William T. Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Ohio in 1820. He was named after Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. After graduating school William served in South Carolina and Georgia during the Mexican War. He later resigned from the army but then became superintendent of the military academy. Sherman joined the Union army during the Civil War. Sherman fought and led in many battles during this time. He had Ulysses S. Grants support and helped the Union win the war. William T. Sherman was a skillful general in the war and through his ‘March to the Sea’ he became famous in the North and notorious in the South.
The first battle Sherman fought in was the battle at Bull Run. During this battle the Union troops were greatly beaten by the Confederate Army. His brigade suffered heavy loses. He was then sent to Kentucky to lead troops there. But Sherman didn’t do so well at this position. “Filling quotas for Kentucky volunteers was extremely difficult. The State was split on their beliefs and where their allegiance should be placed.”(Bengstun, 2012). Sherman had to ask the Secretary of War for a large amount of back up. This didn’t perceive well with the people. “His numerous requests for reinforcements and his generally nervous behavior caused some newspapers to describe him as insane”(Biography, 2012).
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He and Grant worked admirably to keep the men from retreating. “From that point on, the men would work together for Union victory.”(Biography, 2012).
Sherman was ordered by Grant to destroy the South. Sherman’s army realized their plan could be a fail. His new plan was to, “destroy the South by laying waste to its economic and transportation infrastructure”(Sherman’s, 2013). So began Sherman’s Atlanta