The madness of war: Sherman called it right

Diana9

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Location
Southern California
I just came across this quote by William Tecumseh Sherman. Did he call it right or what? Strange that he would be the one to be called crazy, when it was the southern states that had gone mad.

"You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. 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!

You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. 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 North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of 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 else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail."
- William T. Sherman, letter to a Southern friend at the outset of the war

 
"War is cruelty, and you can not qualify it, and those who brought war in our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour on. War is the remedy our enemy's have chosen. They dared us to war, and you remember how tauntingly they defied us to the contest. We have accepted the issue and it must be fought out. You might as well reason with a thunderstorm. I say let us give them all they want; not a word of argument, not a sign of let up, no cave in till we are whipped or they are." - William T. Sherman
 
I had an interesting encounter once on a plane from Los Angeles to New York with a screenwriter. We talked about the book I was reading, "The Magus," and about Romanian cuisine. Then somewhere during our conversation he mentioned that he lived alone in a mansion in Encino with his doberman pinchers. Being that I'm a little afraid of that breed, I tried to give a polite response. All I could think of to say was that dobermans are good protection. His response was unforgettable and startling: "I thought you were an intelligent person," he said, "but that's the dumbest thing I've heard you say. It's just stupid to rely on a poor animal for protection. Don't you know, the best protection any human being has is clarity of thought?"

Those words hit me hard, like a diamond bullet going through my brain. I never forgot those words and I'm forever grateful to the man for sharing that piece of wisdom.

Sherman had clarity of thought. For this I admire him greatly.

He saw with absolute clarity that the cause of war is madness, and the result is "Hell."
 
I had an interesting encounter once on a plane from Los Angeles to New York with a screenwriter. During our conversation he mentioned that he lived alone in a mansion in Encino with his doberman pinchers. Being that I'm a little afraid of that breed, I tried to give a polite response. All I could think of to say was that dobermans are good protection. His response was unforgettable and startling: "I thought you were an intelligent person," he said, "but that's the dumbest thing I've heard you say. It's just stupid to rely on a poor animal for protection. Don't you know, the best protection any human being has is clarity of thought?"

Those words hit me hard, like a diamond bullet going through my brain. I never forgot those words and I'm forever grateful to the man for sharing that piece of wisdom.

Sherman had clarity of thought. For this I admire him greatly.

Well, it's nice that you learned something from the jerk, but, just by reading your posts I think you would've figured that little gem out by yourself anyway. Were you guys in first class by any chance, because the dude sounds like a first class pr*ck to me.
 
Well, it's nice that you learned something from the jerk, but, just by reading your posts I think you would've figured that little gem out by yourself anyway. Were you guys in first class by any chance, because the dude sounds like a first class pr*ck to me.

Haha. No actually, my bf was in first class (he was on a film project), I was waiting for him in second class to get me, while I was talking to this "jerk."

I probably would have figured it out eventually, but at the time I was just a twenty-one year old dumb kid, reading books that were way over my head. :wink: The jerk gave me a head start, and I find that clarity is a lifelong project and takes enormous mental effort, at least for me. :wink:

There were many twenty-one olds during the Civil War who could have benefited from that lesson.
 
Sherman had it clear on war, that's for sure. But sometimes I wonder! Here's one from him:

"Never give reasons for what you think or do until you must. Maybe, after a while, a better reason will pop into your head."

That letter he sent the people of Atlanta was the core of his beliefs. "Nobody will define war in harsher terms than I will." But also, he said he would share his last cracker with them and watch with them if they stopped fighting. He had the right mixture.
 
I had an interesting encounter once on a plane from Los Angeles to New York with a screenwriter. We talked about the book I was reading, "The Magus," and about Romanian cuisine. Then somewhere during our conversation he mentioned that he lived alone in a mansion in Encino with his doberman pinchers. Being that I'm a little afraid of that breed, I tried to give a polite response. All I could think of to say was that dobermans are good protection. His response was unforgettable and startling: "I thought you were an intelligent person," he said, "but that's the dumbest thing I've heard you say. It's just stupid to rely on a poor animal for protection. Don't you know, the best protection any human being has is clarity of thought?"

