William Tecumseh Sherman

By John T. Marck

He was born in Lancaster, Ohio on February 8, 1820. The son of a lawyer and jurist, his father died suddenly when William was only nine years old. One of eleven children, William was sent to the family of Thomas Ewing, who was a senator and a cabinet member, to be raised. Receiving his education in Ohio, he then went of West Point, obtaining an appointment through his foster father. He graduated sixth in his class in 1840, then was assigned to the 3^rd Artillery at the rank of 2^nd lieutenant. After spending a year here, he was sent to Florida where he was promoted to 1^st lieutenant. In 1842 his assignments took him to Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.

After almost three years in the army, Sherman requested his first leave, whereby he returned to his hometown of Lancaster and became engaged to Ellen Ewing, the daughter of his foster parents. Returning to duty in South Carolina, he was sent down the Mississippi River, then to Georgia, followed by tours in the Southern states for about three months. His next assignment took him to the Federal arsenal in Augusta where he studied and learned the geography of the South. It would be this knowledge that unknown to him at the time, would be very valuable later.

Sherman served in the Mexican War as an aide to Captain Philip Kearney, followed by service as an adjutant to Colonel Richard B. Mason. Because he saw little actual fighting, he thought of resigning, but was convinced to stay in the army by General Persifor Frazer Smith, who was the commander of the newly formed Pacific Division. Headquartered in San Francisco, Smith made Sherman his adjutant general. In 1850, he was assigned to carry messages to the East for General Winfield Scott, and while there, married Ellen Ewing in Washington, D.C. Sherman remained in the army for another three years before resigning. He then returned to San Francisco to work as an local agent for a St. Louis based banking firm. He did well in this position, handling the firms funds, and successfully getting them through the financial crisis of 1857. Sherman then left this business and moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where he opened a law and real estate office.

Only somewhat successful in his business, Sherman then accepted a position in October 1859 as the superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, outside Alexandria, Louisiana. This academy was the predecessor of what would grow into Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He remained at the academy until Louisiana seceded from the Union in 1861, then was approached with an offer to join the Confederate army. Sherman declined the offer, preferring to accept the position as president of a St. Louis streetcar company. However, after the Civil War began, he returned to the U.S. Army as a colonel in the 13^th Infantry on May 14. That July, he was assigned a command under Major General Irvin McDowell's army. It would be Sherman along with McDowell that would be defeated by the Rebels at the Battle of First Bull Run.

Sherman was then promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on August 2, and assigned to Kentucky as the second in command under Brigadier General Robert Anderson. When Anderson fell ill, Sherman replaced him as commander, then orders came through that Kentucky would be defended by the local guard. Sherman was then replaced by orders of the War Department to report to Major General Henry Halleck in Missouri. Here, Sherman was given the command of the Department of Cairo, formerly commanded by Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant. At the Battle of Shiloh, Sherman fought gallantly, and although defeated, his guidance won him a promotion to major general.

In July 1862, General Grant replaced General Halleck as commander of the Western armies, and upon taking command, assigned Sherman to Memphis to handle its defenses. Sherman handled this assignment well, overpowering the guerillas as well as established an efficient civil authority. When Grant moved against Vicksburg in the fall of 1862, he sent Sherman to Chickasaw Bluffs. However, in trouble here, as a result of Grant's reinforcements not arriving, he retreated to the river, where he gave his command over to Major General John A. McClernand, per orders of President Lincoln. General McClernand then took his troops and formed it as the Army of the Mississippi into two corps, assigning one of them to Sherman. General Sherman then took his command against Arkansas. During this time, Grant had formed the Army of the Tennessee, that incorporated the troops of McClernand and Sherman. Sherman's XV Corps, now a portion of the Army of the Tennessee, was responsible for the land and sea operations that eventually led to the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.