Above: Sherman's March to the Sea, by Scottish artist Alexander Hay Ritchie. Engraving depicting Sherman's march to the sea. Size: 27 1/8 x 41 1/2 in. Original copyright: 1868 by L. Stebbins. Image in the Public Domain.

Left: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's men destroying a railroad in Atlanta. Photograph in the Public Domain.

Sherman remains a polarizing miltary figure for his destruction of Atlanta, a key confederate city during the Civil War. 

In The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare, author Edward Hagerman offers insight into the importance of field fortification in the tactical evolution of trench warfare, and development of field transportation and supply to move and maneuver Civil War armies in the field. Through the effective use of select battle strategies and tactics from both the Union and Confederate armies Hagerman’s The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare succeeds in detailing the importance of his two central theses and aforementioned contributions from the early stages of the war in 1861 through its end in 1865.

Left: September, 1984. Sherman on horseback at Federal Fort No. 7, after the Atlanta Campaign. Photograph in the Public Domain.

Logistics and organizational capabilities are at the heart of Hagerman’s argument directing the reader to surmise that the army which most effectively mastered these challenges had won the war. The author does an admirable job in underscoring the capabilities of the generals in utilizing logistics and organizational structure: “Sherman left a heritage of successful experimentation in logistical organization for the strategic offensive in mid-nineteenth-century; warfare; a heritage at the historical roots of modern warfare.” (Hagerman, 1988. p. 292) Hagerman’s importance of mastering the mobility component of logistics and organization was the genesis for ultimate union victory late in the war: “…Sherman and Grant exploited diversion, dispersion, and surprise to successfully pursue a modern total-war strategy of exhaustion against the enemy’s resources, communications, and will.

The vehicle that made it possible was the Union development of field transportation and supply organization.” (Hagerman, 1988. p. 293) Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s challenges began in 1861, early in the war: “The logistical problems that brought Lee’s army to a halt had begun when the Confederates prepared for the Maryland campaign with an improvised and inferior procurement policy.” (Hagerman, 1988. p. 118) These failures created economic hardships for the confederacy that were only overcome by “massive voluntary contributions” from its citizenry.

Above: Stone Mountain, Georgia, today. At the gateway to Stone Mountain Park, named for the vast monolith etched into the rock’s side, is the Confederate Memorial Carving depicts Civil War Generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis. Photo licensed to War History Network. Click to expand.

Transportation and supply as a part of an operational logistics plan was vital to any success that the Union and Confederate armies would have: “A statistical analysis of Civil War field supply and transportation also suggests what experience would verify: that the early Napoleonic mode of logistical thinking placed too much emphasis on foraging for American conditions.” (Hagerman, 1988. p. 44) In many areas the countryside was inadequate to offer subsistence for large armies. The more effective the generals were at these logistical matters the more capably their troops were able to fight. Supply was equally as critical to armies of the North and South alike: “Supplying a mass army was a new American experience. Inadequately trained, understaffed, and poorly organized, the supply depar tments were as raw as the troops in the field.” (Hagerman, 1988. p. 45)

Multimedia: Video, Web, Photo, and Discussion
Video: When Georgia Howled: Sherman on the March (6.2M views)

Websites: National Park Service: Andersonville and Sherman's March to the Sea  |  American Battlefield Trust: Sherman's March to the Sea  |  History Channel website: Sherman's March to the Sea

Discussion: Was Atlanta's destruction by Sherman necessary?  Does the concept of 'total war' only apply if it's not your own country?

Additional reading
William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country: A Life, authored by James Lee McDonough. McDonough is a Civil War historian and professor emeritus of history at Auburn University. William Tecumseh Sherman was published in 2016 by W.W. Norton and Company and is an excellent read and comprehensive work on the General.