These orders have been depicted in popular culture as the origin of the "40 acres and a mule" promise. Atlanta Campaign. The 360-mile march extended from Atlanta in central . After they lost Atlanta, the Confederate army headed west into Tennessee and Alabama, attacking Union supply lines as they went. Wheelers 3,500 man Confederate cavalry tried to hinder Shermans army, but Brig. Two months after capturing Atlanta, Sherman was ready to move out and decided to strip the city of its military infrastructure. "[16], The Confederate opposition from Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida was meager. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. On December 9, however, tragedy struck Brig. He had a lot more soldiers than General Hood who only had 51,000. Clearly this soldier was practicing the psychological destructive warfare against Georgia that his commander wanted. His focus on crushing civilian morale presaged the bloody World Wars of the 20th century. Doctors performed in-depth examinations to weed out the weak and those suffering from disease, and because of this 1% of the men were left behind. Sherman's march to the sea was over. He ordered Major General George Thomas and the U.S. Army of the Cumberland to follow and engage Hood's Army of Tennessee. Though he had his reservations about the plan, Grant gave his official approval on November 7. From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. Infrastructure. Smith's 1,500 Georgia militiamen, 3 miles (4.8km) south of Grahamville Station, South Carolina. Jordan, Philip D. Ohio Comes of Age: 1874-1899. Fowler, John D. and David B. Parker, eds. Where did Shermans March to the Sea start and end? Most Union soldiers complied with Shermans orders. [26], The Army's stay in Savannah was generally without incident. He had for a long time hated the idea of having to kill and maim Confederates, many of whom had been pre-war friends. Sherman received numerous letters from the very Confederate officers he was fighting against, requesting that Sherman ensure the protection of their families. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2021. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wheeler's cavalry struck Brig. General Sherman finally gained control of the city of Atlanta on September 2, 1864. At the same time, Slocum's left wing approached the state capital at Milledgeville, prompting the hasty departure of Governor Joseph Brown and the state legislature. On October 9, while still chasing Hood, he had sent the following in a telegram to Grant: I propose we break up the railroad from Chattanooga, and strike out with wagons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah. Sherman was blocked from linking up with the U.S. Navy as he had planned, so he dispatched cavalry to Fort McAllister, guarding the Ogeechee River, in hopes of unblocking his route and obtaining supplies awaiting him on the Navy ships. They destroyed the bridge across the Oconee River and then turned south.[21]. This freed all his troops for the upcoming movement, rather than relegating a significant number for logistical duty, but this meant that the men would need to live off the land. From Atlanta, Sherman would set out across the Southern heartland toward the Atlantic Ocean, eventually turning north to pin Robert E. Lees army between his troops and those of Grant. The campaign was designed by Grant and Sherman to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg campaign and Sherman's Meridian campaign, in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after consuming their 20 days of rations. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns. Seeing their terror and desperation, some Federals began throwing logs and anything else they could find toward the drowning people. To regular foraging parties must be intrusted the gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the road traveled. Just what was this warfare revolution? The following is an excerpt from those orders: IV. The American Battlefield Trust and our members have saved more than 56,000 acres in 25 states! Brig. The economic impact of the march was staggering. Politicians hurried to escape the city, and its civilian inhabitants were infuriated when Shermans men celebrated Thanksgiving there and mockingly re-enacted a legislative session to vote Georgia back into the Union. 40 Charles Royster's The Destructive War looks at the March's increasing violence through the figure of . Certainly, Sherman practiced destructive war, but he did not do it out of personal cruelty. Wheelers horsemen descended on the Federal column at Sandersonville on November 2526, and on November 28 they sprang an attack on Kilpatricks Union cavalry at Buckhead Creek. In Special Field Order No. With Wheeler close behind, many of them attempted to swim the distance. Once the rails became red hot, they were twisted into what came to be known as Shermans neckties or Shermans hairpins. The campaigns chief engineer, Col. Orlando Poe, even devised specialized equipment, called cant hooks, for the task. And so, in Atlanta, Sherman instituted tactics later generations of American war leaders would use in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Wheelers Confederate cavalry responded by killing Union prisoners. At the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, Hatch fought a vigorous battle against G.W. "Sherman's March to the Sea". Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major general of the Union Army.The campaign began on November 15 with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta, recently taken by Union forces, and ended with the . But as the last unit of Daviss rear guard, the 58th Indiana, reached the far side, the bridge was unlashed. Confederate political and military leaders Gov. Whereas more than 6,500,000 women in the United States are living with endometriosis; Whereas endometriosis is a chronic disease that can be painful and debilitating and affects Join us online July 24-26! After Sherman's crushing campaign through the Carolinas, Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett House near Durham Station. The soldiers entertained themselves by letter writing, card games and other such diversions, but the favorite activity was to hear the adventures of the foragers. Sherman's March To The Sea summary: Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman taking place from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864. which followed the successful Atlanta . Elements of the decline in agriculture persisted through 1920".[38]. Stop the Largest Rezoning in Orange County History, The Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, A little more butchery. On the morning of November 16, Sherman set out for the coast at the head of roughly 62,000 men. This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 20:17. Operating under varying degrees of supervision, their exploits formed the foundation of Shermans lasting reputation. The name immediately conjures visions of fire and smoke, destruction and desolation; Atlanta in flames, farms laid to waste and railroad tracks mangled beyond recognition. Just before pivoting east past Macon, Howards right wing came upon the industrial town of Griswoldville. Neeley, Mark E., Jr. (1991) "Was the Civil War a Total War?". A little more slaughter. In our collective memory, blue-clad soldiers march with impunity, their scavenged booty draped about them, leaving a trail of white women and children to sob at their losses and slaves to rejoice at their emancipation. They quietly abandoned their trenches and crossed the Savannah River into Confederate-held South Carolina. The destruction of Georgia displayed the unfettered might of the Union war machine. In 1870, five years after the wars end, the Souths overall agricultural output was 28 percent of the nations total output, some 10 percent below prewar levels. Uncle Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us in Richmond? was a common sentiment along the march. Sherman wasted no time. Atlanta smoldered in his rear. However, news of brutal prisoner treatment at Camp Lawton would later prompt Sherman to order the destruction of several miles of track along the Augusta & Savannah Railroad. His vision of hard war brought the Confederacy to its knees, but forestalled thousands of battlefield and civilian deaths. Determined not to lay a siege unless absolutely necessary, Sherman ordered 4,000 men from the XV Corps to seize Fort McCallister, a crucial element of the citys southern defense. After seizing Atlanta, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-earth campaign intended to cripple the South's war-making capacity and wound the Confederate psyche. The former slaves grew increasingly hesitant about getting too close to the white soldiers, who might be their source of freedom, but who often treated them with harshness and disrespect. Letter, Sherman to Henry W. Halleck, December 24, 1864. Their target was the second-largest city in the South: Atlanta, Georgia. Historians consider the march and the psychological warfare it waged to be an early example of total war. On December 13, William B. Hazen's division of Howard's wing stormed the fort in the Battle of Fort McAllister and captured it within 15 minutes. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. [14], This was the process by which the 62,000 men (55,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 2,000 artillerymen manning 64 guns) Sherman commanded were assembled, and would leave Atlanta for Savannah. The intense battle that ensued saw 250 Confederate casualties and 190 Union losses. On December 21 Savannahs mayor formally surrendered the city to the Union. [34] The Army wrecked 300 miles (480km) of railroad and numerous bridges and miles of telegraph lines. Walters, John Bennett (1948) "General William T. Sherman and Total War". In the fall of 1864 during the American Civil War, Union forces pushed deeply into the Confederacy. On November 24 several Union prisoners of war caught up with the left wing, having escaped a Confederate camp at Andersonville. The army moved at a steady pace, covering as much as 15 miles a day. 120, regarding the conduct of the campaign. Sherman's March to Sea. Shermans army marched 285 miles (458 km) east from Atlanta to the coastal town of Savannah, which surrendered without a siege. (The 10,000 Confederates who were supposed to be guarding it had already fled.) Although many of the houses were damaged and a minority put to the torch and totally destroyed others were left essentially untouched, an unpredictability that became a source of great fear. While many blacks became laborers and performed tasks necessary to the advance, others simply followed in the wake of the column. When Joe Wheelers horsemen also began destroying property and looting, the psychological shock of Confederates abusing their own people was hard for the Georgia civilians to take. Meanwhile, his troops could undermine Southern morale by making life so unpleasant for Georgias civilians that they would demand an end to the war. Soldiers dug up buried food, valuables and keepsakes, seemingly at will. The mayor of Savannah formally surrendered the city on December 21, 1864. They jumped into the water, frantically trying to swim across and evade Wheeler. I suppose it will be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide. In April, the Confederacy surrendered and the war was over. