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Title: Sherman's March : The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman's DevastatingMarch through Georgia and the Carolinas by Burke Davis ISBN: 0-394-75763-7 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 May, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating!
Comment: In recommending to General Grant the he be allowed to break free from his supply lines and march from Atlanta to Savannah Sherman stated " I can make this march and I will make Georgia howl". He did just that.
This is an amazingly good book by Burke Davis. Written with just a bit of Southern bias ("Federal troops...plundered their way through the South"), the author makes Sherman's point for him: "War is hell, there is no use in trying to refine it".
This book accurately depicts the experience of the 65,000 Federal troops who made this march, the inability of the Confederacy to defend itself, the complete breakdown of organized resistance and the subsequent impact on the populace. Sherman's uncontested march through Georgia and the Carolinas represents the final nail in the Confederacy's coffin. After Lincoln's presidential victory in November 1864 one can only wonder why the South did not sue for peace. They must have known, had to have realized, that the end was only a matter of time. European recognition had been laid to rest 18 months earlier.
In a very real sense, the South visited this horror upon themselves. After reading this book you get a good feeling for the serious disconnect, the complete lack of effective communication, between Confederate field commanders and their government's civilian administration. This book is an awesome accomplishment. It is a poignant testament to why there will never be a William T Sherman High School in Georgia, South or North Carolina.
Rating: 5
Summary: Sherman's 'Shock and Awe' Campaign
Comment: William T. Sherman considered himself the best strategist of the Civil War generals. His march to Atlanta succeeded with a single battle. He maneuvered his troops so the enemy withdrew. This very readable book tells about this later campaign. Burke Davis spent over ten years gathering eyewitness accounts fro obscure and forgotten sources. Fourteen pages in the Bibliography replace footnotes; this book is for reading as history.
Atlanta was a major supply station for the Confederacy; it was targeted like railroad marshaling yards in WW II. Destroying railroad yards, an oil refinery, and warehouses was a military objective, but the fires spread (as in 1871 Chicago). Sherman was blamed for the destruction of private property (p.6). Sherman's army would live off the land; they could take what was in the open, but could not enter homes (p.8). Most of Sherman's troops were from the West: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, one regiment of white Alabama Unionists (p.11). Sherman reduced formality to a minimum, and gained these troops affection.
When war was declared Sherman volunteered. He turned down an appointment as brigadier general for a colonel of regular infantry (p.15). Sherman was put in command of the Western army, and began to develop his theory of total warfare with highly mobile forces (p.18). Sherman's capture of Atlanta helped Lincoln's re-election. His march to Savannah was planned using census reports of farm production for each county. Sherman had a flat hierarchy, officers reported to him directly (p.26).
This foraging, or pillaging and destruction, was unique in American history (p.43). The looting and destruction of the Milledgeville statehouse library reminded one officer of the looting of Egypt (p.64). Sherman had a low opinion of newspaper reporters: they had earlier said he was insane, and published military news that was used by the Confederacy (no censorship then). Sherman was forever blamed for burning Columbia (p.161), but he intended to only destroy public buildings (railroad depots, factories). He said the fire was started by cotton bales burned by retreating Confederate cavalry. Others said it was caused by drunken troops (p.179), and the failure of the Governor to destroy the liquor supplies. His campaign was marked by unexpected cruelties, last seen in 17th century European wars. But not in North Carolina (p.216). Colonel Rhett was a symbol of the arrogant Southern ruling class (p.228). Sherman's focus was on winning the war rather than a victory, so he avoided a battle if possible (p.239)
Sherman's "Memoirs" in 1875 assessed the roles of individuals and governments in a bluff and candid manner, without sentiment. Sherman had some Southern admiration because of his opposition to Negro voting rights, but lost this when he termed the Confederacy as an "idiotic, criminal conspiracy" (p.300). This made him more popular with the Northern public. His death in 1891 had this eulogy: "He never acknowledged an error and never repeated it" (p.302). Sherman said "War is Hell". Clausewitz correctly said "war is the continuation of business rivalry through non-diplomatic means". Destruction in a country eliminates competition for manufacturers, creates new business for merchants and new investments for bankers. War is paradise when you profit from it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Burke Davis is an artist
Comment: Having read several books concerning Shermans March, it is my opinion, this is one of the best. Burke Davis is one of the few talented authors that can make the reader feel sympathetic for one side, then for the other. Burke Davis uses words like a great artist painting a picture. You can find yourself feeling pity for the Southern women and children, and the next chapter Burke Davis makes you feel sympathetic for Shermans soldiers. In the closing chapters, you'll probably be admiring Sherman as he marches his soldiers in the Grand review. ( and you may not like Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton as much, when Stanton attempts to defame Sherman)
This is one awesome book.
I also recomend,"Shermans March through the Carolinas"-John G. Barrett, and "When Sherman Marched North From The Sea"-Jacqueline Glass Campbell.
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Title: The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns by Joseph T. Glatthaar ISBN: 0807120286 Publisher: Louisiana State University Press Pub. Date: December, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Gray Fox : Robert E. Lee and the Civil War by Burke Davis ISBN: 0517347725 Publisher: Gramercy Pub. Date: 19 July, 1992 List Price(USD): $10.99 |
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Title: Marching Through Georgia : The Story of Soldiers and Civilians During Sherman's Campaign by Lee B. Kennett ISBN: 0060927453 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 08 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (Library of America) by William Tecumseh Sherman, Charles Royster ISBN: 0940450658 Publisher: Library of America Pub. Date: October, 1990 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Sherman: Merchant of Terror, Advocate of Peace by Charles Edmund Vetter ISBN: 0882898604 Publisher: Pelican Pub Co Pub. Date: April, 1992 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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