Sherman's Definition Of Total War

Etaja Green Professor Stephen Brandon ENG 112 - Composition and Rhetoric 20 March 2017 Richmond Post Civil War The Civil War was a battle fought between the Northern states and the Southern states between eighteen sixty-one and eighteen sixty-five. The was also known as “The Battle Between The States” The war was fought between the states due to differences in opinions on taxes, tariffs, and states rights vs federal rights.

On June 27th, the Confederates that were positioned to the north of the Chickahominy River were tasked to pursue the retreating Union army. On one hand, Jackson, D. H. Hill, A. P. Hill, and Longstreet, all coordinated together to surround Porter and flank him. On the other hand, Lee was unaware that Porter would stop at Boatswain’s Swamp, which was further toward the east than he had initially expected. A. P. Hill’s men found Boatswain’s Swamp to be completely guarded, and their assaults did little to penetrate the Union lines until Jackson and D. H.

On february 11th, Sherman and his men destroyed the railroad depot, and Sent his men in 4 different directions to destroy just about everything in their path, thus starting his “total war” plan. During the September of 1864, a Confederate general by the name of John Bell Hood had to retreat his men as they were being pushed back by Sherman 's men, forcing them to destroy and burn any and all supplies, including food, ammo, and other such things. Sherman had his men leave it to burn, and proceeded to rip through all of Atlanta Georgia, leaving a 60 mile wide path of burning destruction, effectively burning Atlanta to the ground. The reason he did this was because he reasoned the only way to win the war was to break the souths will to fight, and so he did just that.

During the Battle of Oak Grove, General McClellan’s goal was to reach high ground to gain a height advantage. The thick woods of Oak Grove became the unofficial line that separated both sides of the conflict. Another of General McClellan’s goal was to secure the Richmond and York River Railroad to be able to secure a faster supply line and to have the ability to move his siege guns up to put more pressure on Richmond. General Sickles of the Union Army pushed through Oak Grove and was able to drive the Confederates from York Railroad. Less than two hours after the beginning of the battle, General McClellan calls for his forces to cease movement and moves his command post to the front.

The Battle of the Weldon Railroad ended up providing a key element of the Union’s general Grant during the Petersburg Campaign. Because of the Union’s victory it resulted in the permanent capture of Confederate general Lee’s most important supply lines. Because of all of these troubles on August 18, Union Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac seized a portion of the vital railroad that connected Petersburg with Wilmington, North Carolina. At the end of the battle the Union troops would control the Weldon Railroad for the rest of the campaign. Because of this Lee had no choice but to get rid of his supplies from North Carolina and transfer them to Dinwiddie Court house.

William T Sherman was an American soldier, educator and businessman. Sherman served during the American Civil War as a General in the Union Army. He received criticism for his hostility towards the "scorched earth" policies that he carried out while conducting total war against the Confederate States along with gaining recognition for his excellent command of military strategy. He led around 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia for the purpose of frightening Georgia’s citizens so that they would abandon their confederate cause. Sherman’s soldiers stole food, livestock, burned the houses, and barns of people who tried to fight back but did not destroy any of the towns in their path.

This battle was both a failure and a success for the Confederates. Bragg’s main plan was to cut off Rosecrans’ main line of communication. This plan was not accomplished by any means. Bragg’s attack caused Rosecrans’ front to be centered around his line of communication (Nashville Pike). Rosecrans’ army, the Army of Cumberland, lost many more troops than Bragg.

Sherman had went to Ulysses S. Grant, his friend. After all this happened Sherman had got permission. Sherman had got all his 60,000 troops together and told them the rules of the march. He had separated the troops into like a pair of wings. There was a left and a right side.

General McClellan made the South flee causing the Union to win another battle. In Mississippi General Grant led another battle to victory with the surrender of the Confederacy. General Sherman led the Union army in Savannah and destroyed the cities and broke the spirit of the Confederacy. This was another victory. The final battle of the Civil War was led by President Lincoln.

Since Tubman and slave scouts had already gathered information about the Confederates beforehand , the 150 soldiers traveling along the Combahee River were able to surprise the Confederates. ("Tubman During," n.d.). The Union Army started to burn down plantations and over 700 slaves would be carried to freedom from the gunboats("Tubman

Ulysses S. Grant chased General Lee’s army for a long time in order to finally reach it and defeat it. The defeating of General Lee’s army is considered by many to be the end of the civil war, showing that General Ulysses S. Grant was a superior general to many other generals in the United States’ history. He used tactics that may have seemed controversial, but did help

It ends on December 21st, with the capture of the port of Savannah. The objective was to destroy any resource that strengthened the Confederate opposition and to spread terror in the opposite army. Among Sherman’s objectives was the road rail network. The railroads were the principal logistic nodes that transported industrial products, private property, and agricultural products that served as a logistical resource for the army during the march. Sherman's choice

The Civil War was fought because of the disagreements between the free states (North) and the slave states (South) over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery. The South felt that whether or not to have slaves should be a decision made by each individual state and should not controlled on a national level. The North felt that slavery should be abolished in all states. These differences brought a lot of separations between the states as a result, the Civil War was fought. The war was fought from 1861 to 1865.

I don’t have a great understanding of this but it seemed like Grimsley looked at the Northern point of view. Sherman took the entire course of the war to change from being a commander who sought to exclude civilians from the conflict to becoming a leader who actively searched for ways to terrorize Southern civilians into giving up their cause (without injuring them). In the first three years of the war, Sherman went from rigorously protecting Southern civilians and their property to believing that these citizens were ultimately responsible for the war and had to be convinced to stop supporting it. He sought a way to end the war with as little bloodshed as possible. Sherman’s method of war became the Federal strategy for winning the war.

Did you know that most major Battles of the Civil War were draws? Although the Battle of Antietam was considered a draw, it still gave the Union army a large advantage. Along with the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Gettysburg was almost a draw, but the Union took the win. Later in the war, a General named Tecumseh Sherman thought that by destroying the southern infrastructure, he would revoke the south of its morale, and its ability to fight. A major theme of the Civil War was war was terrible, as supported by Battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and General Sherman’s Total War.