William Sherman

Biography

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) rose from relative obscurity to become one of the most celebrated and controversial military commanders of the American Civil War. After early struggles with depression and self-doubt, Sherman found his purpose under Ulysses S. Grant's command, developing a strategy of total war that emphasized the destruction of the enemy's economic and military capacity. His capture of Atlanta in 1864 and subsequent March to the Sea through Georgia demonstrated the effectiveness of his approach and boosted Northern morale during a critical phase of the war. Sherman's aggressive tactics, including the burning of Atlanta and the devastation of the Georgia countryside, made him a villain in the South but a hero in the North. After the war, he served as commanding general of the U.S. Army and played a significant role in the Indian Wars of the Great Plains. His memoirs, published in 1875, became influential military texts. Sherman's legacy remains contested—celebrated for his military genius and strategic innovations, yet condemned for the civilian suffering his campaigns inflicted.