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Sherman's total war strategy
Tactics of Sherman
Sherman's total war strategy
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In chapter one of What They Fought For, I learned about the letters and diaries of the Confederate soldiers. The themes of the letters were home-sickness, lack of peace, and the defense of home against their invading enemy. The thought of soldiers fighting for their homes and being threatened by invaders, made them stronger when facing adversity. Many men expressed that they would rather die fighting for a cause, than dying without trying and this commitment showed patriotism. Throughout the letters, soldiers claimed their reason for fighting, was for the principles of Constitutional liberty and self-government.
Jefferson Davis journeyed to see Bragg’s army in Tennessee as other generals in Bragg’s command were demanding Bragg be replaced. Davis did not replace Bragg and did not leave him a strategy to fight the war (www.clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com). As commander in chief of the Confederate States of America, he made a fatal decision in carrying too much weight to defending the Confederate capital of Richmond at the expense of the more western operations, such as the vital defense of the last Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, MS (www.britannica.com). He hoped in the cause of Confederate independence even in 1865, the war’s last year. That was, until he recognized the inevitability of the capture of Richmond.
Even though soldiers wanted to win the war for their side so badly, they wanted to see their enemy suffer just as badly, but possibly even more. A quote McPherson included from a soldier’s journal on page 153 reads, “’[We] will have an eye for eye and toth for toth…if I live, I will be revenged. Yes I will draw their blood and mutilate their dead bodies and help send their souls to hell.’” Even though there are many motives for why men fought in the Civil War, revenge was a shared motive for both sides that pushed men to their limits during the Civil War. Through McPherson’s use of soldiers’ diaries and letters, it is clear that revenge was an irrefutable motive for soldiers to fight and continue to fight until the
The United States Civil War is possible one of the most meaningful, bloodstained and controversial war fought in American history. Northern Americans against Southern Americans fought against one another for a variety of motives. These motives aroused from a wide range of ideologies that stirred around the states. In James M. McPherson’s What they fought for: 1861-1865, he analyzes the Union and Confederate soldier’s morale and ideological components through the letters they wrote to love ones while at war. While, John WhiteClay Chambers and G. Kurt Piehler depict Civil War soldiers through their letters detailing the agonizing battles of war in Major Problems in American Military History.
The clash of Cold Harbor occurred from May 31 to June 12, 1864 in Virginia between the union and confederate strengths and it resulted in a victory for the confederacy. The charging officers were Robert E. Lee for the confederacy and for the Union their leaders were General Ulysses S. Gift and George G. Meade. It is recognized as one of the bloodiest yet most key and trim sided battles of the American Civil War. The Battle of Cold Harbor was additionally one of the last clashes of the union drove by General Grant and as a major aspect of his 1864 overland campaign.
Sherman declines the petition to stop Sherman from taking over Atlanta and forcing its citizens to evacuate. Sherman claims that this decision is not humane but it is necessary for the war claiming that it will benefit millions more that it hurts. To make peace in America not just Atlanta Sherman claimed that he must take Atlanta. Sherman is trying to explain that Atlanta is a crucial Confederate city that is supporting the war efforts. It is being taken to damage the rebels, not to disturb the citizens of the South.
Sherman 's campaign began on November 15th when he cut the last telegraph wire that linked him to his superiors in the North. General Sherman had started to burn in Atlanta, after his Atlanta campaign. He did not end until he reached Savannah on December 22.Two days later, Sherman telegraphed President Lincoln with the message "I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah..." Along the way, his army was joined by thousands of former slaves. Sherman stayed in Savannah until the end of January and then continued his campaign through the Carolina 's .On
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign. In thirty seven weeks, Sherman marched 62,000 men more than three hundred miles across Georgia. In his path lay ruin. Bridges, cotton, livestock, factories, telegraph lines and hundreds of miles of railroads were destroyed. The campaign begins on November 15, when Sherman's troops leave Atlanta after they razed it to the ground.
In the fall of 1863 General William T. Sherman started planning for the next portion of his battles across the southern states and ending in the Carolinas to try and finally end the Civil War. The campaigns and battles proceeding the spring of 1864 had been conventional warfare, hand to hand and geared more directly at the troops, ships, battery emplacements, and key military facilities. Sherman left Vicksburg February 3, 1864 giving explicit orders to destroy the railroad tracks across Mississippi, as well any facility or establishment that could be utilized in helping or supporting the Confederate war efforts. Sherman continued this reign of destruction the Carolina’s.
In the Article Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie 's father had a love for books which caused Sherman 's life to change. Similarly, my dad caused my life to be changed with hunting. First of all, Sherman’s house was filled with lots of books. Likewise, my house has lots of taxidermy, guns and hunting gear. Growing up with books around him made him love them like his father did.
I do hope that this letter finds you and your family well. It pains me to write to you of the terrible things that have happened to our family. Our plantation was burned to the ground when Sherman’s soldiers pillaged our town in his March to the Sea. I accept I shall be a spinster and have to make my own way in the world as so many of our young gentlemen have died. Mother, the children, and I are fortunate to be staying with friends of mother’s, on a small plantation outside of Atlanta.
In an interview, a Confederate soldier says, "Johnston 's strategy was to take a strong defensive position and waiting for the enemy to attack." On the other side, a Union soldier said, "Sherman
The advantage that allowed the Confederacy to enjoy military success in the early years of the Civil War were that most of the battles were fought on their terrain. This gave them the upper hand in knowing the battlefield and knowing the best strategies to fight the Union. The Confederacy also had an upper hand in military leadership as an example Robert Lee. They had many veterans of the Mexican-American War, which had experience in war. The Confederacy had this feeling that they were fighting a war for independence that carried with it a sense of destiny that would sustain them through the difficult times ahead.
“Panic hit the city with first of Sherman’s shells. Helpless and unarmed, the populace fled from the oncoming Juggernaut and desperately the gallant remnants of an army marched out to face the foe.” All of a sudden, there was some bomb sounds outside the window. All the guests in the party especially females were shocked and getting more fluster as they do not know what to do. At the same time, all the armies were getting ready for the war including him and the army at the party as well.
People were often inspired to participate in the war. They could also be convinced of a particular viewpoint, pressured or scared into agreeing with things, and subconsciously made to think a certain way. This was all caused by the media that they were observing every day. This led to people putting a lot of passion and effort into the politics of the war and the war itself, which, in turn, largely impacted the occurrences and outcome of the Civil War.