Sherman March to the Sea (also known as Savannah Campaign ) is a military campaign of the American Civil War that was carried out through Georgia from 15 November to 21 December 1864, by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman from Union Army. The campaign begins with Sherman troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta on November 15 and ending with the capture of the port of Savannah on 21 December. His troops follow a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as civilian industries, infrastructure and property and disrupting the Confederate economy and its transport network. The operation broke Confederate backs and helped lead eventually to surrender. Sherman's bold move to operate deep inside enemy territory and without supply lines is considered one of the major achievements of war.
Video Sherman's March to the Sea
Background and goals
Military situation
"March to the Sea" Sherman followed the Atlanta Campaign's success in May to September 1864. He and the Union Army commander, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederate's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare had been broken convincingly. Therefore Sherman plans an operation that has been compared to the modern principles of charred warfare, or total war. Despite his official order (cited below) certain control over the destruction of infrastructure in areas where his troops are not troubled by guerrilla activity, he admits that supplying soldiers through liberal feeding will have a damaging effect on the morale of civilians encountered in this sweeping country.
The second goal of the campaign was more traditional. Grant's troops in Virginia continue to face a dead end against Robert E. Lee's army, which is under siege in Petersburg, Virginia. By moving behind Lee and doing great backlash against him, Sherman might be able to increase the pressure on Lee, allowing Grant a chance to break through, or at least keep Southern reinforcements from Virginia.
The campaign was designed by Grant and Sherman to be similar to the innovative and successful Vicksburg Grant Campaign and Meridian Sherman Campaign, where the Sherman army will reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the ground" after consuming 20 days of their rations. Foragers, known as "bummers," will provide food confiscated from local farms for the Army while they destroy railroads and Georgia's agricultural manufacturing and infrastructure. In planning for the march, Sherman uses cattle and plant production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believes they will be able to search for the most effective food. The railroads are twisted and damaged so that the troops heats up on fire and wrapped around tree trunks and left behind being known as "Sherman ties". Because the army would lose touch with the North during the campaign, Sherman gave an explicit order, Sherman Special Purpose Command, No. 120, regarding the implementation of the campaign. The following is a quote from the general's command:
... Ã, IV. Soldiers will find food freely in the country during the parade. For this purpose, every brigade commander will arrange a good and sufficient binge, under the command of one or more wise officers, who will gather, near the route, corn or any food, any kind of meat, vegetables, corn-real , or whatever is required by the command, aiming at all times to remain in the carriage for at least ten days for provision and three days of forage. Soldiers may not enter human settlements, or commit any offense, but during termination or camp they may be allowed to collect turnips, apples, and other vegetables, and to expel stock of their camps. For ordinary meal parties should be instructed collection of provisions and feed at any distance from the road taken.
V. For the commander of the army corps itself entrusted the power to destroy factories, houses, cotton, & amp; c, and for them this general principle is set: In the district and neighborhood where the army is not disturbed, there is no destruction of the property. must be permitted; but should the guerrillas or shrubs molest our marches, or should the residents burn bridges, block roads, or manifest local animosities, then the army commander should order and impose more or less endless destruction according to the size of the hostility.
VI. As for horse, mule, cart, & amp; c, belonging to the population, cavalry and artillery may suit freely and indefinitely, distinguish between rich, usually hostile, and poor or industrious, usually neutral. or friendly. Feeding parties can also take mules or horses to replace tired animals from their trains, or serve as parcel-packages for regiments or brigades. In all food searches, of any kind, the parties involved will refrain from harsh or threatening language, and possibly, where the ruling officer thinks rightly, gives a written certificate of fact, but no receipt, and they will try to go with every family. parts that make sense for maintenance.
VII. The able-bodied Negroes who can serve several columns can be taken together, but every army commander will remember that the supply problem is of the utmost importance and that his first task is to look to those who bear the weapon....
