William Sherman was one of the most acclaimed Union generals of the American Civil War.Sherman is known for his capture of the city of Atlanta in September 1864 and for leading the famed March to the Sea in November and December of the same year. His role and contributions were invaluable to the Union that ultimately won the civil war.This great war hero was born into a distinguished family in 1820. His mother’s name was Mary Hoyt Sherman, and his father’s name was Charles Robert Sherman. His father held an esteemed position in the Supreme Court of Ohio. But William’s early life was tumultuous. Unfortunately, his father died in 1829, when William was nine years old. Following his father’s death, little William was raised and taken care of by Thomas Ewing, an attorney, neighbor, and family friend of the Sherman’s. It was Thomas who directed Sherman to the United States Military Academy. Though William achieved the highest honours as a war hero, he was never a supporter of war!The story of William Tecumseh Sherman’s middle name is quite intriguing. His father found ‘Tecumseh’, the great chief of the Shawnees, very interesting. In a biography written by Lloyd Lewis, it is stated that Sherman’s name was only Tecumseh and that he was named William after he was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church at the discretion of his foster family.William T. Sherman has several monuments and tributes dedicated to him. The Sherman Memorial, made of gilded bronze by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1902, stands in the Grand Army Plaza in Central Park, New York City. The many other posthumous awards and tributes to Sherman include the World War II M4 Sherman tank, the General Sherman Giant Sequoia tree, and the Sherman Circle in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C.Once you have read this article, why not find out more about similar interesting topics such as William and Mary Facts and Willian B Travis Facts here at Kidadl.Military Training And ServiceWilliam’s foster guardian, Thomas Ewing, a senator, made arrangements for the 16-year-old kid to join the US Military Academy at West Point as a cadet. William befriended George H. Thomas, who later became another important figure in the civil war. At the academy in West Point, he did exceedingly well and was known to be a bright-eyed fellow. After Sherman graduated, he joined the army as a second lieutenant in the Third US Artillery. In the Second Seminole War against the Seminole tribe in Florida, he was in action.During the Mexican-American War, William T. Sherman was carrying out administrative duties in the captured territory of California. Along with his fellow lieutenants, Edward Ord and Henry Halleck, he traveled from New York City around Cape Horn. A journey that took 198 days. In 1848, Sherman accompanied Colonel Richard Barnes Mason, the then military governor of California, on an inspection of the gold in California. It was officially confirmed that gold was present in the region. Hence, he hnaugurated the California Gold Rush. In 1848, he also laid the street grid following his survey of the new city of Sacramento, accompanied by Captain William H. Warner.Due to his appreciable service, William T Sherman earned a promotion to captain though he later resigned from the commission, maybe partly because of the absence of combat assignments. Hence, he was one of the few high-ranking officers in the US civil war, who had not fought in Mexico.In his civil war career, William Tecumseh Sherman served as a colonel in the 13th US Infantry Regiment from May 14, 1861. Sherman’s first command was one of the five brigades in the division, commanded by General Daniel Tyler. The engagement at this regiment, referred to as the Bull Run, ended in an unfortunate defeat for the Union troops, although Sherman’s performance was acknowledged to be exemplary.After this disastrous outcome at the Bull Run, Sherman questioned his judgment and capabilities as an officer. Soon, however, he impressed the president and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers on May 17, 1861. William T. Sherman was then assigned to serve under General Robert Anderson in the Cumberland Department in Kentucky. Later, Sherman took over the command of the department from Anderson. Sherman wrote, in his memoir, that he saw the assignment as a breaking of a promise by the president that he would never be offered such an important leadership position.William T. Sherman was now militarily responsible for Kentucky, where the Confederate army held Bowling Green and Columbus. During this time, Sherman had grown pessimistic and constantly complained about shortages in Washington. In October 1861, when the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, visited Louisville, Major Sherman requested relief, and accordingly, he was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri. He succumbed to melancholy when he went back to Ohio. William T. Sherman, however, recovered sufficiently by December 1861 and, under Halleck’s command, was re-designated in the Union army in the military division of the Mississippi.The next phase in the civil war career of Major General William T. Sherman was quite glorious. He fought in the battle of Shiloh and organized campaigns that ultimately led to the fall of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, a stronghold of the Confederate troops. The Chattanooga campaign and, subsequently, Sherman’s