The brutality of war has scarred and devastated the world since the beginning of time, and has drastically changed over the course of history. Many precious lives of loved ones have been lost to war and continue to as fighting rages on. Famous Revolutionary War hero, George Washington, stated “My first wish [as president] is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth” (George Washington Quotes). General Washington witnessed the terror of war while fighting for independence from Great Britain. Against his wishes, war and violence continued as history went on. Many years after the American Revolution, conflicts between two halfs of the United States resulted in 620,000 casualties, which was roughly 2% of the population at the time. “The Civil War was America’s bloodiest …show more content…
He himself said “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over” (William Tecumseh Sherman). Unfortunately, Sherman was right. He had gained wisdom from fighting for the Union in past Civil War battles and knew what had to be done in order for the Union to be victorious. After continually losing to the rebel Confederates, Sherman learned that the only way to demolish the opponent was to target matters beyond the battlefield. This included resources keeping the rebels alive, the land they fought to protect, and the people they loved. These tactics of war and demolition were known as “extreme or modern warfare strategies” and had been used in wars before. Sherman openly conveyed his total warfare ideals to the public, and his concepts were turned down immediately. His fellow Union soldiers thought he was insane and put him on leave from the Union army. However, after some convincing, he returned to the battlefield in December of 1861 to serve for the Union where he carried out his first attempt of demolishing the