The parade was made easier by capable assistants such as Orlando Metcalfe Poe, head of the bridge building and the demolition team. Major General William T. Sherman chose Poe as chief engineer in 1864. Poe oversaw the burning of Atlanta, whose actions were respected by Sherman. Poe directly supervised the demolition of all buildings and buildings in Atlanta that could give any Rebel military value, once Sherman left town; rail depots, round houses, armory and manually dismantled storage areas and flammable materials are then destroyed by controlled fires (however, Poe is angry at unbridled levels of combustion by robber troops rather than from his unit that result in heavy damage to civilian homes. ) He served in this capacity through the fall of Atlanta until the end of the war. Dozens of river crossings, poor or non-existent roads and widespread marshes in southern Georgia will slowly fatal Sherman troops lack the expertise of Poe as the leader of bridges, roads and pontoon units that keep troops in motion. He also continues to oversee the destruction of the Confederate infrastructure. Promoted by Sherman by two steps in rank to the colonel after the fall of Savannah, he continued in capacity in the War concluding Carolinas's Campaign as Sherman heading north from Savannah to connect with Grant and the Potomac Army in Virginia and to cut another plot through South and North Carolina.
Maps Sherman's March to the Sea
Fight power
Union
Sherman, who heads the Mississippi Military Division, does not use his entire army in the campaign. Lieutenant-General of the Confederation John Bell Hood threatened the Sherman supply line from Chattanooga, and Sherman separated the two troops under Major General George H. Thomas to deal with Hood in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. For the Savannah Campaign, the remaining 62,000 Sherman troops (55,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and 2,000 artillery riding 64 rifles) were divided into two columns for the parade:
- the right wing is Tennessee Army , ordered by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, consisting of two corps:
- XV Corps, commanded by Major General Peter J. Osterhaus, with Brig division. Gens. Charles R. Woods, William B. Hazen, John E. Smith, and John M. Corse.
- The XVII Corps, ordered by Maj. Gen. Frank Blair, Jr., with the divisions of Major General Joseph A. Mower and Brig. Gens. Mortimer D. Leggett and Giles A. Smith.
- the left wing is Georgian Army , ordered by Major General Henry W. Slocum, also with two corps:
- XIV Corps, ordered by Brig. General Jefferson C. Davis, with the Brig division. Gens. William P. Carlin, James D. Morgan, and Absalom Baird.
- XX Corps, ordered by Brig. General Alpheus S. Williams, with the Brig division. Gens. Nathaniel J. Jackson, John W. Geary, and William T. Ward.
- A cavalry division under Brig. General Judson Kilpatrick operates in favor of two wings.
Confederate
Confederate Opposition from Lt. General William J. Hardee The departments of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida are very few. Hood has taken many troops in Georgia on his campaign to Tennessee in the hope of diverting Sherman to pursue him. However, given Sherman's military priority, this tactical maneuver by his enemy to get out of his power was greeted with the saying, "If he's going to the Ohio River, I'll give him the rations." There are about 13,000 people left in Lovejoy's Station, south of Atlanta. Major General Gustavus W. Smith Georgia militia has about 3,050 troops, mostly elderly men and men. Cavalry Corps of Major Joseph Wheeler, reinforced by a brigade under Brig. General William H. Jackson, has about 10,000 troops. During the campaign, the Confederate War Department brought in additional men from Florida and Carolina, but they could never increase their effective strength beyond 13,000.
March
The US president, Abraham Lincoln, and General Ulysses S. Grant have serious objections about Sherman's plans. However, Grant trusted Sherman's judgment and on November 2, 1864, he sent Sherman a telegram saying simply, "Go away, as you suggest." The 300 mile (480 km) march began on 15 November. Sherman recounts in his memoirs the scene when he left at 7 am the following day:
... We went from Atlanta by the road of Decatur, filled by marching troops and carts of the Fourteenth Corps; and reach the hill, just beyond the work of the old rebels, we naturally stop to look back to our past battle scenes. We stood on the ground where the bloody battle was July 22, and could see a spate of wood where McPherson fell. Behind us lay Atlanta, smoldering and ruined, black smoke rising high in the air, and hanging like a veil over a ruined city. Far off in the distance, on the McDonough Street, there was the back of Howard's column, the shimmering rifles in the sun, the white-waisted carts stretching south; and right in front of us the Fourteenth Corps, lined up steadily and quickly, with a cheerful look and swinging move, which made the light of thousands of miles between us and Richmond. Several bands, incidentally, hit the song "John Brown's Body"; people catch the tension, and never before or since I heard the chorus "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" done with more spirit, or in harmony of time and place better.
