Sherman War Is Cruelty ........ madam ...... mom!

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Maria Willis Boyle Ewing

Grenville Dodge in his 'Personal Recollections of …' wrote ....

"At a dinner given us by General Granger, the General's mother, or mother-in-law, who had known Sherman when in army, upbraided Sherman for the pillaging and "stealing" done by Sherman's soldiers on their march to Knoxville. She pecked and pounded away until finally the General turned upon her. He said :

Madam, my soldiers have to subsist even if the whole country must be ruined to maintain them. There are two armies here; one is in rebellion against the Union, the other is fighting for the Union - if either must starve to death, I propose it shall not be the army that is loyal. There is nothing too good for the soldiers who wear the blue.

After a pause he added: War is cruelty. There is no use in trying to reform it ; the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

This response put a cold ****** on the dinner and no effort of any of us could relieve the strain. The lady said no more, for it was a great rebuke."

For those not familiar with Sherman's childhood, there is a reason General Dodge refers to the lady in the story as Sherman's mother or mother in law. In a way, she was both.

Sherman's wife, Eleanor "Ellen" Boyle Ewing, was the the eldest daughter of Thomas Ewing and Maria Wills Boyle Ewing, was born October 4, 1824, and grew up in Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing's close friend Charles R. Sherman, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, died suddenly in 1829, leaving his widow with a family of young children. Thomas Ewing adopted William Tecumseh Sherman. Over the years, as Ellen and William grew up in the same home, they fell in love. Her father gave only a half-hearted approval of the relationship. He did not want his Ellen to live the nomadic life of an army wife. Still, Ellen married William on May 1, 1850 at Blair House in Washington DC, where her father was a member of President Zachary Taylor's Cabinet. Her wedding was attended by the President and his entire Cabinet, as well as Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, whose gift, a silver filigree bouquet-holder, was carried by the bride.
Family info & photo courtesy Ewing Family History

General Dodge tells a humorous story shortly after in his book on the topic ....


I received a note from General McPherson telling me to put my forces upon the cars and with my ammunition reach Chattanooga before the 5th of May, leaving my trains and artillery to follow by wagon road. We arrived there on the morning of the 5th without tents or rations, and I immediately found our army commander, General McPherson, who was waiting for us. I remember that at the breakfast table at the hotel I was greatly surprised to find the knives and forks chained to the table, and concluded that the reputation of Sherman's "bummers" had preceded us.

Maria Ewing, the mother of three Union generals, and the mother/mother in law of General William T Sherman, passed away in 1864.

 
I ate out last night with a friend and I kept thinking, "what if the silverware had been chained to the table, how would they clean it?" Certain amount of yuck factor here.

And I can imagine rather stilted conversation after Sherman's rebuke for the rest of the dinner.
 
"I remember that at the breakfast table at the hotel I was greatly surprised to find the knives and forks chained to the table, and concluded that the reputation of Sherman's "bummers" had preceded us."

...especially if all Sherman's bummers were like Moses and Henry in the movie"The Keeping Room" -LOL
 
Yes, I'd be interested in the tone, too. Someone always becomes annoyed when I say this but Sherman's relationship with women was not sterling. Why, just because a man was a successful general he had to have developed the knack for water walking, too, is beyond me. Ellen put up with a lot- had someone tell me Sherman's affair with a very young woman was approved of by Ellen- uh huh. Of course she did, because wives of Great Men always put up with adultery just to near them. And other fairy tales. This is not anti- North, it is anti- jerk.

Just do not feel Sherman was terrific with women across the board or respected them. This famous ' War is H*ll ' take of his, has always seemed excusatory and women ( let's remember children lived with those women ) were the civilians who bore the brunt, anyway. To have snubbed another general's mother ( anyone who wishes to argue the point, please ask yourself if you would tolerate your mother being spoken to in this manner ) so publically, in those words, with so little restraint seems typical.

Please no one tell me all about what a big softy he was, with his men post war. He was. That's great. It would be more impressive if he was not carrying on an affair with a girl young enough to be his youngest daughter, at the same time.
 
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