Union Commander at the Battle of Atlanta and the march to the sea. General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army. Known as the first truly modern general.
A West Point graduate, Sherman was an aide to Capt. Philip Kearney in the Mexican War. As superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, near Alexandria, Louisiana, Sherman was offered a Confederate command when the Civil War broke out in 1861. He turned that offer down and took an assignment in the Union army under Major General Irvin McDowell, only to suffer defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. In late 1861, Sherman took command of the Department of Cairo in Illinois and suffered another defeat at the Battle of Shiloh, but his gallant fighting impressed U.S. Grant and won him a promotion to Maj. General. When Grant was made supreme commander of the armies of the West in 1863, Sherman was given command of the Army of Tennessee. In 1864, Sherman commenced his brilliant Atlanta campaign and the March to the Sea against Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was later replaced by Gen. John B. Hood. Sherman cut a swathe of ruthless destruction through the South that has ever since drawn the ire of Southerners. He believed that by bringing the brutality of war home to the civilian population the war would end sooner and prevent further waste of life. Yet he bore no personal hatred for the South or southerners. In fact, he was instrumental in calling for generous terms of peace that paved the way for the healing of the nation. After the war, President Grant made Sherman his General-in-Chief.
"Hold the Fort! I am coming." --William Tecumseh Sherman
“He stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk; and now sir, we stand by each other.” -- William T. Sherman on his relationship with Gen. Grant, post-war interview
"War is hell." --William Tecumseh Sherman, as reported by John Keelbeck after the Battle of Vicksburg in 1861
"War is cruelty, the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over" --William Tecumseh Sherman
"There is many a boy here who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning voice to generations to come." --William Tecumseh Sherman
"If nominated I will not run. If elected I will not serve."