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Essay on civil wars
What was the military strategy of the civil war
The civil war conflict
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Joseph T. Glathaar’s The March to the Sea and Beyond
The Civil War is arguably the most interesting and enigmatic subject in American history. Even after rigorous study of the topic, it is difficult to fully comprehend the motives for the war. Part of this is because of the inherent complexity of the conflict, but it can also be attributed to the manner about which it is written historically. Much of the military history of the Civil War concerns itself with the broad tactics and strategies of the armies. Historians often focus solely on the command structure of the respective forces, and lump the soldiers under those commands in one group. An exception to this is Joseph T. Glathaar’s work, The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman’s Troops in the Savannah and Carolina Campaigns.
The title of Glathaar’s work is misleading – it implies that it is just another military history. Glathaar, however, examines Sherman’s march through the lenses of the common soldier, making the work more of a social history. Glathaar uses the diaries and journals of the enlisted men and junior officers to scrutinize their views of battle, their reasons for fighting, blacks, southern whites, camp life, foraging and pillaging, and the march itself. Glathaar makes it clear that he is not seeking to pass judgment on the participants of one of the most controversial military campaigns in history:
My objective, however, is neither to condemn nor condone the behavior of Sherman and his men. As I see it, my job is not to cast moral judgment upon the conduct of others; rather, it is to ascertain exactly what they did and understand why they did it.
Glathaar introduces the subject with a brief overview of the political and military situation in early 1864. The Army of the Potomac had experienced a series of military defeats, and President Lincoln had lost faith in several of his highest military commanders, resulting in their termination. Most notable among these was General McClellan, who accepted the Democratic nomination for President in 1864. It appeared as though the failures of the Army of the Potomac would essentially take the Presidency away from the Republicans until General Sherman’s successful Atlanta campaign. Therefore, the March to the Sea was not only strategically important in a military sense; its success or failure could determine the political leadership o...
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...olina Campaigns certainly has historiographical merit. Glathaar offers a fascinating work that succeeds in entertaining and educating the reader. Through his extensive research on the pervasive attitudes of Sherman’s soldiers, Glathaar’s work humanizes the army and enlightens the reader. The sheer complexity of the war becomes apparent through the work, yet certainly gives the reader a greater understanding of the greatest conflict in American history.
Works Cited
1. Barrett, John G. “The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman’s Troops in the Savannah and Carolina Campaigns.” The American Historical Review 91, no. 2 (1986): 469.
2. For Cause and Conflict.” Civil War Book Review. n.d., <http://www.civilwarbookreview.com> (5 December 2000).
3. Glathaar, Joseph T. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman’s Troops in the Savannah and Carolina Campaigns. New York: New York University Press. 1985.
4. Hubbell, John T. “Atlanta to the Sea.” Reviews in American History. 14, no. 3 (1986): 377-381.
5. McMurry, Richard M. “The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman’s Troops in the Savannah and Carolina Campaigns.” The Journal of Southern History. 52, no. 3 (1986): 468.
General Richard Sherman’s march to the sea has just finished. After successful capturing Atlanta, Georgia, General Sherman directed his Union army to Savannah, Georgia. Along the way, northerners wreaked havoc on Southern cotton mills and destroy train tracks while completely uprooting 20 percent of Georgian plantations. This effectively halted the Confederate’s means of transportation and economic structure subsequently w...
At the end of his “March to the Sea”, MG William T. Sherman led Union forces from Georgia to the north through the Carolinas to unite with LTG Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia. By doing so, he believed he would be able to cut Confederate forces General Robert E. Lee’s supply lines. In February 1865, MG Sherman captured Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina. The commander of Confederate forces was LTG Wade Hampton who led the force under the command of General P.G.T Beauregard. MG Sherman succeeded in defeating Confederate on the basis of the principles of mission command.
General Sherman had several objectives in mind when setting out from Atlanta aside from reaching and taking Savannah. Important objectives included destroying any buildings that could assist the Confederacy. Other valuable targets to the Union included excess livestock, railroad tracks and depots, and cotton and tobacco fields. Perhaps most critical to General Sherman was to defeat the Confederate spirit. “When requesting permission to proceed with his campaign Sherman wrote to General Grant ‘I can make this march and make Georgia howl.’” (Woodworth) Sherman’s presence in the heart of the South was an insult to the pride of local residents, and the fact the Confederate Army could do little to stop it severely belittled national unity.
