Trevor Siprelle
Cadet
- Joined
- May 29, 2018
Sherman's other war
It was once said by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman that "If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast." This would turn out to be one of Sherman's kinder remarks about the press. Throughout much of his pre and post war life Sherman would not only battle against his enemies on the battlefield but with the press as well. Though he reviled reporters in general, there are two occurrences that stand out as his own private war against the press.
Sherman's issues with the press began all the way back to the 1850's while running a bank in San Francisco for Lucas, Turner & Co. because he felt the local press was helping to create an undue financial crisis. But his real animosity started during the Civil War with the press announcing to the nation that he was crazy after he suggested to members of the War Department that it would take over 200,000 troops to suppress the Confederates in the west. Though Sherman's remarks would ultimately be prophetic, nonetheless in 1861 they seemed outright insane. Sherman was at the time greatly exaggerating what the Confederate's strength was, and he had worked himself up almost to the point of a nervous breakdown, but he was not crazy.
After taking a much needed leave of absence, Sherman returned to field duty in time to put in a good performance at the April 6&7th Battle of Shiloh. After Shiloh, Sherman would begin his part in the campaign for the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, and Sherman's every attempt was thwarted in that effort, most notably at Chickasaw Bayou. At the beginning of the campaign Sherman would issue his General Order No. 8, prohibiting reporters from following his forces or sending dispatches from his field of operations. Furthermore, any correspondent giving out news that could aid the enemy would be arrested and treated as a spy. The obvious reason for the order was to keep his battle plans out of the papers and subsequently out of the hands of the Confederates that also had access to northern newspapers.
Thomas Knox, a correspondent for the New York Herald, defied the orders of Sherman and quickly found out what consequences that could bring. Within Knox's dispatch to the Herald he had made some wild assessments based on second hand accounts, as he himself was not there, of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou as well as bringing up once more the claims that Sherman was insane. Statements like "failure has dashed the hopes of the nation" and "insanity and inefficiency have brought their results" suggested that the only way to capture Vicksburg was for Sherman to be relieved of command. Knox also insinuated that the battle was just a smaller scale Fredericksburg, where the Army of the Potomac in Virginia under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside suffered a staggering loss to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
After reading the Herald, Sherman had Knox court-martialed for being a spy, disobeying orders, and giving intelligence to the enemy. Knox was found guilty, but only to the charge of disobeying orders, and his sentence was that he be removed from Sherman's lines and not to return. However Knox made an appeal all the way to President Lincoln. Lincoln, not wanting to get tangled up in the whole mess, kicked it back to be decided by Maj. Gen. Grant. Grant stated that he could return only if General Sherman agreed. He did not; Sherman stated to Knox, "You may come as a soldier, but come as you do now as a representative of the press, and my answer is Never". Certainly Sherman's actions in court-martialing a civilian and the implications that the censorship could have on the 1st Amendment rights of the press would, and did, create debate. However, Sherman would state that because he was operating behind enemy lines in a "foreign nation" that the 1st amendment fell to military discretion.
The next highly publicized dust up with the press would come well after the cessation of hostilities between the north and south. A very powerful Washington D.C. correspondent by the name of Henry Van Ness Boynton, would be the next to draw the ire of the powerful General. Boynton was a Civil War veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, and a brevet Brig. General that would lead his regiment, the 35th Ohio, at both the Battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. In the latter he would be seriously wounded in the groin and would never return to action. However, Boynton would return to the theatre of war as a correspondent attached to Sherman's Army at Savannah. Post war he would also be well known for his attacks on the scandal ridden Grant administration and the father of the modern day National Military Park. The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park would become the first of such parks with many more to follow in that model.
The trouble between the two esteemed veterans began with the release of Sherman's memoirs in 1875. Boynton took Sherman to task for what he considered inaccuracies in the record of his campaigns, as well as what he considered the downplaying of Sherman's subordinates for his own self-aggrandizement. Boynton would even go to the extent of publishing a point by point rebuttal to Sherman's memoirs, going so far as to have them bound the same as Sherman's memoir, and meant to be sold side by side. In an interview with Sherman after the release of Boynton's rebuttal he told the reporter that, "you could hire him to do anything for money" and "for a thousand dollars he would slander his own mother". In a letter to Sherman, Boynton asked the General if he had been quoted accurately by the reporter. Sherman's response was curt and to the point, "I said I thought you were capable of doing anything for pay; that slander was your daily vocation, and as you had deliberately falsified as to me, I believed you capable of slandering your own mother for pay. This is a hard thing to say of any man, but I believe it of you."
Obviously this response didn't sit well with Boynton. Boynton would go on to attempt a military court-martial of Sherman for conduct unbecoming, but President Rutherford B. Hayes declined to move forward with the matter and it was dropped. Sherman in other interviews would admit to making errors in his first edition, and that they would be corrected in a future edition. For the remainder of his life Sherman would continue to hold the press in very low esteem, and made no attempts to hide his feelings on the matter. Sherman may not have been the first notable American figure to call out the press and win but certainly one of the most charismatic.
T. Siprelle
References:
Sherman: Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman
The New York Times: The Sherman-Boynton Case Published February 2, 1880
The National Park Service: Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
William Tecumseh Sherman by James Lee McDonough
HistoryNet: The Laws of War| The Trial of Thomas Knox
Sherman's Historical Raid. The memoirs in the light of the record. H.V. Boynton
A Chickamauga Memorial: The Establishment of America's First Civil War National Military Park Timothy B. Smith
It was once said by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman that "If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast." This would turn out to be one of Sherman's kinder remarks about the press. Throughout much of his pre and post war life Sherman would not only battle against his enemies on the battlefield but with the press as well. Though he reviled reporters in general, there are two occurrences that stand out as his own private war against the press.
