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major expansion, needs more work
[[Image:Sherman (B).jpg| 200px|thumb|lift|A 1875 portrait of William Sherman]]
[[Image:Sherman (B).jpg| 200px|thumb|lift|A 1875 portrait of William Sherman]]
'''William Tecumseh Sherman''' (Lancaster, Ohio, 1820 – New York, 1891) was a Union [[Civil War]] [[general]] known for his daring and aggressive military tactics. His "scorched earth" policy of total warfare was designed to ensure the economic, strategic, and psychological collapse of the [[Confederacy]] by destroying civilian infrastructure and supplies.
'''William Tecumseh Sherman''' (Lancaster, Ohio, 1820 – New York, 1891) was a Union [[American Civil War|Civil War]] [[general]] known for his daring and aggressive military tactics. His "scorched earth" policy of total warfare was designed to ensure the economic, strategic, and psychological collapse of the [[Confederacy]] by destroying civilian infrastructure and supplies.
Notable campaigns in which Sherman was involved were [[Vicksburg]], [[Tennessee]], the siege of [[Atlanta]], his [[March to the Sea]] from Atlanta to [[Savannah]], and the eventual surrender of all Confederate armies in [[Florida]], [[Georgia]], and the [[Carolina]]s.
==Early life and pre-Civil War career==
Sherman was a [[West Point]] graduate. He was deployed to [[Florida]] in the Seminole war, and to [[California]] during the Mexican War. He resigned from the Army in 1953 and without much success became a banker and a lawyer (admitted to the bar in Kansas City without examination "on the ground of general intelligence"). In 1859 he became first superintendent of the ''Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy'', the later Louisiana State University. When secession loomed, Sherman quit his job and moved North.
==Civil War==
===Early stages===
Sherman initially was unenthusiastic for the war, only applying for a commission as officer of volunteers when three-year volunteers were called for in May 1861. He was appointed Colonel and quickly rose to the command of a brigade, participating in the first battle of [[First Battle of Bull Run|Bull Run]]. Sherman's performance in that battle was judged above-average (although his brigade joined the general Union rout), and he was sent as second-in command to the Department of the Cumberland, focusing on [[Kentucky]]. Upon the resignation of his commander on medical grounds, Sherman became commander of the Department. He may have suffered a mental breakdown; newspapers rumored he was "crazy" for vastly overstating the enemy strength and the amount of Union troops required to successfully campaign in his Department. Sherman was releived of independent command by Don Carlos Buell, was granted a leave of absence, and returned to St. Louis as a subordinate of [[Henry W. Halleck]].
===1862===
During [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson, the Confederate strongpoints defending the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, Sherman was appointed commander of Paducah, Kentucky, and was responsible for sending supplies and reinforcements to Grant. There he built himself a division, which he took to the field in time to participate in the battle of Shiloh.
As that battle began on the early morning of April 6, 1862, Sherman was the ranking officer on the field; his immediate superior Grant was at Savannah. The Confederates surprised the Union forces; Sherman and Grant were blamed for that debacle. Sherman rallied his troops, stabilizing his part of the Union line and slowly retreating in the face of the fierce Confederate attack. He was praised for his performance by Grant and theater commander Halleck, and was promoted to major general of volunteers on May 1, 1862.
After Shiloh, Sherman's division participated in the Union march on Corinth. Afterwards, Sherman became military governor of Memphis, Tennessee.
===Vicksburg===
When Grant assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee, he set out to conquer Vicksburg, [[Mississippi]], one of the last few Confederate positions on the [[Mississippi River]]. Grant decided to attack Vicksburg over land from the northeast, and Sherman was sent on a diversionary attack down the Mississippi. When Grant's part of the operation failed, Sherman faced the Confederate defenders alone and suffered a bloody repulse at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou on December 29, 1862 when he launched a frontal attack against Confederates in heavily entrenched positions.
Notable campaigns in which Sherman was involved were [[Vicksburg]], [[Chattanooga]], the [[Atlanta]] campaign culminating in his capture of that city, his [[Sherman's March through Georgia|March to the Sea]] from Atlanta to [[Savannah]], and the eventual surrender of all Confederate armies in [[Florida]], [[Georgia]], and the [[Carolina]]s.
==After the Civil War==
When Grant became [[President of the United States of America|President]], Sherman succeeded him as Commanding General of the United States Army. He held that post until November 1, 1883, and retired from the army on February 8, 1884.
==References==
*William T. Sherman, ''Memoirs of General William T. Sherman'', 2nd ed., New York, 1886.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, William Tecumseh}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, William Tecumseh}}
[[category:American Civil War Commanders]]
[[category:American Civil War Commanders]]