Table of Contents

Of Raymonds and Streets, Hoyts and Shermans.

Beside the Still Waters.

"I Regret I Ever Left the Army."

A Yankee in Rebeldom.

The Insanity of the South--and of Uncle Charles.

Hamlet.

The Same Game as at Bull Run.

Bad Day at Chickasaw.

Vicksburg and Sherman's First March.

Willy, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.

Commander of the Armies.

"We Must Kill Those Three Hundred Thousand."

"A Scene I Pray My Eyes May Never See Again."

"Gone to Join Willy."

The Carolinas.

"I Will Take a Regiment of My Old Division and Clear Them All Out."

"Whatever We Do Here Causes Death."

At War With Grant.

Of Lizzie and Tom.

Extreme Unction.

Sherman: A Brief Assessment.

Appendix.

Notes.

Manuscripts Cited.

Index.

About the Author

STANLEY P. HIRSHSON is Professor of History at Queens College, City University of New York, and the author of Farewell to the Bloody Shirt: Northern Republicans and the Southern Negro, 1877-1893. He lives in Closter, New Jersey.

Reviews

The Civil War general infamous for the burning of Atlanta cuts a more sympathetic figure than usual in this biography, which is as psychologically penetrating as it is painstakingly researched. Hirshson (Farewell to the Bloody Shirt), a professor of history at Queens College at CUNY, shows how Sherman (1820-1891) evolved from a rebellious yet intellectually gifted student into an inspired leader of men, driven as much by a fear of giving into the mental illness that ravaged his mother's side of his family as by his military ambition. According to Hirshson, prior biographies of Sherman have largely exaggerated the general's fierceness, and in so doing have failed to comprehend the complexities of his character. Hirshson is the only recent Sherman biographer to tap even a portion of the hundreds of unit histories to find out what Sherman's men thought about their commander. Although sympathetic to his subject, he admits that Sherman made mistakes during the Civil War, and he details the genesis and nature of these errors. He also uncovers new material about the general's personal difficulties before the war, and about his post-1865 squabbles with brother officers regarding army policy. The one drawback to this fine study is its lack of a detailed bibliography, which forces readers to delve through the endnotes to appreciate the depth of Hirshson's research in what is sure to become a controversial book on one of America's great generals. Photos; maps. (May)

Utilizing regimental histories, historian Hirshon offers a sympathetic yet excellent biography of one of the more noted Civil War generals, best remembered for burning Atlanta, cutting a swath of destruction across Georgia, then creating total destruction in South Carolina, including the burning of Columbia. Hirshon gives us an insight into how Sherman's own troops felt about him and his relationships with fellow generals, especially Grant. The author not only describes Sherman's role in the war but also details his early life and family problems. The latter part of the book deals with his life after the war, especially with the Indians in the West as well as his relationships with Presidents Johnson and Grant. This work focuses more closely on Sherman's battles and marches than most other biographies do and discusses his failures and accomplishments in detail. Highly recommended.‘W. Walter Wicker, Louisiana Tech Univ., (ret.) Ruston