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Sherman's March to the Sea, (November 15-December 21, 1864) American Civil War campaign that concluded Union operations in the Confederate state of Georgia. Yet, the March is remembered to this day as barbarism unleashed. General Sherman's March to the Sea was historic. The first real resistance was felt by Howard's right wing at the Battle of Griswoldville on November 22. [32] Some who welcomed him as a liberator chose to follow his armies. Howard's wing, led by Kilpatrick's cavalry, marched south along the railroad to Lovejoy's Station, which caused the defenders there to conduct a fighting retreat to Macon. Sherman had completely uprooted his army and marched it unassisted through enemy territory. Shermans total war in Georgia was brutal and destructive, but it did just what it was supposed to do: it hurt Southern morale, made it impossible for the Confederates to fight at full capacity and likely hastened the end of the war. Look it up now! Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith's Georgia militia had about 3,050 soldiers, most of whom were boys and elderly men. Corrections? Gen. Charles C. Walcutt arrived to stabilize the defense, and the division of Georgia militia launched several hours of badly coordinated attacks, eventually retreating with about 1,100 casualties (of which about 600 were prisoners), versus the Union's 100. Nevertheless, Hardee knew that his position was untenable. To this end, each brigade commander will organize a good and sufficient foraging party, under the command of one or more discreet officers, who will gather, near the route traveled, corn or forage of any kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, corn-meal, or whatever is needed by the command, aiming at all times to keep in the wagons at least ten days' provisions for the command and three days' forage. The . until 1864, the Confederacy had been winning the Civil War. In 2011 a historical marker was erected there by the Georgia Historical Society to commemorate the African Americans who had risked so much for freedom. Railroads doubled as a conduit for industrial growth and transportation for the military. With the Georgia state legislature having quit the capital, Union troops held a mock legislative session and voted to repeal Georgias ordinance of secession. Hood had taken the bulk of forces in Georgia on his campaign to Tennessee in hopes of diverting Sherman to pursue him. Away off in the distance, on the McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. "[20] The 300-mile (480km) march began on November 15. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1943. To the north of this action, Sherman advanced with the left wing into Milledgeville on November 23. [39] It was widely popular among US soldiers of 20th-century wars. [12] On December 20, Hardee led his men across the Savannah River on a makeshift pontoon bridge. Consulting with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, the two men agreed that it would be necessary to destroy the South's economic and psychological will to resist if the war was to be won. Two weeks after this incident, and 20 miles removed, the march ended in Savannah. On November 15 th, 1864 Union General William Tecumseh Sherman marched his army of 60,000 troops out of the burning city of Atlanta, Georgia to embark upon a military campaign that stretched 300 miles to Savannah, leaving utter destruction in their wake. [1] Thomas would go on to defeat Hood, leaving Sherman's main army effectively unopposed. On it was Byers' poem. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is yours; for I believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. March to the Sea. In preparation, he moved the few people remaining in the city about 10 percent of its 20,000-person population in early 1864 out of the area, and cut his supply line. Shermans troops arrived in Savannah on December 21, 1864, about three weeks after they left Atlanta. The pacification of Georgia cut the Confederacy in half and denied the insurgent states much of their former industrial and agricultural capacity. Background. Federal Identification Number (EIN): 54-1426643. Rhodes, James Ford. V. To army corps commanders alone is intrusted the power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, &c., and for them this general principle is laid down: In districts and neighborhoods where the army is unmolested no destruction of such property should be permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or otherwise manifest local hostility, then army commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless according to the measure of such hostility. A Buffalo, N.Y., native and a Ph.D. from Notre Dame, John F. Marszalek taught for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2002. Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for the regiments or brigades. Whether it was a plantation manor, a more modest white dwelling or a slave hut, any residence encountered by these bummers stood a chance of being utterly ransacked. He fooled the Confederates into believing that one part of his army was heading toward Augusta, while the other wing was heading for Macon. Perhaps in denial of this reality, they came to accuse Sherman of carrying out countless grim acts. The two wings of the army attempted to confuse and deceive the enemy about their destinations; the Confederates could not tell from the initial movements whether Sherman would march on Macon, Augusta, or Savannah. [34], The March to the Sea was devastating to Georgia and the Confederacy. Pleasant J. Phillips, came upon part of Shermans rear guard of some 1,700 men. Sherman remained in Atlanta for a little over a month. More Union troops entered the campaign from an unlikely direction. VI. Until we can repopulate Georgia it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources. The general himself was a model of deportment. Savannah was now surrounded on land. Sherman allowed Hardees army to escape the city, although he could have crushed it. By the following day, soldiers were setting unauthorized fires, and the flames spread to business and residential districts. Historian Barrett assesses that Sherman could have stopped Hardee, but failed to because he was hesitant to overcommit his forces. Shermans March to the Sea started in Atlanta and ended in the coastal town of Savannah, Georgia. Barns, gardens and farms were overrun. In the summer of 1864, during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65), Union General William T. Sherman faced off against Confederate . Sherman moved against Hood on October 5. Iowa State University thesis, 2011. The field order also permitted able-bodied Black labourers to join the march, but commanding officers were instructed to remain cognizant of supplies intended for their army group. Overnight, Union engineers constructed a bridge 2 miles (3.2km) away from the bluff across the Oconee River, and 200 soldiers crossed to flank the Confederate position. However, some men, called bummers, roamed the countryside to intentionally terrorize and loot Confederate civilians. Despite these impediments, the two wings of Shermans army began to converge on Savannah in early December. On the left, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum commanded the Army of Georgia. I can make the march and make Georgia howl. Sherman recounted in his memoirs the scene when he left at 7 am the following day: We rode out of Atlanta by the Decatur road, filled by the marching troops and wagons of the Fourteenth Corps; and reaching the hill, just outside of the old rebel works, we naturally paused to look back upon the scenes of our past battles. 1. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman was a contradiction embodied. The militia, temporarily under the inexperienced command of Brig. The arrival of the main columns was even more frightening to the Georgians in their path than the passage of the foragers. An army of individuals trained in the school of experience to look after their own food and health, to march far and fast with the least fatigue, to fight with the least exposure, above all, to act swiftly and to work thoroughly. In theyears afterthe Civil War, fighting forces around the world have made use of Shermans total war strategy. Jacqueline Campbell has written, on the other hand, that some slaves looked upon the Union army's ransacking and invasive actions with disdain. Before leaving Atlanta . Sherman's armies reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in favorable fighting positions, and his soldiers had flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. The second objective of the campaign was more traditional. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but, in showing to the world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the whole Hoods army it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great light. On November 15, 62,000 men split into two infantry wings (actually four parallel corps columns) with screening cavalry to protect the main bodies as they spread across the landscape departed Atlanta. By December 12 Shermans force had neared Savannahs outer defenses. After a sparse breakfast, they formed the columns and began moving. The only real combat of the March took place on November 22, near Griswoldville. Several small actions followed. "Forage Liberally: The Role of Agriculture in Sherman's March to the Sea." Soldiers became model gentlemen, no longer foraging, but paying for what they wanted or needed. On December 21, Union forces captured Savannah; Sherman presented the city to Lincoln as a Christmas gift. As the main columns had been marching all day, organized soldiers and others fanned out in all directions, looking for food and booty. By encroaching into the rear of Lee's positions, Sherman could increase pressure on Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and keep Confederate reinforcements from reaching him. Sherman's March to the Sea With the full support of both Lincoln and Grant, Sherman devised an unusual plan. No matter Sherman kept marching. How did Shermans March to the Sea conclude? Yet, whenever they had a choice, they preferred the Federals to Confederate soldiers and civilians who had no compunction about killing them or returning them to slavery. This was an important triumph, because Atlanta was a railroad hub and the industrial center of the Confederacy: It had munitions factories, foundries and warehouses that kept the Confederate army supplied with food, weapons and other goods. Considering Sherman's military priorities, however, this tactical maneuver by his enemy to get out of his force's path was welcomed to the point of remarking, "If he will go to the Ohio River, I'll give him rations. Foragers, known as "bummers," would provide food seized from local farms for the army while they destroyed the railroads and the manufacturing and agricultural infrastructure of Georgia. His forces followed a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy and transportation networks. Major General George Thomas took some 60,000 men to meet