Sherman Who Was Sherman Talking About?

[ebg12]

who was Sherman talking about when he said
"If he goes up North, I'll give him rations!"? Johnson, right?

 

[GwilymT]

who was Sherman talking about when he said
"If he goes up North, I'll give him rations!"? Johnson, right?

According to this New York Times article from November 16, 1864, Sherman was referring to General Hood:

https://www.nytimes.com/1864/11/16/archives/shermans-campaign.html

 

[Jamieva]

Hood

 

[Tin cup]

When Hood took over from Johnston...Sherman wrote
"About 10 A.M. of that day (July 18th), when the armies were all in motion, one of General Thomas's staff-officers brought me a citizen, one of our spies, who had just come out of Atlanta, and had brought a newspaper of the same day, or of the day before, containing Johnston's order relinquishing the command of the Confederate forces in Atlanta, and Hood's order assuming the command. I immediately inquired of General Schofield, who was his classmate at West Point, about Hood, as to his general character, etc., and learned that he was bold even to rashness, and courageous in the extreme; I inferred that the change of commanders meant "fight." Notice of this important change was at once sent to all parts of the army, and every division commander was cautioned to be always prepared for battle in any shape. This was just what we wanted, viz., to fight in open ground, on any thing like equal terms, instead of being forced to run up against prepared intrenchments; but, at the same time, the enemy having Atlanta behind him, could choose the time and place of attack, and could at pleasure mass a superior force on our weakest points. Therefore, we had to be constantly ready for sallies.



We agreed that we ought to be unusually cautious and prepared at all times for sallies and for hard fighting, because Hood, though not deemed much of a scholar, or of great mental capacity, was undoubtedly a brave, determined, and rash man; and the change of commanders at that particular crisis argued the displeasure of the Confederate Government with the cautious but prudent conduct of General Jos. Johnston.

Kevin Dally

 

[GwilymT]

When Hood took over from Johnston...Sherman wrote
"About 10 A.M. of that day (July 18th), when the armies were all in motion, one of General Thomas's staff-officers brought me a citizen, one of our spies, who had just come out of Atlanta, and had brought a newspaper of the same day, or of the day before, containing Johnston's order relinquishing the command of the Confederate forces in Atlanta, and Hood's order assuming the command. I immediately inquired of General Schofield, who was his classmate at West Point, about Hood, as to his general character, etc., and learned that he was bold even to rashness, and courageous in the extreme; I inferred that the change of commanders meant "fight." Notice of this important change was at once sent to all parts of the army, and every division commander was cautioned to be always prepared for battle in any shape. This was just what we wanted, viz., to fight in open ground, on any thing like equal terms, instead of being forced to run up against prepared intrenchments; but, at the same time, the enemy having Atlanta behind him, could choose the time and place of attack, and could at pleasure mass a superior force on our weakest points. Therefore, we had to be constantly ready for sallies.



We agreed that we ought to be unusually cautious and prepared at all times for sallies and for hard fighting, because Hood, though not deemed much of a scholar, or of great mental capacity, was undoubtedly a brave, determined, and rash man; and the change of commanders at that particular crisis argued the displeasure of the Confederate Government with the cautious but prudent conduct of General Jos. Johnston.

Kevin Dally

Not a very high opinion of Hood. I recall hearing that Union commanders generally held Johnson in very high regard. Was it Grant that said he would be more concerned facing Johnson than Lee?

 

[UCVRelics]

Gen. Hood was who he was referring to.

 

[GwilymT]

In typical Uncle Billy fashion, the second part of that quote is "...The nearer the rebels come to us, the easier it will be to kill them."

 

[Canadian]

Was it true that Sherman sized up his opponents according to how they played poker (or Brag) and that Hood had revealed his rashness in the games?

 

[GwilymT]

Was it true that Sherman sized up his opponents according to how they played poker (or Brag) and that Hood had revealed his rashness in the games?

I hadn't heard this. Does anyone have more info?

 

[diane]

I don't know if that's true or not, but Sherman did play poker. He probably played it with both Hood and Bragg, as they were friends before the war. Maybe they weren't very good at it - he could size them up very well! The one person he probably should have played poker with was Forrest - Sherman never figured him out.

 

[Irishtom29]

Sherman played euchre too, a game still popular in parts of the Midwest. After the death of McPherson Sherman said he'd lost his right bower. Well at least he still had his left bower protected.

 

[sjw83071]

I hadn't heard this. Does anyone have more info?

I remember reading this in a Civil War Times article years ago. Stated that Hood was reckless at poker.