Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-06-26
THE MARCH 10 THE SEA.
How 1t Looks In the Light Of sher-
mans Memoirs.

10 the Union ana American.
General Sherman has published his con
tTibutiOn to history and invited every body
to "lay on" / have often desired 10 give
vent to my individual views of his great
March to the Sea- and as his "Memoirsn
furnish full data eOnfrmatOry Of my pre-
conceived ideas on the subject, I offer this
criticism for what it is worth.
In the report Of the Congressional Com
mittee on the Conduct Of the War, are
printed very vOluminous dispatches from
Gen. Sherman while he was in Georgia.
The fact is there stated by himself that he
had sixty thousand veterans, magniicently
appointed, with which to make his cam
paign from Atlanta. The HMareh to the
Sea, so much extolled and paraded as a
grand military exploit, is my collective
point in this article. / never could
see or understand what there was
Of military greatness or STRAIT
egy OF fOrtitude in the march of 60,000 vet
Grams, perfectly appointed in all the re-
quirements Of the service, from Atlanta
through a rich and fertile State, to Sa-
vannah. There were armed Rebels In the
Southern States, it is most true, but Sher-
mans veteran hosts were moving directly
away from the enemy in the field and it has
always seemed to me that if their purpose
and design had been 90 rid themselves Of
the casualties Of battle, they could net have
pursued a different route from the one they
did. II Sherman had said s'Here we are in
the heart Of thesRebels' country, let US get
out IS soon as possible the mot expedi-
tiOus way for them TO have reached the
nearest haven was TO bolt of to Savannah,
where a squadron Of the United States navy
was stationed, and by the aid Of
which it was afterwards proposed that Sher
mans army was TO be transported 10 Vir-
ginia.
When he started, Sherman was then, as
he boasted, hundreds Of miles from his
base-LOuisyille. he said (NOv. 2, 1864:
'.If turn back the whole effect Of my
campaign will be lost Why, / cannot
understand; for, Gen. Grant telegraphed
Sherman from City Point, Nov. /, 1854:
"With Hoods army destroyed, you can 90
where you please with impuniry. If you
can see a chance Eof destroying Hoods
army, attend to that first and make your
other move secondary and again, on Nov.
2, 1854, 81 dispatched you advising that
Hoods army, now that It had worked so
far north, ought to be looked upon as the
object" But Sherman seemed 10
be bent on a campaign of his
own. He replied TO the dispatch
es Of Grant: 81 am clearly of Opin-
ion that the best results will follow
my contemplated movement through
Georgia" His heart was so much set on
his "March 10 the Sea, that his superiOrs
Dec. 20, 1864: "NOne OF us went further
than 10 acquiesce. Taking the work Of
Gen. Thomas into account, as il should be
taken, IL is indeed a great success not a
a great achievement. Gen. Thomas was al
lOtted the'task Of fighting the enemy that
had so dOggedly confronted Sherman's
whole army all the way to Atlanta, while
Sherman simply went on a ''raid' with
6O,OO9 soldiers The move was described
by Mr.. Lincoln as 'putting the stronger
part to important new service but he was
far away and had to trust the Generals.
Replying to Grants suggestion to ''Je-
strOy Hood, Sherman telegraphs Oct, 10
1854: 81 want TO prepare for my big
raid" Then for the first time
his purpose is declared. He is On "big
raid "My aim" he afterwards wrote, was
to "Whip the Rebels, humble their pride,
make them fear and dread US" After he
left Atlanta he never whipped any armed
Rebels in force. He took Savannah, letting
the Confederate force get away, a force de-
scribed by Admiral d Dalhgreen as the 'Rebel
army hardly respectable in numbers ard
condition.
The great march 10 the sea being over,
Sherman, from "Near Savannah" Dec. Is,
1864, telegraphs or dispatches to Grant
about his big raid: 81 DO sincerely believe
that the whole United States would rejoice
to have this army turned loose on South
Carolina to devastate that State in the
manner we have done in Georgia What
LIanner Of military exploit is this-G0,O00
veterans on a big raid? Again: "Many
GeOrgians asked why we did not 90 to
South Carolina" and be puts in quota
tiOns marks as the literal utteranee
Of the raided and suffering nOn-cOmbatants
of Georgia this expression: "Well, if you
will make those people feel the utmost
seventies of war, we viii pardon you for
your desOlatiOn of Georgia" which is sim
ply prepOSterOus. The people Of Georgia
were to find consolation in their own "des-
if their comrades in South CarOli-
na were only likewise ruined. That is not
in human nature, though misery loves com
pany.
But he continues on his big raid, and
looks upon evacuated Columbia, S. C., sas
quite as bad as ChaIlestOn," and doubts if
he shall ''spare it." as he did Alilledge-
vile, Ga.
Now comes my question. While Sher-
man and his 60,00O veterans are leisUrely
deyOting themselves to his big raid, what
was Hoods army doing in tie line
Of military exploits? Compare the two
as purely military adventures. Hood cut !
away from his base near Atlanta, advanced
rapidly to Dalton, scanpering the Federal !
everywhere before HIM. His |
army was ill-clad and badly fed, vet he |
pressed OF and fought the desperate and |
disastrous battle Of Franklin, and even |
then besieged Nashville. Compelled b.
yield his position around Nashville, Hood /
reLires TO COrinth, Miss, and the next time |
the country hears Of his indOmitable army,
il is again under its old commander, Joe |
Johnston, in front of Sherman while ON his |
big raid in North Carolina. j wish some |
Confederate would tell the number Of /
miles Hoods army travelled after il left |
Atlanta until it surrendered in North Caro- /
lima, and something Of its haTdships. In !
point of military renOwn, its exploits trans /
cend the big raid, mot on the enemy, but on |
the enemy's country.
l ask this question, was it not enough to /
make a General feel like i fool 10 have |
started with 10000 veterans and ventured |
boldly ont of sight and hearing on a big |
raid to devastate South Carolina in the /
manner he had treated Georgia, and, after
weeks Of devastation, find his old enemy /
actually in line Of battle before him again
ia North Carolina, and all Of a sudden the
war over, bis raid wasted and himself and
6O,OOO veterans useless as a cOach's fifth
wheel? So much for the March 10
the Sea. If there was a brigade in
that 10000 veteran phaianx that could net
have marched to the sea, then il was mis-
erable sOldiery composing it. The whole
army passed through the most defenseless
country and people this continent ever saw.
After the big raid, Georgia realized the
sufisrings Of South Carolina
as described by Senator Hayne; "Black,
smoking ruins marked the places which
had once been the habitatiOns of her sons
''Overrun and despoiled by the enemy"
Yet, instead Of the spirit Of is people be-
ing invincible,n Sherman adds the crown
ing insult 10 all his injury that the
GeOrgians would have had him inhict the
utmost seventies Of war on South Caro-
lima as a recOmpense TO them for their own
taste of death and hell.
The people OfGeOrgia are Sherman's own
d