The Devil went down to Georgia

[Sdiver]

Tonight on "The History Channel", they are showing Sherman's March....9:00 pm and again at 11:00 pm (EDT).

Looks like it might be an informative show.

This was taken from THC's web site, about the show.

Known affectionately as "Uncle Billy" by Union soldiers, but reviled in the South as a brutal war criminal, General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the truly enigmatic and complex figures in the American pantheon. His legacy was built during a five-week campaign of terror and destruction that would become known as "total war". Sherman ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, destroy railroads, pilfer food supplies and to make sure the South's civilian infrastructure was shattered. Although the concept had been around for centuries, this is the first time in modern warfare that total war was used to such an extensive degree. First Savannah was captured, and then he marched from Georgia through South Carolina and burned the capital to the ground. On the heels of Sherman's destructive onslaughts, the Confederacy officially conceded victory to the Union on April 9, 1865.

[Pete]

He kind'a looped up through this next of the woods.

Fayetteville and the destruction of the Fayetteville Arsenal, then Averasboro and Bentonville. Hit a whole bunch of little towns while coming through here.

Ya' have to give him credit. Departing Atlanta with 70,000 battle hardened troops and popping up on the coast was a neat hat trick.

Pete

I'll be watching.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Pete

He kind'a looped up through this next of the woods.

Fayetteville and the destruction of the Fayetteville Arsenal, then Averasboro and Bentonville. Hit a whole bunch of little towns while coming through here.

Ya' have to give him credit. Departing Atlanta with 70,000 battle hardened troops and popping up on the coast was a neat hat trick.

Pete

I'll be watching.

He was helped in this by Hood's bizarre decision to leave Sherrman alone and attack Nashville during this rampage.

This would have been much less certain if Joe Johnston had remained in command at (and after) Atlanta, and Forrest and Wheeler struck at Sherman's outlying forces.

TR

[x-factor]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

He was helped in this by Hood's bizarre decision to leave Sherrman alone and attack Nashville during this rampage.

This would have been luch less certain if Joe Johnston had remained in command at (and after) Atlanta, and Forrest and Wheeler struck at Sherman's outlying forces.

TR

Do you ever read counterfactual histories? You might get a kick out of some of the what if arguments.

http://www.amazon.com/What-If-Foremo...662497-3137617

[kgoerz]

Great I only have the overseas History Channel. I get to watch Digging for the Truth reruns



From what I have read about Sherman's Lay Wast to everything March. His purpose was punishment pure and simple. Never official, but with a wink and nod from Grant he was let loose. The Union had plausible denial in issuing those orders because he was pretty much a self sufficient Army. Just like Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, he was a real Colonel by the way

[incommin]

I'll be watching....looking for Miss Scarlet and Rhett Butler!

Jim

[The Reaper]

Frankly, this seemed pretty one-sided and less than historically accurate to me.

Theft, looting, arson, rape and murder are being excused as lawful "foraging" against well-to-do slave holders by the North, and military resistance against the looters is a war crime against the South. I understand that taking required food and livestock are foraging, but the personal effects of fellow citizens?

Sherman uses Confederate prisoners to clear minefields, but again, it is excused.

He issues "lawful orders" to kill prisoners as a reprisal?

Pretty bad description of Averasboro and Bentonville.

Hollyweird. Atrotious acting as well.

I though Ken Burns' series was much more balanced and thought provoking.

Hood was a brave man, but was chasing his tail up in Tennessee at this time, on his way to breaking his Army at Nashville. He was a damn fool by this point in the war, shot to pieces and stoned on Laudanum.

TR

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Frankly, this seemed pretty one-sided and less than historically accurate to me.


TR

But Sir,

You, as well as everyone else knows......the victors ALWAYS write the history books.


I thought it was pretty good. Sure it wasn't as well done as Burns' series, but the show did tell a few items that weren't as well known, ie., Sherman's troops consuming 300 tons of food per DAY, Jackson cutting the pontoon bridge over the creek leaving the families of the slaves behind, and of course using the Johnny's to clear out the mines, and as the reprisal's for the Bummer's being killed, and just how well liked/loved Sherman was amongst his troops during and after the war, and of how He (Sherman) repaid them in kind.

All in all, I'd give the show a 4.5 out of 10.

[Pete]

I think it was on par for a typical History Channel low buget shoot.

The NC battles were the largest on the march and got very little air time.

They used a lot of info from the one officer on his staff. Another good read that covers this period is Love and Valor, Intimate Civil War Letters Between Captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner. He was and officer in the 25th Iowa, 15th Army Corps - Army of the Tennessee.

I saw nothing new and it was a slow two hours for me.

Pete

[incommin]

And I never saw Miss Scarlet!

Jim

[kachingchingpow]

Interesting stuff. I hope it comes back on. My hunting club lies along the left flank of the left wing (the northern most advance), in the Ogeechee River/Sandersville area.

[The Reaper]

Here is the story the show should have closed with.

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston opposed Sherman in the battles outside Atlanta (until replaced by Hood), and as noted in the Carolina campaign before surrendering to Sherman in Durham, NC.

In the years after the war, Johnston would not tolerate fellow Confederates speaking ill of Sherman.

When Sherman died in 1891, Johnston was a pallbearer at his funeral. It was raining and the weather was miserable. Other attendees told the 84 year-old Johnston that he should get out of the weather or at least put on his hat. Johnston replied "If I were in his place and he standing here in mine he would not put on his hat." He caught pneumonia and died several weeks later.

Now that would have told a real story of the respect for Sherman, the admiration of his foes, and the spirit of reunification.

TR

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by incommin

And I never saw Miss Scarlet!

Jim

She was helpin' "birthin" a baby, and wasn't available.

[Peregrino]

A passable discussion of the strategic reasons behind Sherman's March and, for those willing to read between the lines, its success in shortening the war. Otherwise I think Pete and TR hit the nail on the head - a typical History Channel (lite) production with reenactors and populist history. Now - what would have happened if Lee had succeeded at Gettysburg and done something similar through Pennsylvania and New York? Peregrino

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Now - what would have happened if Lee had succeeded at Gettysburg and done something similar through Pennsylvania and New York? Peregrino

NASCAR, not Baseball, would be our National Passtime.

There was nothing stnading in the way of Lee and Washington DC, had he won at Gettysburg. The Johnny's would have laid waste to Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland.