Welch, Robert Christopher. There were approximately 3,100 casualties, 2,100 of which were Union soldiers, and the countryside took years to recover. Some of the 134 Union casualties were caused by torpedoes, a name for crude land mines that were used only rarely in the war. Away off in the distance, on the McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. "[25], According to a 2018 National Bureau of Economic Research paper which sought to measure the medium- and long-term economic impact of Sherman's March, "the capital destruction induced by the March led to a large contraction in agricultural investment, farming asset prices, and manufacturing activity. Casualties in shermans march to the sea? Sherman took Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland (the most advanced army of the world at that time) away from him for what was later called Sherman’s “cakewalk to the sea… Foragers rode off in all directions, confiscating cows, pigs, and chickens from the scattered farms. The first real resistance was felt by Howard's right wing at the Battle of Griswoldville on November 22. Even those enslaved at the time held varying opinions of Sherman and his troops. Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army, officers and men. The operation broke the back of the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender. [9] Still, Grant trusted Sherman's assessment and on November 2, 1864, he sent Sherman a telegram stating simply, "Go as you propose. For the Savannah Campaign, Sherman's remaining force of 62,000 men (55,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 2,000 artillerymen manning 64 guns) was divided into two columns for the march:[1], The Confederate opposition from Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida was meager. By moving in Lee's rear, Sherman could possibly increase pressure on Lee, allowing Grant the opportunity to break through, or at least keep Southern reinforcements away from Virginia. VII. 120, regarding the conduct of the campaign. As the army would be out of touch with the North throughout the campaign, Sherman gave explicit orders, Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. [19] Some who welcomed him as a liberator chose to follow his armies. According to Sherman’s own estimates, his armies seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle in addition to confiscating 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of livestock fodder. ", Mark E. Neely Jr, "Was the Civil War a Total War?. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Burning Atlanta and the Start of the March, American Civil War: Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Civil War: Andersonville Prison Camp, American Civil War: Major General George H. Thomas, Sherman's March to the Sea in the American Civil War, American Civil War : War in the West, 1863-1865, American Civil War: General William T. Sherman, American Civil War: Major General John Buford, American Civil War: Major General John C. Frémont, American Civil War: Major General Carl Schurz, American Civil War: Major General Patrick Cleburne, American Civil War: Battle of Bentonville, American Civil War: Battle of Jonesboro (Jonesborough), American Civil War: General Joseph E. Johnston, American Civil War: Major General Joseph Wheeler, American Civil War: Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, "'We Have Surely Done a Big Work': The Diary of a Hoosier Soldier on Sherman's 'March to the Sea. The following is an excerpt from the general's orders: ... IV. The cavalry captured two Confederate guns at Lovejoy's Station, and then two more and 50 prisoners at Bear Creek Station. He also continued to supervise destruction of Confederate infrastructure. Professor Anne J. Bailey of Georgia College and State University has called the March to the Sea the "most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War." More Union troops entered the campaign from an unlikely direction. Iowa State University thesis, 2011. To regular foraging parties must be instructed the gathering of provisions and forage at any distance from the road traveled.
They sustained themselves by taking what they needed or wanted, pillaging chickens, cows, vegetables, and horses and wagons. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. They often felt betrayed, as they "suffered along with their owners, complicating their decision of whether to flee with or from Union troops". Meanwhile Thomas crushed Hood at the battle of Nashville on 15 December 1864. We stood upon the very ground whereon was fought the bloody battle of July 22d, and could see the copse of wood where McPherson fell. to the Sea, the Civil War's most destructive campaign against a civilian population, began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. [21], The March to the Sea was devastating to Georgia and the Confederacy. Sherman swore to “make Georgia howl,” and in his Special Field Order No. Rhodes, James Ford. Abandoning Atlanta's railhead and telegraph lines was a high-risk operation. Not only does it afford the obvious and immediate military advantages, but, in showing to the world that your army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the whole - Hood’s army - it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great light. Having virtually vanished from the War Department’s view during his march to Savannah, Sherman chose to cut his supply lines and ordered his men to live off the land—and people—in their path. ... From what I remember the actual civilian casualties numbered around 100. In 1864-65, U.S. soldiers under Sherman’s command marched through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. [17], Letter, Sherman to Henry W. Halleck, December 24, 1864. The campaign was designed by Grant and Sherman to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg Campaign and Sherman's Meridian Campaign, in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after consuming their 20 days of rations. We are not only fighting armies, but a hostile people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war, as well as their organized armies. Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign conducted around Georgia during November and December 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Grant ordered him to “clear the country” ahead of him and to form black regiments when he had encountered enough former slaves (he … Sherman's March to the Sea: 150 years later, its legacy has many stories to tell Sherman's bummers (foragers) in S.C. (Library of Congress) (Part 3) ... even though it meant civilian casualties) could be important components to a successful strategy. Shermans March To The Sea ... With Hood moving north and west, Sherman would be pulled away from where he felt he could end the war sooner with fewer casualties, the South. There were approximately 3,100 casualties, 2,100 of which were Union soldiers, and the countryside took years to recover. ", John Bennett Walters, "General William T. Sherman and total war. Now that Sherman had contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he was able to obtain the supplies and siege artillery he required to invest Savannah. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta on November 15 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. After a successful two-month campaign, Sherman accepted the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and his forces in North Carolina on April 26, 1865. Union general William T. Sherman abandoned his supply line and marched across Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean to prove to the … Sherman's armies reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in favorable fighting positions, and his soldiers had flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. The infantry brigade of Brig. There, he out-maneuvered Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and laid siege to Atlanta under the command of General John Bell Hood, Johnston's replacement. Sherman's "March to the Sea" followed his successful Atlanta Campaign of May to September 1864. to the Sea, the most destructive campaign against a civilian population during the Civil War (1861-65), began in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 21, 1864. ... Sherman's march … Kilpatrick abandoned his plans to destroy the railroad bridge and he also learned that the prisoners had been moved from Camp Lawton, so he rejoined the army at Louisville. Military and civilian casualties were extremely low. Considering Sherman's military priorities, however, this tactical maneuver by his enemy to get out of his force's path was welcomed to the point of remarking, "If he will go to the Ohio River, I'll give him rations. At the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, Hatch fought a vigorous battle against G.W. Howard's wing, led by Kilpatrick's cavalry, marched south along the railroad to Lovejoy's Station, which caused the defenders there to conduct a fighting retreat to Macon. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster dispatched 5,500 men and 10 guns under Brig. There were only a few Confederate cavalry and Georgia militia to oppose him. Sherman’s so-called “scorched earth policies” remain controversial, with many Southerners still detesting his memory. I'm pretty sure that the union had 2100 injuries/casualties and that the confederacy had 1000 roughly. Dozens of river crossings, poor or non-existent roads, and the extensive swamps of southern Georgia would have fatally slowed Sherman's force had not Poe's skills as leader of the bridge, road and pontoon building units kept the army moving. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. 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