Essay On Sherman's Savannah Campaign

Sherman's Savannah campaign, as well as his march through the Carolinas, was one of the most momentous, and controversial campaigns of the latter part of the American civil war. Some historians, and individuals would argue that this campaign was nothing more than a mere military operation that brought about the abeyance of the Confederacy’s military capabilities, and the weakening of the morale of the citizenry of the southern states. Consequently, this group argues that Sherman’s March to the Sea was not an act of total warfare. Rather, it was a necessary operation that crippled the Confederacy’s infrastructure that had an unfortunate, but limited impact upon the civilians in the area. This viewpoint is correct to an extent, but it does not look at the varying aspects of total warfare that affect a civilian population. Moreover, total warfare does not requisite that an entire civilian population has to be eradicated. Consequently, Sherman’s march to the sea left a wanton path of depredation and destruction that had a detrimental impact on the citizens, and slaves of the Deep South …show more content…
Furthermore, the premise was that both armies would have engaged, and pressured Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into either defeat, or surrender. Nevertheless, Sherman had other intentions when it came to this campaign. Sherman was very familiar with the south, and the confederate’s ideals, and tendencies. Moreover with this familiarity, Sherman came to the realization that the only way to defeat the confederacy was to have undermined the support of the citizenry to the South’s war effort. In effect, Sherman wanted to demonstrate the execrable attributes of war on the southern population. Therefore, this was the mindset that Sherman possessed when he left Atlanta in November,