The Confederate city of Savannah. William P. Sherman had finished his historical march to the sea, starting off by capturing Georgia and ripping his way to the east coast. His final city he overthrew was the city of Savannah , which he gave to his idol President Lincoln as a rather large Christmas gift.
A joke-telegram offering him the city of Savannah as a Christmas present. (Sherman had reached Savannah at Christmas, havng been incommunicado for six weeks because the telegraph lines had been cut. The famous joke was communicated via ships of the US Navy.)
get supplies by looting, then destroy anything else of value
He didn't. If you refer to Sherman he believed in total war and to burn his way to Atlanta to force Confederate forces to surrender.
William T. Sherman was a Union general in the Civil War. He was most famous for his "March to the Sea" in Georgia that effectively split the Confederacy in two and disrupted supply and logistic lines.
The March was a punitive raid on a state that had quit the USA in an arrogant spirit, and Grant had told Sherman to 'make Georgia howl'. Sherman set out to wreck the Southern farms and railroads in order to starve the Confederate troops in the field. He told his men to stick to property damage, and strictly forbade violence against civilians. When this did happen, it was not usually at the hands of Sherman's soldiers, but carried out by the lawless mounted vandals (mostly deserters from both sides) who rode alongside the army for the pickings. Sherman's methods were harsh, and the people of Georgia have never forgiven him. His own message to the Georgians was that their war was now lost (Lincoln had just been re-elected) and they could lay down their arms as soon as they liked. But the Confederates always wanted to show that they were not the sort of people to give up; now they were paying the price for their stubbornness. The March to the Sea was entirely successful. It shortened the war by months, at almost nil casualties.
A joke greeting by telegraph, offering him the city of Savannah, which he had just occupied, as a Christmas present.
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Savannah, GA
A joke-telegram offering him the city of Savannah as a Christmas present. (Sherman had reached Savannah at Christmas, havng been incommunicado for six weeks because the telegraph lines had been cut. The famous joke was communicated via ships of the US Navy.)
William T. Sherman usually burned all the cities he conquered through this march to the sea. When he finally captured Atlanta, Georgia, he sent a message to Lincoln that he would gladly give the city as a gift.
March 4, 1861
get supplies by looting, then destroy anything else of value
Lincoln's first inaugural address was on MArch 4, 1861!!
Because Grant carried high credibility with Lincoln. And Sherman carried high credibility with Grant. It was Sherman who saw that punitive raids on Georgia would weaken the rebellion, help to starve the Southern armies, and show the outer world that the Confederacy was on its last legs.
get supplies by looting, then destroy anything else of value NOVANET
He didn't. If you refer to Sherman he believed in total war and to burn his way to Atlanta to force Confederate forces to surrender.
get supplies by looting, then destroy anything else of value NOVANET