War is hell.

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to secure peace

I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy.

If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfastIf the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war, and not popularity seeking.

If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.

In reading about Sherman some important beliefs come to mind.

Sherman hated war and wanted the Civil War to end as fast at it could.  He believed that war should be fought in a particular hard and deadly fashion.  He believed war was between two groups of people and he coined the term “modern warfare.”  When Sherman’s army took its’ famous march through Georgia and North Carolina, he wanted to make “Georgia howl.”  Going into a town or community during the march he would burn it if citizens of the town had anything to do with guerrilla warfare against his army.  He would, at last resort, line up citizens and shoot them if need be.  On the other hand, if the town didn’t wage war against his army, he wouldn’t burn it down, just taking anything of worth to his army.  Sherman’s modern warfare, or total warfare, was used during World War 2 as when thousands of Allied bombers would incinerate a German city without regard to civilian deaths, such as the 22,700 dead men, women and children of Dresden.

Sherman’s army was ruthless in killing their enemy, and in making his enemy fear them. Sherman’s Union Army of the West was the greatest army the world had ever seen at the time. They were, in brutal terms, young, tough, hardened, and finally, deadly killers.

The newspapers (media today) were looked as the devil.  He hated newspaper men, thought they were the enemy, said they were like spies.

Sherman could have been President of the United States but in the above quote he had no interest in the job.  

He was not a racist but in truth had issues with the competence of the black man.  Fact is, his actions helped free the black man in this country. He held the American Indian in high esteem, as part of his name and one of his children honored the great Indian leader. 

It was said he burned Atlanta to the ground, which was not true.  Southerners didn’t hate the man as many might believe.  Point in fact, Sherman was the first president of LSU and loved living in South before the war.  He counted my Southern leaders and future Confederate generals as friends before and after the war.   During the war they were his enemy.   After the war Sherman, who lived in New York City, would give handouts to needy veterans of the war, both Union and Confederate. 

Sherman was credited for saving countless American lives on both sides for ending the war sooner than later.  His brutal warfare helped in getting the conflict to end.

Sherman was respected by his men, but was also respected by the Confederate’s he fought in battle.  Reb General Joe Johnston, Sherman’s opposing general in the war “never forgot the magnanimity of the man to whom he surrendered, and would not allow an unkind word to be said about Sherman in his presence. Sherman and Johnston corresponded frequently and they met for friendly dinners in Washington whenever Johnston traveled there. When Sherman died, Johnston served as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral; during the procession in New York City on February 19, 1891, he kept his hat off as a sign of respect in the cold, rainy weather. Someone with concern for the old general’s health asked him to put on his hat, to which Johnston replied “If I were in his place and he were standing here in mine, he would not put on his hat.” He caught a cold that day, which developed into pneumonia, and he died several weeks later in Washington, D.C. 

In reflecting on the latest incident of American Marines urinating on dead combatants in Afghanistan, I wonder what General Sherman would have thought.  Some might suggest that he would approve the actions of the Marines, while others would say he would have not only approved of it, but applaud them in doing it.  My opinion is that Sherman would not have approved in the actions, but knowing that the Marines involved were probably in the age range of nineteen or twenty (they wore one stripe, indicating a Private First Class).  They were caught up in the moment and did something that if they had thought about it, might not have carried it out.  War is fought by young men. Putting these young men in situations that are life and death anything can happen, and usually does.  You don’t just “calm” down in deadly warfare.  You better not love your enemy.  You can respect them as combatants, but you have the right not to respect them as men, or human beings. If you do, you are not in the right frame of mind to kill someone.  They were not in a unique situation, as fighting men throughout history have done things just as crazy.  Some much worse.  You tell a man to kill another man then crucify him for peeing on the dead corpse is not appropriate.  Punish him with a reprimand but do not put him in prison.  Want to stop this sort of thing, then have the powers to be, the President, the War Lords of this nation, the Marine commanders and the Marine officers of these men to suffer the same reprimands.

We need to end the war. End it now,  by winning it like Sherman would have done if he was our Commander of the military today. 

Point in fact, we end wars today not by winning them, but by abandoning them, quitting the war either in defeat or indifference. 

Our President, his advisors, have to make a choice. Sherman made his choice, a choice to win, because he was a leader who had a moral backbone, something our leaders lack today,  in spades.

(Point in fact:  Generals Grant (Army of the Potomac and then General of the Army) and General Sherman (Army of the West) had more authority than Generals of today, and could wage war with the goal of winning it,  Today, our Presidents control the military in a way that our military leaders have restraints on how they wage/win wars.)   

Point in fact:  Sherman was in fact, the most powerful man in the United States just days after the Civil War.  US President Johnson and US War Secretary Stanton believed that Sherman had intentions of crossing the Potomac River just days before the great celebration parades in Washington DC and take over the nation.  They believed that Sherman would, in fact, name himself King or Minister of the Nation.  Sherman’s disdain for the American leaders just after the was noted historically and point in fact, Sherman’s army had enough men and fire power to defeat the “other” Union Army (Army of the Potomac).  Sherman was infuriated with Johnson and Stanton with regard to “surrender terms” that he, Sherman had given the Southern Army.  The President thought Sherman was too easy on the Rebels and forced Sherman to resend them and make them harsher.   Make sure that Sherman could have taken over the country, by force, and that Sherman was not only the most powerful man in the United States at this critical moment of our history, but also the most popular, even more than the great General Grant.