William Tecumseh Sherman: Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (LOA #51) (Library of America Civil War Memoirs Collection Book 2)

Hailed as prophet of modern war and condemned as a harbinger of modern barbarism, William Tecumseh Sherman is the most controversial general of the American Civil War. “War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it,” he wrote in fury to the Confederate mayor of Atlanta, and his memoir is filled with dozens of such wartime exchanges. With the propulsive energy and intelligence that marked his campaigns, Sherman describes striking incidents and anecdotes and collects dozens of his incisive and often outspoken wartime orders and reports. This complex self-portrait of an innovative and relentless American warrior provides firsthand accounts of the war’s crucial events—Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Atlanta campaign, the marches through Georgia and the Carolinas. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries. Hailed as a prophet of modern war and condemned as a harbinger of modern barbarism, William Tecumseh Sherman is the most controversial general of the American Civil War. Written with the propulsive energy and intelligence that marked his campaigns, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman describes striking incidents and anecdotes and collects dozens of his incisive and often outspoken wartime orders and reports. This complex self-portrait of an innovative and relentless American warrior provides vivid, firsthand accounts of the wars crucial eventsShiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Atlanta campaign, the marches through Georgia and the Carolinas. Born in Ohio in 1820, Sherman spent many of his prewar years moving between the old South and the new West. His recollections of shipwrecks, gold rushes, vigilance committees, and banking panics colorfully evoke the restless and often reckless spirit of a nation in transformation. A conservative terrified by the anarchy he saw in secession, Sherman resigned his position as superintendent of a Louisiana military academy in 1861 and went North to endure defeat at Bull Run and humiliation in the press for his pessimistic views of Union prospects in Kentucky. His fortunes changed at Shiloh, where he regained his confidence and won the admiration and friendship of Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman became Grants most trusted subordinate, and over the next 18 months learned much from his commander about the irrelevancy of orthodox strategy to the realities of civil war in America. By the fall of 1864 Shermans thinking focused on the Southern society that supported the armies opposing him. Shunning supply lines and frontal assaults, he struck directly at the economic and psychological underpinnings of Confederate resistance. That this strategy inflicted pain and suffering upon the South he loved was a hard truth Sherman never tried to evade. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will, he told the citizens of Atlanta before expelling them from their homes. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Nor does he deny the exhilaration he felt while directing his terrifyingly powerful army. Yet Shermans near-apocalyptic campaign through the Carolinas ended in fierce controversy when he unsuccessfully tried to grant the South more lenient peace terms than favored by most in the North. Called hero and demon, liberator and destroyer, Sherman is an indelible figure of the American past. Nowhere is he more alive than in the pages of his illuminating and uncompromising Memoirs . This volume reprints the text of the revised edition of 1886, and includes a series of detailed maps prepared at Shermans request and appendices containing dozens of letters written in response to the 1875 first edition. Hailed as prophet of modern war and condemned as a harbinger#160;of modern barbarism, William Tecumseh Sherman is the#160;most controversial general of the American Civil War. War is#160;cruelty, and you cannot refine it, he wrote in fury to the Confederate#160;mayor of Atlanta, and his memoir is filled with dozens#160;of such wartime exchanges. With the propulsive energy and#160;intelligence that marked his campaigns, Sherman describes#160;striking incidents and anecdotes and collects dozens of his incisive#160;and often outspoken wartime orders and reports. This#160;complex self-portrait of an innovative and relentless American#160;warrior provides firsthand accounts of the wars crucial eventsShiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, the Atlanta campaign, the#160;marches through Georgia and the Carolinas. LIBRARY OF AMERICA #160;is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nations literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, Americas best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries Hailed As A Prophet Of Modern War And Condemned As A Harbinger Of Modern Barbarism, Sherman Is The Most Controversial General Of The Civil War. War Is Cruelty, You Cannot Refine It, He Wrote In Fury To The Confederate Mayor Of Atlanta, And His Memoir Is Filled With Dozens Of Such Wartime Exchanges And A Fascinating, Eerie Account Of The Famous March Through The Carolinas. Memoirs Of General William T. Sherman, Vol. I -- Memoirs Of General William T. Sherman, Vol. Ii. William Tecumseh Sherman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 1125-1136) And Index. Sherman is the most controversial general of the American Civil War, . Written with the energetic confidence that marked his later campaigns, his Memoirs provides both a vivid firsthand account of crucial events of the Civil War and a unique record of the emergence of its most innovative strategist Memoirs and selected letters / Ulysses S. Grant -- Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman / William Tecumseh Sherman.;Grant, Ulysses S. Memoirs and selected letters; Sherman, William Tecumseh. Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman. Memoirs and selected letters / Ulysses S. Grant -- Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman / William Tecumseh Sherman. Grant, Ulysses S. Memoirs and selected letters Sherman, William Tecumseh. Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman.