William T. Sherman

Before his spectacular career as General of the Union forces, William Tecumseh Sherman experienced decades of failure and depression. Drifting between the Old South and new West, Sherman witnessed firsthand many of the critical events of early nineteenth-century America: the Mexican War, the gold rush, the banking panics, and the battles with the Plains Indians. It wasn't until his victory at Shiloh, in 1862, that Sherman assumed his legendary place in American history. After Shiloh, Sherman sacked Atlanta and proceeded to burn a trail of destruction that split the Confederacy and ended the war. His strategy forever changed the nature of warfare and earned him eternal infamy throughout the South.

These highlights from Sherman's monumental Memoirs trace his blazing trail across Georgia and the Carolinas, recounting the general's reasoning in his own words, as well as the execution and effects of his maneuvers.

The first major modern edition of General William T. Sherman's wartime correspondence, this volume features more than 400 letters, both personal and official, written between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the day Sherman bade farewell to his troops in 1865. Together, they trace Sherman's rise from obscurity to become one of the Union's most famous and effective warriors. Arranged chronologically and grouped into chapters that correspond to significant phases in Sherman's life, these letters - many of which have never before been published - reveal the general's thoughts on politics, military operations, slavery and emancipation, the South, and daily life in the Union army, as well as his reactions to such important figures as General Ulysses S. Grant and President Lincoln. Each chapter begins with a brief overview of events and includes annotations that help clarify references in the letters themselves.

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) of Ohio won military fame as one of the greatest Union generals in the Civil War. His association with California began when he served as an aide to Generals Philip Kearny and Richard Barnes Mason during the Mexican War. He remained in California as an adjutant to General Persifor Smith. Sherman's military tour in California ended in January 1850, but he resigned his Army commission in 1853 and returned to California as manager of a new bank. Barring a brief trip east to bring his wife and daughter to their new home in San Francisco, Sherman remained until 1857. Recollections of California (1945) contains extracts from Sherman's published Memoirs dealing with his life in California as well as two letters written by Sherman from Monterey in 1848. These cover his voyage round the Horn and landing in Monterey and military missions to Los Angeles and San Francisco. He discusses the Army's problems of establishing military rule and recalls the discovery of gold, which transformed the military mission and his own life. Sherman chronicles his part in Governor Mason's historic inspection trip to the gold fields near Sutter's Fort in 1848 as well as his own business ventures of the time: a store at Coloma, surveying a channel through Suisan Bay, a ranch at Cosumnes River, and Sacramento land speculations. He describes San Francisco and the flood of immigrants to California, 1848-1849. From his later residence, he recalls the bank run of 1855 and the Vigilance Committee crisis of 1856. The excerpts end with Sherman's recollections of his life as attorney and educator, 1857-1861, before the Civil War called him back to military life.