Sherman's private escort on the march was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, a unit of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union.
Two army wings are trying to confuse and deceive the enemy about their purpose; The Confederation can not tell from the early movements whether Sherman would march on Macon, Augusta, or Savannah. Wing Howard, led by the Kilpatrick cavalry, marched south along the railroad to Lovejoy's Station, which led the defenders there to conduct a battle retreat to Macon. The cavalry captured two Confederate weapons at Lovejoy's Station, and then two more and 50 prisoners at Bear Creek Station. The Howard Infantry marched through Jonesboro to Gordon, southwest of the state capital, Milledgeville. Slocum's wings, accompanied by Sherman, moved east, toward Augusta. They destroyed the bridge on the Oconee River and then turned south.
The first real resistance was felt by Howard's right-wing at the Battle of Griswoldville on 22 November. Confederate cavalry Major General Wheeler attacked Brig. General Kilpatrick, killing one, injuring two and arresting 18. Brig infantry Brigade. General Charles C. Walcutt arrived to stabilize the defense, and the Georgia militia division launched several hours of poorly coordinated attacks, eventually retreating with about 1,100 victims (about 600 prisoners), versus Uni 100.
At the same time, Slocum's left wing approached the state capital in Milledgeville, prompting the departure of Governor Joseph Brown and the hasty state legislature. On November 23, Slocum troops captured the city and held a mock legislative session at the Parliament building, jokingly giving Georgia votes back to the Union.
Some small action followed. Wheeler and several infantry struck in the rearguard action at Ball's Ferry on November 24 and November 25. While Howard's wings were delayed near Ball's Bluff, Alabama Cavalry 1 (Federal regiment) engaged the Confederate base. Last night, Union engineers built a 2 mile (3.2 km) bridge off a cliff on the Oconee River, and 200 soldiers crossed into the Confederate side. On November 25-26 at Sandersville, Wheeler attacked the Slocum face guard. Kilpatrick was instructed to make a trick to Augusta before destroying the railway bridge at Brier Creek and moving to free Camp Camps captive Lawton camp in Millen. Kilpatrick slipped by a line of defense that Wheeler had placed near Brier Creek, but on the night of November 26, Wheeler attacked and pushed Indiana's 8th and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry from their camp at Sylvan Grove. Kilpatrick abandoned his plan to destroy the railroad bridge and he also learned that the prisoners had been removed from Camp Lawton, so he rejoined the army in Louisville. At Buck Head Creek Battle on November 28, Kilpatrick was shocked and almost caught, but the 5th Ohio Cavalry stopped Wheeler's motion, and Wheeler then quit convincingly by the Union barricade at Reynolds Plantation. On 4 December, the Kilpatrick cavalry troops directed Wheeler at the Battle of Waynesboro.
More Union troops entered the campaign from an impossible direction. Major General John G. Foster sent 5,500 men and 10 weapons under Brig. General John P. Hatch of Hilton Head, hopes to help Sherman's arrival near Savannah by securing Charleston and the Savannah Railroad. At the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, Hatch fought vigorously against G.W. Smith 1,500 Georgian militia, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Grahamville Station, South Carolina. Smith's militia fought against the Union attack, and Hatch retreated after suffering about 650 victims, versus Smith 50.
Sherman forces reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had cultivated 10,000 people in a lucrative fighting position, and his troops had flooded the surrounding rice fields leaving only the narrow passages available to approach the city. Sherman was blocked from connecting with the US Navy as he had planned, so he sent a cavalry to Fort McAllister, guarding the Ogeechee River, hoping to unblock his route and get supplies waiting for him on a Navy ship. On December 13, William B. Hazen's division from Howard's wing stormed the fortress in the Battle of Fort McAllister and arrested him within 15 minutes. Some of the 134 EU victims were caused by torpedoes, a name for landmines rarely used in war.
