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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] William Tecumseh Sherman Biography William Tecumseh Sherman Image SHERMAN,
William Tecumseh (1820-91) A distinguished American soldier, born at
Lancaster, Ohio, on Feb. 8, 1820. He graduated at West Point in 1840 and
afterward was stationed in the South, devoting his spare moments to the study of
law. Upon the outbreak of the war with Mexico he was
sent by sea to California, where he served as acting assistant adjutant general.
Returning East in 1850, he was appointed captain in the Commissary Department,
stationed at St. Louis and later at New Orleans. In September, 1853, he resigned
from the army and engaged in banking in San Francisco, remaining until 1857. He
engaged in business for a brief period in New York, in 1859 began the practice
of law at Leavenworth, Kans., in 1860 was superintendent of a military academy
in Louisiana, and at the beginning of the Civil War
president of a street railway company in St. Louis. In May, 1861, he reëntered.
the army as colonel of the Thirteenth Infantry and in a few weeks was appointed
brigadier general. His first active service was in the first battle of Bull Run,
where his brigade lost heavily. In August, 1861, he was detached from the Army
of the Potomac and sent to take command in Kentucky under Gen. Robert Anderson.
Sherman succeeded him in full command on October 17. He was criticized for a
declaration that 200,000 men were required in the West and was relieved of his
command by Buell in November and ordered to report to Halleck, then commanding
the Department of Missouri. After brief service at St. Louis he was in February,
1862, assigned to the Army of the Tennessee and in April took a conspicuous part
in the battle of Shiloh, being severely wounded. General
Grant said officially: "To his individual efforts I am indebted for the
success of that battle." He was commissioned major general of volunteers
and rendered distinguished service in the operations against Corinth. In July be
was sent by Grant to take command at Memphis, then just taken by Federal forces,
and later began his campaign against Vicksburg. In trying to reach Vicksburg he
was defeated and driven back at Chickasaw Bayou, but rendered important service
which contributed to the capture of the city. In July, 1863, he was made a
brigadier general in the regular army. His command was now transferred to
Tennessee, where he took an active part in the operations under General Grant
which ended in the battles around Chattanooga (November), immediately after
which he forced Longstreet to raise the siege of Knoxville. In January, 1864, he
returned to Mississippi and soon thereafter made his famous raid across the
State from Jackson to Meridian and back, destroying railroads, Confederate
stores, and other property. When Grant was appointed commander in chief of the
armies of the United States he assigned Sherman to command the Military Division
of the Mississippi, embracing the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Arkansas
departments, with temporary headquarters at Nashville and with instructions to.
undertake the capture of Atlanta. In
May, 1864, his army, about 100,000, set out from Chattanooga for the invasion of
Georgia. The Confederates under Johnston were engaged with Sherman's army at
Dalton, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, and Kenesaw Mountain, but were compelled to
retreat before his advance. Finally Atlanta was attacked, and after a siege of
40 days, marked by several sharp battles, the city was evacuated on September 1.
Gen, John B. Hood, who had superseded General Johnston in command, now moved
back to Tennessee, leaving the way open for Sherman's advance through Georgia to
the sea. In November Sherman set out for Savannah with his army stretched out at
times for a length of 60 miles. The country along the line of march was almost
devastated. By December 13 he had reached Savannah, which surrendered on
December 21. Already on August 12 he had been appointed major general in the
regular army and now received the thanks of Congress for his "triumphal
march." In February he resumed his march, turning northward through South
Carolina. On Feb. 17, 1865, his army entered Columbia, and on the same day the
Confederates evacuated Charleston, which was occupied on the following day by
the Federals. Ile then pushed northward into North Carolina, Gen. Joseph E.
Johnston attempting ineffectually to check him. Johnston's spirited attack at
Bentonville on March 19 was repulsed, and a few days later Sherman and Schofield
effected a junction at Goldsboro. On April 18 Sherman received the surrender of
General Johnston at Durham's Station, but the terms of surrender were regarded
by the government as too lenient and as including matters other than military. A
week later the same terms were made as those granted Lee. From the close of the
war until March, 1869, Sherman commanded the Military Division of the
Mississippi, with headquarters at St. Louis. Upon the appointment of Grant as
full general in July, 1866, Sherman was promoted to be lieutenant general, and
when Grant became President of the United States, March 4, 1869, Sherman
succeeded him as general. He retired from the army on full pay in February,
1884, and died in New York on Feb. 14, 1891. His Memoirs
were published in 1875 (2 vols., New York). His correspondence with his brother,
Senator John Sherman, appeared in 1894 (New York). Short biographies have been
written by Force (New York, 1899) and Robins (Philadelphia, 1905). In 1903 an
equestrian statue of the great commander, the work of Saint-Gaudens, was
unveiled in Central Park, New York, and a fine equestrian statue was set up in
Washington, D. C. Consult Gamaliel Bradford, Union
Portraits (Boston, 1916). |