William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country

I just finished reading Professor James Lee McDonough's wonderful new biography of General Sherman.  This is a traditional "old school" biography which tells the story of the subjects life in a narrative form.

Sherman is a truly fascinating character.  His father, a lawyer and early justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, had an admiration for the Seneca Chief Tecumseh who tried to unite the Indian tribes to fight the United States.  Sherman's father died when Sherman was nine years old.   Being unable to care for her children, Sherman's mother divided up the children and sent them to live with various family members and friends. Sherman was sent to live with the family of U.S. Senator Thomas Ewing.  Ewing's wife was staunchly Catholic and raised all of her children as Catholics.  Although raised in a devout Catholic home, Sherman always refused to accept the Catholic faith.  Sherman eventually married Ellen Ewing whom he had been raised with.  Ellen was a very devout Catholic and reared all of the Sherman children in the Catholic faith.  Ellen's staunch religious views would be a source of contention between her and "Cump" (Sherman's childhood nickname) for the rest of their lives.

Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign

Sherman's career both before and after the Civil War are just as fascinating as his Civil War service.  As a young army officer, Sherman fought the Seminole Indians in Florida and was present in California when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill which launched the California Gold Rush.  Resigning from the army, Sherman took a job managing a bank in San Francisco.  Sherman weathered an economic downturn and a run on the bank, only to have the bank fail because the home bank in St. Louis failed.  For a short time, Sherman managed a bank on Wall Street until it too failed. For a very short period of time, Sherman tried to practice law, which also ended in financial disaster. For the rest of his life, Sherman hated bankers and lawyers.

Sherman in later life.

The eve of the Civil War found Sherman as the Superintendent of the State Military Academy in Louisiana.  It seems strange to say that Sherman loved the South and liked Southerners.  His early days as an army officer were spent in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.  Sherman became good friends with a number of prominent Southerners during his army service.

Resigning his position in Louisiana after that State seceded from the Union, Sherman returned to the army and led a division with some distinction at the battle of First Bull Run.  As a commander in Kentucky early in the war, Sherman had what can only be described as a nervous breakdown. Sherman realized that Southerners intended to fight to the bitter end and that it would be a long and bloody war of conquest.  Everybody thought Sherman was crazy and he was almost sent home in disgrace.  Fortunately, General Grant salvaged Sherman's career and gave him command of an army corps.  As Sherman was later to write, "Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk.  Now we stand by each other always."

Professor McDonough goes into great detail regarding Sherman's generalship.  Sherman disdained large battles with huge loss of life and sought to carry on a war of maneuver.  McDonough has high praise for Sherman's generalship, although he sees the march through the Carolinas as much more challenging than the vaunted "March to the Sea."

Sherman's relationship with African Americans is also interesting.  Sherman was a racist who often employed the "N" word.  He believed that blacks were inferior and should not be given full citizenship.  After the war, Sherman advocated ending reconstruction and giving control back to former Confederates so long as they were now loyal to the Union.  Sherman's career after the war sees him leading the U.S. Army's efforts against the Plains Indians.  Although Sherman generally felt that the Indians had been mistreated by the whites, he clearly saw them as inferior to whites and made some statements to the effect that it might be better to just wipe some of the tribes out altogether.

James Lee McDonough, Professor Emeritus of History, Auburn University

Sherman is an endlessly fascinating character, which is why another Sherman biography is not a waste of time.  Professor McDonough's book is well written and enjoyable.  Five out of five cannons.