march to the sea are also very significant as they mark the victory of the United States Army in routing the Confederate armies in the state of Tennessee.In 1864, William T Sherman succeeded General Ulysses S. Grant as the Union Commander in the western theater. He led the United States army in the capture of Atlanta, which was a strategic city, and this military success led to the re-election of the president.The final campaigns of Sherman were very successful. Instead of confronting Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Virginia, Sherman led the Union soldiers to march north through the Carolinas, destroying everything valuable from a military point of view. Sherman was explicitly interested in targeting the South because it was the first state to secede from the union. He devised a strategy to let his army protect the north when resistance came from the side of Confederate General Johnson. Hearing the news of Sherman’s advancement towards the Corduroy roads at a rate of 12 mi (19.3 km) per day, Johnson had stated that there had hardly been such a powerful army in existence since the time of Julius Caesar.In April 1865, Major General Sherman accepted the surrender of the Confederate troops in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida. After negotiation and at the insistence of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, and Confederate Secretary of War, John C. Breckinridge, Sherman agreed to generous terms. Sherman retired from the army on February 8, 1884, after stepping down as a commanding general on November 1, 1883.After having lived the life of a war hero, Sherman died of pneumonia in New York City on February 14, 1891, at the age of 71. His funeral was held at his home on February 19, followed by a military procession. Later, the body of General Sherman was transported to St. Louis, where another service was held. William Tecumseh Sherman is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.Marriage Of William ShermanWilliam T Sherman got married to Eleanor ‘Ellen’ Boyle Ewing, who was Thomas Ewing’s daughter, on May 1, 1850, in Blair House, Washington D.C. Ellen was a devout Roman Catholic, and all eight children of the couple were raised in that faith. In 1864, Ellen took up a temporary residence in South Bend, Indiana, so that her children could attend St. Mary’s College and the University of Notre Dame, both of which are Catholic institutions.Business Career Of William ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman had a short business career. In 1853, Sherman resigned from his captaincy and took up the manager’s role in the San Francisco branch of the St. Louis-based bank, Lucas, Turner and Company. He survived two shipwrecks by floating through the Golden Gate on a foundering lumber schooner’s overturned hull. However, the city’s extremely aggressive business culture caused him to suffer from stress-related asthma. He was quoted as saying that managing in the swamps of San Francisco seemed to him a more difficult task than serving in the military.William Sherman’s branch in San Francisco closed in May 1857, following which he moved to New York City on behalf of the same bank. However, due to the failure of the bank during the financial panic of 1857, this branch too was closed. He returned to California in 1858 to finalize the bank’s final accounts. Later that year, William moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, and worked there as an office manager in the law practice operated by Huge Ewing, and Ewing Jr. Sherman also practiced law under a license, but he succeeded little in that.Military College SuperintendentIn 1859, Sherman entered the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy as the first superintendent. William T. Sherman led the institution with efficiency and was quite popular too. Colonel Joseph P. Taylor has praised him highly. William’s younger brother, Senator John Sherman, was from his seat in the US Congress, a well-known advocate against slavery. William T. Sherman, however, was opposed to the secession of the southern states.So, when the news of the South Carolina secession reached Sherman, he was reported to have burst out crying and feared that this might bring destruction to the entire country. He also believed that, unlike the people of North Carolina, those from the south could not even build anything for survival and earning.In January 1861, when more southern states seceded from the Union, Sherman was told to take receipt of arms that were surrendered to the Louisiana State Militia by the US Arsenal at Baton Rouge. In response, William resigned from his position as superintendent, stating that he would never do anything hostile to the United States.Sherman then traveled to Washington, D.C. with the hope of securing a position in the army. He met Abraham Lincoln at the White House and expressed his concerns about the north’s lack of preparation for the soon-to-come civil war. President Lincoln was apparently unresponsive to his concerns.Finally, after the bombardment of Fort Sumter from April 12-13 and its subsequent capture by the Confederate forces, William Tecumseh Sherman stepped back from committing to the military services further.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for this article, then why not take a look at William Clark Facts or William Dampier Facts.
William Sherman was one of the most acclaimed Union generals of the American Civil War.
