Sherman William T. Sherman Warns the South

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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In a 24 Dec 1860 conversation with David Boyd, one of his professors at the Louisiana Seminary [which would later become LSU] regarding South Carolina's secession, Sherman is reported to have said:

"You, you the people of the South, believe there can be such a thing as peaceable secession. You don't know what you are doing. I know there can be no such thing. ... If you will have it, the North must fight you for its own preservation. Yes, South Carolina has by this act precipitated war. ... This country will be drenched in blood. God only knows how it will end. Perhaps the liberties of the whole country, of every section and every man will be destroyed, and yet you know that within the Union no man's liberty or property in all the South is endangered. ... Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization. ... You people speak so lightly of war. You don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing. I know you are a brave, fighting people, but for every day of actual fighting, there are months of marching, exposure and suffering. More men die in war from sickness than are killed in battle. At best war is a frightful loss of life and property, and worse still is the demoralization of the people. ...

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people, but an earnest people and will fight too, and they are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it.

"Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The Northern people not only greatly outnumber the whites at the South, but they are a mechanical people with manufactures of every kind, while you are only agriculturists--a sparse population covering a large extent of territory, and in all history no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. ...

"The North can make a steam-engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth--right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all els eyou are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, and shut out from the markets of Europe by blockade as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. ... if your people would but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail." [See Lloyd Lewis, Sherman: Fighting Prophet, p. 138]

He warned them.
 
Sherman, for all his faults, could sure hit the nail on the head from time to time! This is a good part of the reason he had his little mental setback in Kentucky. He knew he was going to be fighting people he cared about and destroying a society and culture he loved. His Southern sympathies were well known - maybe too well known. After the war was over he brokered too generous a peace with Johnston; Stanton thought Sherman was a traitor fixing to head for Washington with his super loyal army to throw the rascals out! Even thought he might have been part of the plot to kill Lincoln. Considering this was after Sherman cut a huge swath of destruction through the South like, as he commented, "a barbarian", Stanton was making a rather hysterical leap to a strange conclusion. (And Sherman himself, like Grant, was a target of the conspiracy - he was told to watch out for assassins. That's not going to scare a career soldier - Sherman just figured whoever it was would have to get in line!)
 
In a 24 Dec 1860 conversation with David Boyd, one of his professors at the Louisiana Seminary [which would later become LSU] regarding South Carolina's secession, Sherman is reported to have said:

"You, you the people of the South, believe there can be such a thing as peaceable secession. You don't know what you are doing. I know there can be no such thing. ... If you will have it, the North must fight you for its own preservation. Yes, South Carolina has by this act precipitated war. ... This country will be drenched in blood. God only knows how it will end. Perhaps the liberties of the whole country, of every section and every man will be destroyed, and yet you know that within the Union no man's liberty or property in all the South is endangered. ... Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization. ... You people speak so lightly of war. You don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing. I know you are a brave, fighting people, but for every day of actual fighting, there are months of marching, exposure and suffering. More men die in war from sickness than are killed in battle. At best war is a frightful loss of life and property, and worse still is the demoralization of the people. ...

"You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people, but an earnest people and will fight too, and they are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it.

"Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The Northern people not only greatly outnumber the whites at the South, but they are a mechanical people with manufactures of every kind, while you are only agriculturists--a sparse population covering a large extent of territory, and in all history no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. ...

"The North can make a steam-engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth--right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all els eyou are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

"At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, and shut out from the markets of Europe by blockade as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. ... if your people would but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail." [See Lloyd Lewis, Sherman: Fighting Prophet, p. 138]

He warned them.

Cash. I have a question. Do we know who recorded what General Sherman is "reported to have said."? It just seems like a lot for someone to have written down after the fact. Just wondering. I'll bet you know the answer.
 
Thanks. I get the feeling that the Professor wrote that with true heartfelt admiration for the General. I wonder if he was moved to defend Sherman after Jefferson Davis wrote so ****ingly of the Generals march through Georgia.

The prof was a big fan.
 
David Boyd was an interesting guy, not only a professor but the first Superintendent of LSU after the war, and later briefly President of Auburn University. During the war Boyd initially enlisted in the 9th Louisiana Infantry, part of the Louisiana Tigers, where he became Commissary Officer of the Louisiana Brigade. He later followed his Colonel, Richard Taylor, to the Western Theater where he was a Major of engineering, building fortifications along the Red River. Captured by Jayhawker militia, he was sold to the Union Army before being exchanged and returned to the South following Sherman's intervention.

The David F. Boyd-Wm. Sherman letters are in the LSU Library show how the close relationship continued after the war.
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/0890.pdf

David F. Boyd Hall is home to the Graduate School at LSU and is prominently located on the left of the Memorial Tower in the center of the Campus.

david boyd hall.JPG
 
More men die in war from sickness than are killed in battle. At best war is a frightful loss of life and property, and worse still is the demoralization of the people. ...

Truer words were never spoken.

The full content of this quote is breathtaking in its scope of foresight, insight, and the understanding of the gravity of the consequences of making war. I have been fortunate to to spend the last week looking at Grant and Sherman and seeing them in a whole new light, one with many facets and previously unexplored depth.

I mean not to resurrect the rancor that follows these names of Grant and Sherman, but rather, it is more of an appreciation for the gems that lurk within the crevasses of threads and forums at this great site.
 
Truer words were never spoken.

The full content of this quote is breathtaking in its scope of foresight, insight, and the understanding of the gravity of the consequences of making war. I have been fortunate to to spend the last week looking at Grant and Sherman and seeing them in a whole new light, one with many facets and previously unexplored depth.

I mean not to resurrect the rancor that follows these names of Grant and Sherman, but rather, it is more of an appreciation for the gems that lurk within the crevasses of threads and forums at this great site.

One needs to read the letters between Sherman, and Hood when Sherman was going to expel the citizens from Atlanta! He didn't hold back anything there either.
The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Series 1 - Volume 39 (Part II) Page 414-422
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/waro.html

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...o0078:2;view=image;seq=416;size=100;page=root

Kevin Dally
 
One needs to read the letters between Sherman, and Hood when Sherman was going to expel the citizens from Atlanta! He didn't hold back anything there either.
The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Series 1 - Volume 39 (Part II) Page 414-422
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/waro.html

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;idno=waro0078;node=waro0078:2;view=image;seq=416;size=100;page=root

Kevin Dally

Thank you. I have added these readings to my list!


shhhhhhh: don't tell anyone, but I am developing an admiration for Sherman:smile:
 
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