William Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was born on February 8, 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio. He was given his middle name after the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh had tried to unite the tribes of the Ohio River Valley against American forces on their land in the first decade of the nineteenth century. These attempts were unsuccessful though. In 1829, when Sherman was nine his father passed away so he went to live with a family friend, Thomas Ewing. Ewing was a influential Missouri politician. His other 10 siblings were distributed among the relatives and friends of the family. After he attended the academy at Lancaster, Sherman entered West Point Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1840 in the top six of his class. During the Mexican War, he saw service in California and for his meritorious service he received a brevet. He then left California and served as an officer in the commissary department of the army, but then resigned from the army in 1853. He resigned in order to pursue a business, legal, and educational career. Sherman rejoined the army in May 1861 after Louisiana seceded from the Union and the Civil War broke out. He was commissioned a colonel of volunteers and commanded a bri
Within 24 days of leaving Atlanta, he reached Savannah and left behind him a ruined and devastated land. Sherman's army met up with the Union fleet, which had been blockading the city, and took the city on December 21. Sherman offered the city to President Lincoln as a "Christmas gift" to the nation. With the capture of this major city came 150 heavy guns, plenty of ammunition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton. After about a month's rest Sherman turned northward with his army, expecting to join Grant near Richmond, the Confederate capital. The plans were to close in on Robert E. Lee from the back side and as Sherman continued every step reduced the area upon which the Confederates in Virginia could depend for aid. His advance through South Carolina was slower but even more destructive than the march through Georgia. As he went through North Carolina, Sherman was opposed by General Joseph E. Johnston in engagements at Averasboro and Bentonville. He then learned of Lee's surrender and asked for generous terms. He understood better than any other Union general the South and the devastation it had suffered was kind about the treaty, but Secretary of War Edward Stanton repudiated them. So on April 26, 1865 Johnston signed under the same terms as Robert Lee had surrendered. So after this Sherman took one last march, this time to Washington to speak with the President. Sherman was appointed commander of the Missouri district at the end of the Civil War. This area stretched from the Rocky mountains to the Mississippi. Here he laid troops to protect transcontinental railroad workers from the Indians who feared that the railroad would mean further encroachment on their territory. He also established military outposts across the region, expanding the network of federal authority. It was in this time that Sherman was outspoken in his belief that Indian policy should be set by the army and that the main goal of the policy should be to place the different tribes on reservations and force them to stay there. He was a member of
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Approximate Word count = 1390
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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