Those words hit me hard, like a diamond bullet going through my brain. I never forgot those words and I'm forever grateful to the man for sharing that piece of wisdom.

Sherman had clarity of thought. For this I admire him greatly.

He saw with absolute clarity that the cause of war is madness, and the result is "Hell."
I feel sorry for his dogs.....
 
I just came across this quote by William Tecumseh Sherman. Did he call it right or what? Strange that he would be the one to be called crazy, when it was the southern states that had gone mad.

"You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. 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!

You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. 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 North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of 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 else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail."
- William T. Sherman, letter to a Southern friend at the outset of the war
Sherman ws preety accurate thru out the war on what was needed to win it, the problem was that many people thought he was nuts because of it and dismissed his ideas.
 
There is no dispute that Sherman saw the war as it would play out from the begining. The backlash from those not so enlightened probably had, even Sherman doubting his sanity, but in the end nobody thought him insane. I think Sherman knew the people of the south as he lived among them and knew it would not be a quick victory. He also knew the reality of what the north could bring to bear to see the end result.
 
The Confederacy economy was based on slavery and it died on a dependence on slavery. A former Georgia newspaper woman said it best, some 75 years ago about economics, in her book, 'Gone with the Wind.'


"Gentlemen," said Rhett Butler,..."may I say a word?"

..."Has any one of you gentlemen ever thought that there's not a cannon factory south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Or how few iron foundries there are in the South? Or woolen mills or cotton factories or tanneries? Have you thought that we would not have a single warship and that the Yankee fleet could bottle up our harbors in a week, so that we could not sell our cotton abroad? But--of course--you gentlemen have thought of these things."

..."I have seen many things that you all have not seen. The thousands of immigrants who'd be glad to fight for the Yankees for food and a few dollars, the factories, the foundries, the shipyards, the iron and coal mines -all things we haven't got. Why, all we have is cotton and slaves and arrogance.."
 
"I make up my opinions from facts and reasoning, and not to suit any body but myself. If people don't like my opinions, it makes little difference as I don't solicit their opinions or votes." - William T. Sherman
 
I just came across this quote by William Tecumseh Sherman. Did he call it right or what? Strange that he would be the one to be called crazy, when it was the southern states that had gone mad.

"You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. 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!

You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. 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 North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of 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 else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail."
- William T. Sherman, letter to a Southern friend at the outset of the war

It was writing like that which led Lloyd Lewis to title his biography of Sherman, Fighting Prophet.
 
Glorybound said:
Well, it's nice that you learned something from the jerk, but, just by reading your posts I think you would've figured that little gem out by yourself anyway. Were you guys in first class by any chance, because the dude sounds like a first class pr*ck to me.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one who got this impression. What a jackass. Yeah, somebody breaks in, he's totally going to run when I shout, "I'm warning you... I have clarity of thought, and I'm willing to use it!"
 
Strictly speaking, the guy's right. Somebody breaks in, shoots the dogs. What's going to save you now, the dogs, or clarity of thought?

I wonder if he raised Dobermans as loving pets rather than as a security system, so he was fed up with people asking him about them being attack dogs, guard dogs, vicious, etc. etc., and had a snarky answer prepared. Not that the 50th person that month who mentioned their use as guard dogs could know that, but from his point of view, he was fed up.
 
Someone I considered well read once told me Sherman's "war is hell" quote is a snippet in that he actually said "War is Hell you can NOT refine it!" I was told Sherman uttered these words in answer to civilians complaining of the vicious destruction of thier property during the fall of Atlanta and shortly after Sherman lost McPherson during the battle for the city. My source has passed on and although I can't say I have confirmed this in any of the many books I have read about the ACW it sounds like something that Sherman would have said at the time.
 
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