The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-05-27
SHERMAN'S MEMOIRS.
THE GENERALS STORY OF TIE
MARCH TO THE SEA---WHO
PLANNED THE MOVE.
Romance of the Wonderful March ana
the Capture OF Savannah.

Ntlitu tIClu Allttillt 10
Savannah and from thence to Richmond,
the conception of the plan belongs to
Gen. Grant. 1t is we'll that this Ques-
ton should be decided. In many re-
spects The march to the sea stands out
from the rebellion as the most brilliant
achievement Of the war On Sept. u,
1864, Gen. Grant wrote to Sherman
from City Point that he did not know
exactly what to do with Sherman s army,
and was disturbed with the difficulties
OF tsupplying it, and intimated that it
might be well to threaten Macon and
Augusta. 70 this letter Gen. Sherman
replied, saying he would not hesitate to
cross the State of Georgia with 10000
men, hauling some stores and depending
on the country for the balance; that
'twhere q million of people find subsis-
tence my army won't starve." He did
not believe in penetrating Georgia with
out an objective beyond. ssIt would be
| productive of much good. L can start
east, and make a circuit south and back,
doing vast damage to the State, but re-
sulting in no permanent good, and by
threatening to do SO, [ hole rod over
! the Georgians. who are not over loyal TO
the South. He concludes by advising
| that Grants and Canby's armies should
be reinforced, and that he should keep
Hook employed, and put his own army
in fine order for a march ON Augusta,
Columbia and Charleston ssThe pos
session of the Savannah River is more
| fatal to the possibility of Southern indie
pendence. ''He may stand the fall of
Richmond but not the fall of Georgia -
eff you can whip Lee, and ] can march
| to the Atlantic, [ think Uncle Abe viii
| give us twenty days absence to see the
Z ELL
| ton in this correspondence of what
afterward became the famous march to
the sea.
GRANT HESITATES OVER THE MARCH.
! To this answer Grant answered Sept.
6. ''It would be better to drive Forrest
out of Tennessee, as first step to do
anything else you may feel your force
sufficient for" But Sherman would
not abandon his sea dream. On the
9Th Of October he telegraphed to Fhon-
as, ''I want to destroy all the roads be-
low Chattanooga, including Atlanta, and
to ma Ike for the seacoast;' and again to
Grant, 81 can make this march and can
make Georgia howl" Gen. J. Fl. VIII
son was sent down to command the cav
airy, Grants idea evidently being that
| Wilson at the head OF the cavalry force
might do in Georgia what Sherman had
done IN Virginia; 'fand Grant" says
Sherman, s'advised that Wilson should
be sent South TO accomplish all that I
had proposed to do with the main army
but / had not 50 much faith in cavalry
rs he hal. and preferred the first. "
Grant AGAIN urged Sherman to destroy
Hoods army before thinking of his
march across to the sea, and the next
day Sherman answered him that Thomas
!.
that ''the best results would follow the
contemplated movement through Geor-
gia." Evidently this dispatch decided
Grants mind, for the Cd of November
he telegraphed: ''I do not see that you
can withdraw from where you are to fol-
low Hood without giving up all we have
gained in territory. | say then go on as
you propose" ''This, Says Gen. Sher-
man, ''was the first time that Gen. Grant
assented to the march to the sea, and al
though many of his warm friends and
admirers insist that he was the author
and protector of that march, and that I
simply executed his plans. Gen. Grant
has never IN my opinion, thought so OF
said so" 81 have often been asked by
well meaning friends when the thought
Of that march first entered my mind. I
knew that an army which had penetrated
Georgia rs far as Atlanta could not turn
baek-it must go ahead; but when, how
and where depended on many considera-
tons. AS soon as Hood crossed Love
joy to Palmetto, l. saw the move in my
minds eye, and after Jefferson Davis
speech at Palmetto, on Sept. 26, 1 was
more positive in my conviction, but was
in doubt as to the time and manner. +"
We think there can be no doubt of the
fact that the march to the sea was thor
oughly the conception of Sherman and
that he believed the success of the march
would result in the fall of Richmond
| On the 7th of November, five days after
this dispatch, giving formal assent, Gen.
Grant telegraphed approving the plans
and saying: 81 think everything here is
favorable now. Great good fortune at
tend you. [ believe you will be emf
nently successful, and at most can only
make march less fruitful than hoped
for"
| THE MARCH TO THE SEA.
!.