How Did Shermans March End the Civil War

Shermans March to the Sea refers to a long stretch of devastating Union army movements during the United States Civil War. In the fall of 1864, the Union General William Tecumseh (Cump) Sherman took 60,000 men and pillaged his way through Georgias civilian farmsteads. The 360-mile march went from Atlanta in central Georgia to Savannah on the Atlantic coast and lasted from November 12–December 22. Burning Atlanta Sherman left Chattanooga in May 1864 and captured the vital railroad and supply center of Atlanta. There he out-maneuvered the Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and laid siege to Atlanta under the command of General John Bell Hood, Johnstons replacement. On September 1, 1864, Hood evacuated Atlanta and withdrew his Army of Tennessee. In early October, Hood moved north of Atlanta to destroy Shermans rail lines, invade Tennessee and Kentucky, and draw the Union Forces away from Georgia. Sherman sent two of his army corps to reinforce Federal forces in Tennessee. Eventually, Sherman left Maj. General George H. Thomas to chase Hood and returned to Atlanta to begin his march to Savannah. On the 15th of November, Sherman left Atlanta in flames and turned his army east. Progress of the March The March to the Sea had two wings: the right wing (15th and 17th corps) headed by Major General Oliver Howard was to move south towards Macon; the left wing (14th and 20th corps), headed by Major General Henry Slocum, would move on a parallel route towards Augusta. Sherman thought the Confederates would likely fortify and defend both cities, and he planned to drive his army southeast between them, destroying the Macon-Savannah Railroad along his way to occupy Savannah. The explicit plan was to cut the south in two. Several important skirmishes along the way included: Milledgeville, November 23, 1864Sandersville, November 25–26Waynesboro, November 27Louisville, November 29–30Millen, December 2, an attempt to free Union prisoners A Policy Shift The March to the Sea was successful: Sherman captured Savannah and in that process, crippled vital military resources, brought the war to the heart of the South, and demonstrated the Confederacys inability to protect its own people. It was, however, at a terrible price. Early in the war, the North had maintained a conciliatory policy towards the south, in fact, there were explicit orders to leave families enough to survive on. As a result, the rebels pushed their limits: there was a steep rise in guerrilla warfare on the part of Confederate civilians. Sherman was convinced that nothing short of total war brought to the homes of Confederate civilians could change Southern attitudes about fighting to the death. He had been considering the tactic for years. In a letter written home in 1862, he told his family that the only way to defeat the south was as he had defeated Native Americans—by destroying their villages. How Sherman’s March Ended the War 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. According to Shermans special field orders of November 9, 1865, his troops were to forage liberally in the country, each brigade commander organizing a party to gather resources as needed to keep at least ten days provisions for his commands. Foragers rode off in all directions, confiscating cows, pigs, and chickens from the scattered farms. Pastures and farmland became campsites, fence rows disappeared, and the countryside was scavenged for firewood. According to Sherman’s own estimates, his armies seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle, while confiscating 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of livestock fodder. Sherman’s so-called â€Å"scorched earth policies† remain controversial, with many Southerners still detesting his memory. Even the slaves affected at the time held varying opinions of Sherman and his troops. While thousands viewed Sherman as a great liberator and followed his armies to Savannah, others complained of suffering from the Union army’s invasive tactics. According to historian Jacqueline Campbell, the slaves often felt betrayed, as they â€Å"suffered along with their owners, complicating their decision of whether to flee with or from Union troops.† A Confederate officer cited by Campbell estimated that of some 10,000 slaves who trailed along with Sherman’s armies, hundreds died of â€Å"hunger, disease, or exposure,† as the Union officers took no actions to help them. Sherman’s March to the Sea devastated Georgia and the Confederacy. There were approximately 3,100 casualties of which 2,100 were Union soldiers, but the countryside took years to recover. Shermans march to the sea was followed by a similarly devastating march through the Carolinas early in 1865, but the message was clear. Southern predictions that the Union forces would become lost or decimated by hunger and guerilla attacks were proven false. Historian David J. Eicher wrote that â€Å"Sherman had accomplished an amazing task. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. He destroyed much of the Souths potential and psychology to wage war.† The Civil War ended five months after Sherman marched into Savannah. Sources: Patrick JL, and Willey R. 1998. We have surely done a big work: The Diary of a Hoosier Soldier on Shermans March to the Sea. Indiana Magazine of History 94(3):214-239.Rhodes JF. 1901. Shermans March to the Sea. The American Historical Review 6(3):466-474.Schwabe E. 1985. Shermans March Through Georgia: A Reappraisal of the Right Wing. The Georgia Historical Quarterly 69(4):522-535.van Tuyll DR. 1999. Scalawags and Scoundrels? The Moral and Legal Dimensions of Shermans Last Campaigns. Studies in Popular Culture 22(2):33-45.Campbell, Jacqueline Glass, 2003.  When Sherman Marched North from the Sea: Resistance on the Confederate Home Front. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina PressEicher, David J.  2001. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, New York: Simon Schuster.