Now Sherman has contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he is able to obtain supplies and surround the artillery he needs to invest in Savannah. On December 17, he sent a message to Hardee in town:
I have received weapons that can throw heavy shots and damage as far as the heart of your city; also, I have a few days held and controlled every way where Savannah people and garrisons can be given, and therefore I am justified in demanding the surrender of the city of Savannah, and the castles are dependent, and must wait for a reasonable time for your answer, before opened with heavy weaponry. If you cheer the proposition, I am prepared to give liberal terms to residents and garrisons; but should I be forced to carry out an attack, or a slower and more definite famine process, I would then feel justified in taking the most outrageous actions, and will try little to hold my troops - burn to avenge the national mistake they attach to Savannah and other major cities that have been so prominent in dragging our country into civil war.
Hardee decides not to give up but escapes. On December 20, he led his men across the Savannah River on an emergency pontoon bridge. The next morning, the Mayor of Savannah Richard Dennis Arnold, with the aldermen and women's delegates in the town, rode (until they were not told to flee from Confederate cavalry forces) to offer a proposition: The City will surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Geary's Promise to protecting the townspeople and their property. Geary sent a telegram of Sherman, who advised him to accept the offer. Arnold gave him the keys of the city, and the Shermans, led by the Geary Corps XX division, occupied the city on the same day.
Aftermath
Sherman sent a telegram to President Lincoln, "I beg you to present you as a Christmas present, Savannah City, with one hundred and fifty weapons and lots of ammunition, as well as about twenty-five thousand cotton bales." On December 26, the president replied in a letter:
Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift - the capture of Savannah. When you leave Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I feel anxious, if not fearful; but feel that you are a better judge, and given that 'no risk, nothing is gained' I do not meddle. Now, effort to be successful, honor is yours; because I'm sure none of us goes any further than agreeing. And take General Thomas's job into the count, as it should have been taken, it was a huge success. Not only pay a clear and immediate military advantage; but, in showing the world that your troops can be divided, placing a stronger part into an important new service, and yet leaving enough to defeat the old opposing forces of the whole - the Hood army - it takes those who sit in the dark, to see the light outstanding. But what next? I think it would be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide. Please thank all your troops, officers and soldiers.
March attracted a large number of refugees, to whom Sherman commissioned land with his Special Commandment No. 15. These commands have been described in popular culture as the origin of the promise of "40 hectares and donkeys".
From Savannah, after a monthlong delay, Sherman marched north in the spring through Carolinas, intending to complete his reversal and join forces with Grant against Robert E. Lee. After a successful two-month campaign, Sherman accepted the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and his troops in North Carolina on April 26, 1865.
Sherman's scorched earth policy has always been highly controversial, and Sherman's memory has long been slandered by many of the South. The opinions of the slaves vary about the actions of Sherman and his army. Some who welcomed him as liberators chose to follow his troops. Jacqueline Campbell writes, on the other hand, that some slaves saw the Union troop rally and invasive action with contempt. They often feel betrayed, because they "suffer along with their owners, make it difficult for their decision to escape with or from Union forces." A Confederate officer estimated that 10,000 slaves were released following the Sherman army, and hundreds died from "starvation, disease, or exposure" along the way.
March to the Sea destroys Georgia and the Confederacy. Sherman himself estimates that the campaign has generated $ 100 million (about $ 1.4 billion in 2010 dollars) in destruction, about a fifth of that "insured for our benefit" while "the rest is a simple waste and crash." The Army destroyed a 300-mile (480 km) railroad and a number of bridges and miles of telegraph lines. It seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 donkeys, and 13,000 head of cattle. They confiscated 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of fodder, and destroyed an unlimited collection of cotton and cotton factories. Military historians Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones cite the significant damage caused by the railways and Southern logistics in the campaign and stated that "Sherman's attacks succeed in 'knocking down the Confederate war effort into pieces'." David J. Eicher writes that "Sherman has accomplished tremendous tasks: he has opposed military principles by operating deep within the enemy territory and without any supply or communication channels, destroying much of the potential and psychology of the South for war."
Legacy
The Union Army sang many songs during March, but this was the one that was written afterwards which became a symbol of the campaign: "Marching Through Georgia", written by Henry Clay Work in 1865. Sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, detailed lyrics freed slaves and punished Confederate to start a war. Sherman came to dislike the song, partly because he never rejoiced over the fallen enemy, and partly because it was played in almost every public appearance he attended. It was very popular among US troops from the war of the 20th century.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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