the Confederates in Nashville, while Sherman took the remaining 62,000 on an offensive march through Georgia to Savannah, smashing things (he wrote) to the sea.. Gen. John P. Hatch from Hilton Head, hoping to assist Sherman's arrival near Savannah by securing the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. He wanted his army to win the war and thus preserve the Union, but he also wanted to curtail the battlefield slaughter. We strive for accuracy and fairness. The death count on November 15, 1864 stood at around 12,100. Georgia, stretching before Shermans army with its red clay hills and sandy terrain, was the largest of the Confederate states. On November 2526 at Sandersville, Wheeler struck at Slocum's advance guard. Union general William T. Sherman abandoned his supply line and marched across Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean to prove to the Confederate . Those prisoners in the state jail willing to take up arms for the Confederacy 175 out of 200 were freed, although some of the newly liberated men burned down the penitentiary rather than report for duty. In the spring of 1864, Union Lieut. it was necessary to make the entire Confederate population, not just the military, feel the pain of war in order to defeat the rebellion. after earning a reputation at Shiloh and earning key victories in Vicksburg, promoted to . He eliminated Atlanta's war making potential and brought sheer destruction to Georgia, then offered generous surrender terms. This Union and its Government must be sustained, at any and every cost, explained one of Shermans subordinates. Now that Sherman had contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he was able to obtain the supplies and siege artillery he required to invest Savannah. In all foraging, of whatever kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive or threatening language, and may, where the officer in command thinks proper, give written certificates of the facts, but no receipts, and they will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable portion for their maintenance. [9] Sherman therefore planned an operation that has been compared to the modern principles of scorched earth warfare. Sherman's March To The Sea: Gen. William T. Sherman. The portion of this march through South Carolina was even more destructive than the Savannah campaign, since Sherman and his men harbored much ill-will for that state's part in bringing on the start of the Civil War; the following portion, through North Carolina, was less so. involuntary servitude of African-Americans in the United States from 1619-1865. On November 22 three Confederate militia brigades (comprising some 4,500 men) from Macon discovered the carnage before chancing upon 1,500 Union soldiers. The next morning, Savannah Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out (until they were unhorsed by fleeing Confederate cavalrymen) to offer a proposition: The city would surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Geary's promise to protect the city's citizens and their property. The city was undefended when they got there. They searched hollow logs and any hiding place imaginable. In these later conflicts, largely through the use of air power, Americans attempted to destroy enemy will and logistics (a doctrine colloquially known as shock and awe in Operation Iraqi Freedom). Very quickly, these foragers came to be called bummers, and it was they who did the most damage to the countryside and provided the most food for the troops. On November 10, following Shermans orders, Union troops began torching buildings that were of military or industrial value in Atlanta. Geary telegraphed Sherman, who advised him to accept the offer. Many scholars of military history contend that his psychological warfare was one of the first modern examples of total war. Hardee had long since retreated to the coastal city and toiled away at its fortifications, which were effective at supplementing Savannahs natural marsh and river defenses. Not only was Shermans army vastly larger and superior to the Confederate military, but he also outmaneuvered the few Confederate forces and kept them uncertain about his destination. Shermans army reached the sea, took Fort McAllister and re-tied itself to a naval supply line. Gen. William H. Jackson, had approximately 10,000 troopers. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Sherman's . Updated: October 4, 2018 | Original: February 22, 2010, From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. Howard's infantry marched through Jonesboro to Gordon, southwest of the state capital, Milledgeville. Negroes who are able-bodied and can be of service to the several columns may be taken along, but each army commander will bear in mind that the question of supplies is a very important one and that his first duty is to see to them who bear arms Sherman, commanding the Military Division of the Mississippi, did not employ his entire army group in the campaign. During this time he ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 civilians and seized their homes for his soldiers living quarters. Sherman estimated a total Confederate economic loss of $100 million (more than $1.5 billion in the 21st century) in his official campaign report. With Kilpatrick as a mobile screen, Howard took the right wing southeast of Atlanta in the direction of Macon, while Slocums left wing marched east toward Augusta. War? `` tasks necessary to the coastal town of Griswoldville on November 15 1864! Varying degrees of supervision, their exploits formed the columns and began moving the of... 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