Shaara’s novel Killer Angels shows the battle of Gettysburg through a number of unique viewpoints. Shaara offers a more intimate view of the battle than other Civil War novels. A reader can see the battle through the eyes of both Union and Confederate leaders. Through the novel the reader is able to see why each character is fighting and what they hope to gain from the war. Readers can also see the effect that the war has on the different characters. I will examine the war through the eyes of several different characters from Shaara’s novel.
As he immerses his audience into combat with the soldiers, Shaara demonstrates the more emotional aspects of war by highlighting the personal lives of the men fighting. For example, when Shaara reveals the pasts of James Longstreet and Lewis Armistead’s, I started to picture them as the men that they were and not as soldiers out for blood. After suffering a devastating loss of three of his children to fever, Longstreet is tossed into battle. In Armistead’s case, he not only suffered the loss of his wife, but also of a friend fighting on the Union side, General Winfield Scott Hancock. Shaara saves his readers a front row seat to the inner turmoil of General Chamberlain regarding his hindering duty as a soldier clashes with his duty to family as he strived to serve the Union as well as protec...
Bonner, Michael Brem and Peter McCord. "Reassessment of the Union Blockade's Effectiveness in the Civil War." The North Carolina Historical Review (2011): 375-395.
The Battle of Antietam could have been a devastating and fatal blow to the Confederate Army if Gen. McClellan acted decisively, took calculated risks, and veered away from his cautious approach to war. There are many instances leading up to the battle and during the battle in which he lacks the necessary offensive initiative to effectively cripple and ultimately win the war. This paper is intended to articulate the failure of Mission Command by GEN McClellan by pointing out how he failed to understand, visualize, describe and direct the battlefield to his benefit.
Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman observed to a Southern friend that, "In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. . . .You are bound to fail." While Sherman's statement proved to be correct, its flaw is in its assumption of a decided victory for the North and failure to account for the long years of difficult fighting it took the Union to secure victory. Unquestionably, the war was won and lost on the battlefield, but there were many factors that swayed the war effort in favor of the North and impeded the South's ability to stage a successful campaign.
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
“All up and down the lines the men blinked at one another, unable to realize that the hour they had waited for so long was actually at hand. There was a truce…” Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer prize winning book A Stillness at Appomattox chronicles the final year of the American Civil War. This book taught me a lot more about the Civil War than I ever learned through the public school system. Bruce Catton brought to life the real day to day life of the soldiers and the generals who led them into battle.
The Battle of Antietam on September 17th, 1862 was the single, most bloodiest day in American History, where more than 23,000 men became casualties of war. General George Brinton McClellan’s inability to use Mission Command, as a warfighting function was a key reason this battle did not end the American Civil War. An analysis of General McClellan’s Mission Command operational process will show how his personality, bias, and fear were detrimental to the outcome of the Battle of Antietam.
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
Stephen W. Sears’ Landscape Turned Red is an account of political and military plans. Especially General Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign as well as the Battle of Antietam. Sears frames his work around the pending support of Great Britain and France to the Confederate cause due to cotton. Landscape Turned Red covers the battle of Antietam. It offers a vivid account of both armies, the soldiers and officers, and the bloody campaign. It analyzes the impact of Antietam on the Civil War as a whole. Sears' use of diaries, dispatches, and letters recreate the Battle of Antietam. You experience the battle not only from its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Sears attempts to examine the tactical moves of both Lee and General George McClellan. He also talks about the foolish decisions that troubled both the Federal and Confederate forces. Sears' use of traits, political pursuits, and tactical preferences, explain the thoughts of many. Some of these include President Lincoln, General Halleck and General McClellan, and their subordinates. Stephen Ward Sears is an American historian specializing in the American Civil War. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and an attendant to a journalism seminar at Radcliffe-Harvard. As an author he has concentrated on the military history of the American Civil War. Such as the battles and leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was an editor for the Educational Department at American Heritage Publishing Company. American Heritage Publishing two of his ten books.