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William Tecumseh Sherman March To The Sea Essay

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William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea: Why it Ended the Civil War

Jackson Angiulli
Priceville High School
Advanced Placement Language and Composition
Second Period
Mrs. Henesly
March 27, 2023
William Tecumseh Sherman’s Campaigns Through the South: Why it Ended the War “War is hell” is perhaps one of the most infamous expressions in history. The origin of this statement? Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. Known as the inventor of “ Hard War,” no one understood this expression better than Sherman. From 1864-1865, his army marched through the heart of the Confederacy, breaking the conventional ideology of a “gentleman's war,” an idea of warfare that portrays war as glorious and won solely on the battlefield in decisive, flashy …show more content…

Sherman wanted to clearly demonstrate one thing to the people of the South: the Confederacy is a hollow shell, and its government cannot protect them. Soldiers in the Army of Tennessee experienced this when they voluntarily surrendered to the Union forces (McNeil, 1971, 14). On his way to Atlanta, Sherman repeatedly routed Confederate forces by flanking. The soldiers of the Army of Tennessee expressed great frustration with this, “Sherman’ll never go to hell; he will flank the devil and make heaven in spite of the guards” (McNeil 1971, p. 12). Desertion became a major problem in the ranks of the South. Soldiers became disillusioned with the cause and their commitment to the cause withered. For Confederate soldiers, it became personal, their families lived in extreme vulnerability. Sherman’s campaign terrorized Confederate soldiers, who feared their families and homes might come next in Sherman's swath of destruction. For example, when Sherman began his turn north, marching into the Carolinas up to Virginia, the Army of Northern Virginia required a stronger picket line, a tangent of stationed soldiers to perform reconnaissance and warn against potential attacks, in its rear to prevent desertion. In a span of nine months, over 60,000 men deserted from the Army of Northern Virginia alone. (Burns 26:32) This perfectly illustrates the fragility of the Confederacy. The Army …show more content…

(2002). “The town that sherman wouldn’t burn”: Sherman’s march and madison, georgia, in history, memory, and legend. The Georgia Historical Quarterly, 86(2), 201–230. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40584537
Owens, M. (n.d.). William Tecumseh Sherman and total war. Bill of Rights Institute. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/william-tecumseh-sherman-and-total-war
Patrick, J. L., & Willey, R. (1998). “We have surely done a big work”: The diary of a hoosier soldier on sherman’s “march to the sea.” Indiana Magazine of History, 94(3), 214–239. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27792098
Railroads of the confederacy. American Battlefield Trust. (2021, July 23). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/railroads-confederacy
Sherman, W. (n.d.). William T. Sherman, special field orders no. 120, November 9, 1864. Omeka RSS. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://cwnc.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/145
Sherman, W. (n.d.). Telegram of William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant, October 9, 1864. Omeka RSS. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://cwnc.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/143
Sherman's neckties. Encyclopedia of Alabama. (2023, March 27). Retrieved April 23, 2023, from

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