Grant Grant had nothing to do with the Union winning the war

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Sherman was indeed a virulent racist. I don't know that I would go so far as to say he hated blacks, but he did think they were inferior.

I disagree. Sherman hated war more than he hated slavery. He fought for the Union not to free the slaves and believed slavery should be left to die out on its own (something I personally disagree with him about). Mostly what he said on the subject was in letters to his brother, the Senator from Ohio, who was an abolitionist. His opinions have to be read in that context.

But again... that's for another thread.
 
He got the Mississippi flowing unvexed to the Sea. Then, he went to Tn. and opened the the Confederate heartland to Union invasion and finally went to Northern Va. and effectively ended the war 11 mo's of active campaigning, by accepting Lee's surrender of the ANV.
 
"All the powers of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. Next year their lands will be taken, for in war we can take them, and rightfully, too, and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a certain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many peoples with less pertinacity have been wiped out of national existence." - William Tecumseh Sherman

Edited to add: "We accepted their challenge, and now for them to whine and complain of the natural and necessary results is beneath contempt. But for the more manly, who are now engaged in building up, I feel friendship and respect."- William Tecumseh Sherman
 
He got the Mississippi flowing unvexed to the Sea. Then, he went to Tn. and opened the the Confederate heartland to Union invasion and finally went to Northern Va. and effectively ended the war 11 mo's of active campaigning, by accepting Lee's surrender of the ANV.
That is basically all that needs to be said.
 
"All the powers of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any more than their dead grandfathers. Next year their lands will be taken, for in war we can take them, and rightfully, too, and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a certain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many peoples with less pertinacity have been wiped out of national existence." - William Tecumseh Sherman

Sherman would have been pleased as punch to keep slavery intact if it could be done, but he realized that slavery was the cause of the war and so being a practical man he knew it had to go. Sherman was more in favor of the Union than he was in favor of slavery, but he didn't have any problem with it as a personal matter.
 
Well I know that Sherman hated the colored troops and he said that fighting side-by-side with a black soldier only weakened the moral of his troops. He especially hated the recruiters DC tended to send to collect blacks to enlist in the army. He kept complaining that the recruiters ate too much food and took too much space on the trains or some lame excuse like that he used to send them away, hehe. That really crawled on the nerves of the politicians in DC.

At least this is what historian John F. Marzalek claims about Sherman...

I will agree that Sherman did have a serious issue with race equality. Not sure I would call it hate....but he didn't think much of the black race.
 
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Sherman was a racist and he hated the blacks, that's a fact. He even said that when the war ends, he would buy some slaves for himself. Why else do you think he defended general Jeff C. Davis after he cut the bridge and left so many former slaves on the mercy of Wheeler's cavalry? Also, Sherman was constantly receiving numerous scoldings from DC to restrain from his racist remarks all the time.
How about we stick with one thread at a time instead of trying to hijack the thread that came from you hijacking the other one..Start one on Sherman...
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Sherman would have been pleased as punch to keep slavery intact if it could be done, but he realized that slavery was the cause of the war and so being a practical man he knew it had to go. Sherman was more in favor of the Union than he was in favor of slavery, but he didn't have any problem with it as a personal matter.

That's a lot different from being a "virulent racist" as you said before.
 
Well, it seems there is a need for a summary -- General U. S. Grant, being a part of the Union Army and that Army be it a part or as a whole, did win the war and being a part of that whole, is a fact. That fact holds true for every soldier, sailor, Marine that served in the Union Forces be it 'Regulars' or 'Volunteers.'

This thread has had an extended shelf life due to hijacking the original topic.

Just my opinions.

M. E. Wolf
 
Did Sherman's attitudes towards others, women, American Indians, blacks, etc. differ markedly from other men of his generation or past(i.e., Thomas Jefferson, for instance)?
 
I will agree that Sherman did have a serious issue with race equality. Not sure I would call it hate....but he didn't think much of the black race.

Ultimately it doesn't matter what he thought or said about racial equality. It only matters what he did. Did he own saves? Did he personally mistreat them? Did he have a black mistress? No, no, and no. Thousands of slaves followed him on his March to the Sea. They called him "Moses." The bottom line is, Sherman did more to free the slaves, outside of Lincoln, Grant, and the abolitionists, than anyone.
 
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