A Paper Dungeon My Quest Through Honors American Literature

A Paper Dungeon The sound of blades colliding echoes through the dark caverns. Monstrous shrieks of pain and deafening battle cries all combine to create the sound of the battle. A lone adventurer stands stalwart in the face of evil, parrying blows and returning with lightning speed to end even the stoutest of enemies. He continues to fight even though he is clearly outnumbered. His valiant hold of his position forges fear in the very souls of some of his opponents, but not all are so easily disheartened. The forces of darkness continued to rise against the single man, and he fought as hard as he could and it seemed he could go on forever. Suddenly he is struck from behind, and while not falling there, he is severely weakened. Severing†¦show more content†¦I could usually write the model sentences and use the instrument we were learning, but I knew not how to find such a thing. I never took it upon myself in any earlier language arts classes I took to learn what any of the sentence composin g techniques were called or how to identify them, which lead to many a stumble over parts of the packet. Overall, I did learn some new tactics to make a sentence or paragraph more interesting depending on how and where I could place my words. With another opposition defeated by my graphitic blade, I moved on to find something more challenging waiting in store. A nasty swing had landed and slashed his back, but the strength of his plate armor was not that easily overcome. He shrugged off his slight wounds and marched on deeper into the cave. The next room he was to come across, however, would not be so forgiving. A mighty orc warrior surrounded by a few undead minions prepared for combat as they heard the dying screams of their companions from up ahead. They knew a new adventurer was coming, and it was just in time to sate their never ending hunger. Grammar packets came as a rude awakening to some of the difficulty that is an advanced class. Not only did the seemingly endless packets test what I already knew and take an exceptionally large amount of time to complete, they also showed me how much I really did not

