincoln placed Grant in command of the Union Army in the west, and Sherman was promoted to Grant's former position of commander of the Army of the Tennessee. They took part in the Chattanooga campaign in November of 1863. In March of 1864 Grant was given command of all Union armies and Sherman was given command of the military division of the Mississippi, which included three entire armies. Sherman's campaign to invade Georgia began near Chattanooga, TN, in 1864 with 100,000 troops. Opposing Confederate forces were unable to stop them and were steadily pushed back. On Sept. 2 Sherman captured Atlanta, a major Southern industrial center and transportation hub, and its loss seriously damaged the South's war effort.
After capturing Atlanta, Sherman took more than 60,000 troops from his force and led them on the famous "March to the Sea", which was to end at the port city of Savannah. On its way, the army devastated the countryside, destroying railroads, farms, plantations, industrial areas, and anything that the South could use to further its war effort (it was also intended to "bring the war home" to the Southerners who had started the war in the first place). After taking Savannah Sherman turned his forces north through the Carolinas and headed for Virginia. However, the South was unable to continue the war anymore, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to Grant at Appomattox, VA, on 4/9/1865. Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered the remainder of the Southern forces to Sherman on April 26 near Durham, SC, and the war was over.
After hostilities ended, Grant was promoted to four-star general and Sherman was promoted to Lieutenant General. Grant was elected US President in 1869, and he promoted Sherman to Commanding General of the Army, which he held until 1884. He retired to New York City, where he died in 1891.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2
- SpouseEllen Ewing(1850 - ?) (7 children)
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