Sherman's issues with the press began all the way back to the 1850's while running a bank in San Francisco for Lucas, Turner & Co. because he felt the local press was helping to create an undue financial crisis. But his real animosity started during the Civil War with the press announcing to the nation that he was crazy after he suggested to members of the War Department that it would take over 200,000 troops to suppress the Confederates in the west. Though Sherman's remarks would ultimately be prophetic, nonetheless in 1861 they seemed outright insane. Sherman was at the time greatly exaggerating what the Confederate's strength was, and he had worked himself up almost to the point of a nervous breakdown, but he was not crazy.
After taking a much needed leave of absence, Sherman returned to field duty in time to put in a good performance at the April 6&7th Battle of Shiloh. After Shiloh, Sherman would begin his part in the campaign for the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, and Sherman's every attempt was thwarted in that effort, most notably at Chickasaw Bayou. At the beginning of the campaign Sherman would issue his General Order No. 8, prohibiting reporters from following his forces or sending dispatches from his field of operations. Furthermore, any correspondent giving out news that could aid the enemy would be arrested and treated as a spy. The obvious reason for the order was to keep his battle plans out of the papers and subsequently out of the hands of the Confederates that also had access to northern newspapers.
Thomas Knox, a correspondent for the New York Herald, defied the orders of Sherman and quickly found out what consequences that could bring. Within Knox's dispatch to the Herald he had made some wild assessments based on second hand accounts, as he himself was not there, of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou as well as bringing up once more the claims that Sherman was insane. Statements like "failure has dashed the hopes of the nation" and "insanity and inefficiency have brought their results" suggested that the only way to capture Vicksburg was for Sherman to be relieved of command. Knox also insinuated that the battle was just a smaller scale Fredericksburg, where the Army of the Potomac in Virginia under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside suffered a staggering loss to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
After reading the Herald, Sherman had Knox court-martialed for being a spy, disobeying orders, and giving intelligence to the enemy. Knox was found guilty, but only to the charge of disobeying orders, and his sentence was that he be removed from Sherman's lines and not to return. However Knox made an appeal all the way to President Lincoln. Lincoln, not wanting to get tangled up in the whole mess, kicked it back to be decided by Maj. Gen. Grant. Grant stated that he could return only if General Sherman agreed. He did not; Sherman stated to Knox, "You may come as a soldier, but come as you do now as a representative of the press, and my answer is Never". Certainly Sherman's actions in court-martialing a civilian and the implications that the censorship could have on the 1st Amendment rights of the press would, and did, create debate. However, Sherman would state that because he was operating behind enemy lines in a "foreign nation" that the 1st amendment fell to military discretion.
The next highly publicized dust up with the press would come well after the cessation of hostilities between the north and south. A very powerful Washington D.C. correspondent by the name of Henry Van Ness Boynton, would be the next to draw the ire of the powerful General. Boynton was a Civil War veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, and a brevet Brig. General that would lead his regiment, the 35th Ohio, at both the Battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. In the latter he would be seriously wounded in the groin and would never return to action. However, Boynton would return to the theatre of war as a correspondent attached to Sherman's Army at Savannah. Post war he would also be well known for his attacks on the scandal ridden Grant administration and the father of the modern day National Military Park. The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park would become the first of such parks with many more to follow in that model.
The trouble between the two esteemed veterans began with the release of Sherman's memoirs in 1875. Boynton took Sherman to task for what he considered inaccuracies in the record of his campaigns, as well as what he considered the downplaying of Sherman's subordinates for his own self-aggrandizement. Boynton would even go to the extent of publishing a point by point rebuttal to Sherman's memoirs, going so far as to have them bound the same as Sherman's memoir, and meant to be sold side by side. In an interview with Sherman after the release of Boynton's rebuttal he told the reporter that, "you could hire him to do anything for money" and "for a thousand dollars he would slander his own mother". In a letter to Sherman, Boynton asked the General if he had been quoted accurately by the reporter. Sherman's response was curt and to the point, "I said I thought you were capable of doing anything for pay; that slander was your daily vocation, and as you had deliberately falsified as to me, I believed you capable of slandering your own mother for pay. This is a hard thing to say of any man, but I believe it of you."
Obviously this response didn't sit well with Boynton. Boynton would go on to attempt a military court-martial of Sherman for conduct unbecoming, but President Rutherford B. Hayes declined to move forward with the matter and it was dropped. Sherman in other interviews would admit to making errors in his first edition, and that they would be corrected in a future edition. For the remainder of his life Sherman would continue to hold the press in very low esteem, and made no attempts to hide his feelings on the matter. Sherman may not have been the first notable American figure to call out the press and win but certainly one of the most charismatic.
T. Siprelle
References:
Sherman: Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman
The New York Times: The Sherman-Boynton Case Published February 2, 1880
The National Park Service: Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
William Tecumseh Sherman by James Lee McDonough
HistoryNet: The Laws of War| The Trial of Thomas Knox
Sherman's Historical Raid. The memoirs in the light of the record. H.V. Boynton
A Chickamauga Memorial: The Establishment of America's First Civil War National Military Park Timothy B. Smith
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