If I Should Die Before I Wake Essay Example For Students

If I Should Die Before I Wake Essay In the book if i should die before I wake, the author, Han Nolan, portraysChana to be a very strong person emotionally. Chanas strength is shownthroughout the book from losing her family one by one, to the consequencesdealing with escaping Lodz. Chana lost her father first; he was shot byNazis.(16-18) Next Chanas little sister Nadzia left the family to live withnon-Jews.(43-44) In the ghetto Zade died of old age and malnutrition.(89,90) Anna and her mother were next; they were taken to concentration camps.(137-140) Jakub was the last person she and Bubbe saw before they tried to escape from Lodz to Germany.(154-156) Chana and Bubbe escaped Lodz only to be jailed, tortured and sent to concentration camps. Only a strong willed person could mentally and emotionally endure such tragedy and horror as Chana did. Chanas character was also very caring and compassionate towardsothers. Although she was miserable in the concentration camps, she wasrespectful towards the other inmates.(220-221, Another example of this waswhen she was living in the ghetto with the Krengiels. It took all herstrength to be nice to them, and inspite of her kindness, they were hostile toChana and her family.(80-83)A noticeable trait shown in Chana as her character developedthroughout the book was her religious and spiritual self. In the beginning itwas only her grandmother, Bubbe who had total faith in God, and who triedto encourage Chana to have faith also. Chana did not believe Bubbe, shethought that God was not on her side and that he was nowhere.(34,196) Sheresented God until she looked into the eyes of her shvester and then feltashamed of her anger with God.(236) Towards the end of the book she prays to make Matel well.(253) Next she puts on a Jewish ritual ceremony to thank God officially, by the request of Matel .(254) This shows that Chanas faith in God had developed throughout the book during a time of crisis. A major problem Chana faced was survival. She dealt with thestruggle for food each day and torture and hard labor in the concentrationcamps. Chanas family dealt with the struggle for food each day by workingas hard as they could. While in the concentration camps Chana was torturedand forced to work. She couldnt just rebel because the camp officialswould harm her more. Another great conflict Chana had to deal with is the ghetto life. Shelived where it was very crowded and often needed a way out. She solvedthis problem by hiding in a hole of the roof of the House of Culture andlistening to music. She often thought of escaping and running away andsuggested to her family that they should hide in the House of Culture, butBubbe decided to take Jakubs advice and get fake papers and go toGermany. If I was faced with Chanas problems I wouldve done some things thesame as she did, but some different. Regarding the struggle for food, Iwouldve brought things that are very valuable and rare like coffee andcigarettes to trade for food. If worse came to worse, I would have sold theviolin for food. With the problem of survival in the Concentration camp, Iwouldve tried to make friends with alot of people in the concentration campbecause like Dvora, if one of them became an assistant to someone important, they could have pull into putting me somewhere else where the work and torture are less. If I had to make the decision whether to run away from the ghetto life, I wouldve done the same as Chana and Bubbe, but I wouldve hid while in public places so I wouldnt be as noticeable to people. Overall Chana made good decisions considering the atmosphere she was living in most the time.

The Trojan Women Essay Example For Students

The Trojan Women Essay A monologue from the play by Euripides NOTE: This monologue is reprinted from The Plays of Euripides in English, vol. i. Trans. Shelley Dean Milman. London: J.M. Dent Sons, 1920. HECUBA: Forbear, ye virgins; what was pleasing once Pleases no more: here let me lie thus falln, A fall that suits what I have suffered, what I suffer, and shall suffer. O ye gods, Unkind associates I indeed invoke, Yet when affliction rends the anguished heart, We with becoming grace invoke the gods First it is pleasing to me to recount My happier fortunes: thus my woes shall raise A stronger pity. Royal was my birth, And marriage joined me to a royal house; There I was mother of illustrious sons, Sons with superior excellence adorned Above the Phrygians; such no Trojan dame, No Grecian, no Barbarian eer could boast; These I saw falln beneath the Grecian spear, And laid my several tresses on their tomb. For Priam too, their father, flowed my tears; His fate I heard not from report, but saw it, These eyes beheld him murdered at the altar Of Guardian Jove; my vanquished city stormed; My daughters, whom I nurtured high in hope Of choosing honourable nuptials for them, For others nurtured from my hands are rent; There is no hope that me they eer shall see, And I shall never see them more. Th extreme, The height of my afflicting ill is this: I to some house shall go a hoary slave, To some base task, most irksome to my age, Assigned; or at their doors to keep the keys A portress shall I wait, the mother once Of Hector, or to labour at the mill; For royal couches, on the ground to make My rugged bed; and oer these worn-out limbs The tattered remnant of a worn-out robe, Unseemly to my happier state, to throw. Ah, for one womans nuptial bed, what woes Are mine, and will be mine! Alas, my child, My poor Cassandra, maddning with the gods, By what misfortunes is thy purity Defiled? And where art thou, Polyxena, O thou unhappy! Thus of all my sons And all my daughters, many though they were, Not one is left to soothe my miseries. Why do you raise me, virgins? With what hope Lead you this foot, which once with stately port In Troy advanced, but now a slave, to seek A bed of leaves strewn on the ground, a stone My pillow, there to lie, to perish there Wasted with tears? Then deem not of the great Now flourishing as happy, ere they die. We will write a custom essay on The Trojan Women specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now