Sherman Dynamic Duo

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Battle of Shiloh by the artist Thure de Thulstrup

( With apologies to Batman and Robin ) Of all the generals who served during the ACW, some were very skilled and competent, while others not so much. But a chosen few could be considered brilliant, Lee and Longstreet immediately come to mind. On the Federal side, it took a little while for their talent to rise to the surface. " Cump " Sherman served well at First Bull Run ( where he received a minor wound ) and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers, seemingly headed in the right direction. However, when he took over operations in Kentucky he became nervous and pessimistic which lead to some sort of emotional breakdown. Maj. General Henry Halleck then ordered him to take a leave of absence.
When Sherman returned from his leave he assisted General U. S. Grant in the capture of Fort Donelson. Grant must have seen the potential in Sherman then because they formed a partnership which lasted for the rest of the war. Their partnership was even further solidified at the Battle of Shiloh. Shiloh was a massive battle which left thousands dead on both sides. Sherman's command received a major part of the Confederate onslaught, and while he gave up ground, he never retreated. It could be said that Sherman's coolness kept the fighting from turning into a route. The following day, Grant, Sherman, and other generals launched a devastating counterattack driving the Rebels from the field, forcing them to lose irreplaceable men and losing any advantage they held in Tennessee. Sherman's outstanding generalship further cemented his reputation with Grant, and would be one of the factors that ultimately convinced Grant and Lincoln that he be allowed to embark on his March to the Sea in 1864.
 
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Sherman has always been a great interest of mine and I find his personality to be fascinating. A man who loved the South who became the South's greatest villain. The Grant-Sherman partnership was one of the main reasons the North won the war.

What is most interesting to me was that in many ways the partnership worked because Grant and Sherman were very different people. Sherman's strengths complimented Grant's weaknesses and vice versa. Sherman was probably intellectually more brilliant, while Grant's steadiness calmed his friend's excitable personality. Sherman alluded to this himself more than once, most famously when he said, "I am a damned sight smarter man than Grant. I know more about military history, strategy, and grand tactics than he does. I know more about supply, administration, and everything else than he does. I'll tell you where he beats me though and where he beats the world. He doesn't give a **** about what the enemy does out of his sight, but it scares me like hell."

One other point I'd like to make with apologies -- I do not mean to go off topic here.... I think Grant needed a complementary commander to be as effective as he was. Sherman served that role for Grant in 1862 & 1863. I think in some respects George Meade served that role for Grant in 1864. Meade was of course never as close with Grant as Sherman was, but other than that I think there is room for comparison. Both were more probably more knowledgeable about administration, supply, and maybe military tactics than Grant was. Both were also much more worried about what the enemy did out of their sight. In the middle of the Overland Campaign Grant wrote that Meade and Sherman "are the fittest officers for large commands I have come in contact with." I would argue that Grant relied on their strengths to make up for some of his own weaknesses as a commander.
 
What is most interesting to me was that in many ways the partnership worked because Grant and Sherman were very different people. Sherman's strengths complimented Grant's weaknesses and vice versa. Sherman was probably intellectually more brilliant, while Grant's steadiness calmed his friend's excitable personality.
Absolutely! I totally agree. :D
 
At Vicksburg Sherman was a very good corps commander to Grant (as were McPherson and Ord) but the ideas were Grant's and I don't think their relationship was a partnership. And Sherman appears to have been little help to Grant at Chattanooga, aside from the benefits of his army merely being there and engaged, even if badly. It occurs to me that Sherman excelled at corps command and army group command but at the step in between, army command, he was less talented.

Interesting that all three of Grant's corps commanders at Vicksburg (counting Ord for the 13th Corps, not McClernand and not counting Parke and the 9th Corps) went on to command armies. Ord is talked about little but accomplished much.
 
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