William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–91) was an American soldier and a Union general during the Civil War. He captured Atlanta and Savannah and commanded the ‘March to the Sea’ through Georgia and the Carolinas, where he defeated Confederate forces and broke civilian morale by his strategy of purposeful destruction of the territory he passed through.
Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Sherman trained at the United States Military Academy (West Point.) At the outbreak of the Civil War (1861–65,) he was appointed colonel (1861) and quickly got promoted as major general and brigadier. In 1863, Sherman was given command of the army of Tennessee and, with Ulysses S. Grant, took part in the Chattanooga Campaign.
As supreme commander in the west, Sherman attacked Georgia, captured and burned Atlanta, and marched on Savannah. He pushed the Confederate army north, ultimately accepting General Joseph Johnston’s surrender at Durham, North Carolina.
After the war ended, when Grant became U.S. president, Sherman became commander of the U.S. Army. He was extremely popular and was nominated for the presidency numerous times, once countering with a phrase that has become well known: “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” Sherman’s published his Memoirs (2 vols., 1875.)
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I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: News
I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Fame
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Peace, War
If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Politics
If I was forced to choose between the penitentiary and White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Politics, Politicians
I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Difficulty, Courage, Bravery
There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is all hell.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Realistic Expectations
Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
—William Tecumseh Sherman
Topics: Commitment, Dedication, Realistic Expectations
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