Sherman Played an Instrumental Role

¶ … Sherman played an instrumental role in the Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the Civil War Sherman was relentless in his desire to lead the Northern troops to victory. Sherman's strategy involved both traditional and psychological warfare. Sherman wanted to bring the confederate Army into complete submission. To this end, Sherman ordered his men to pillage farms and to take enough provisions for ten days. To fulfil Sherman's orders 60,000 union soldiers moved from farm to farm and took whatever provisions that they deemed necessary. The 1840's saw a rise in negative attitudes towards colonists by Native Americans and vice versa. Once the Civil war was completed General Sherman was made the commander of the Missouri district. As commander in this region he was responsible for sending troops to guard those working on the transcontinental railroads from the attacks of Native Americans. In some ways developing a strategy for this type of war was quite different from developing a strategy for the civil war because of the type of problem that existed between Native Americans and settlers. Sherman's approach to the relationship between Native American's and Settlers was quite visceral and it seemed to shape the strategy that he adapted to resolve the violence between the two groups. He was so vehement that Native Americans should be placed on reservations that he declared that those who refused to go to plantations would be killed. Sherman also adopted Sheridan's strategy of attacking Native American Camp Grounds during the winter. Winter attacks were used as a strategy because the provisions and the ability of the camp to move was more limited during the cold winter months. In both the Civil War and Indian Wars Sherman used his armies to seize the provisions of the enemy and to weaken their defenses.

Introduction

General William Sherman is one of the most iconic figures in Military History. Sherman played an instrumental role in the Civil War and the Indian Wars. His fame is due in part to the types of strategies that he implemented in reference to the aforementioned conflicts. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the differences and similarities of the tactics and strategy used by Gen. William Sherman in the conduct of his campaign in the Civil War and then the proceeding Indian Wars. The research will Also explore Sherman's idea of conducting total warfare as an interesting dynamic into the Indian Wars. There will also be an emphasis on the Indian Wars vice the Civil War. The Civil War will be used as a comparison to bring Sherman's Indian Wars strategies to life.

General William Sherman

General Sherman is probably most famous as one of the leaders of the Union Army during the Civil War -- he was a Northern Commander. General Sherman was unique in the manner in which he approached war and the honesty with which he explained war.

He understood the moral questions of war and the destruction caused by war.

However, he was also a man who recognized the need for leadership and thought carefully concerning the ways in which war should be conducted. He had a keen understanding of the enemy and their motives. He used his understanding to forge strategies that ultimately led to surrender. General Sherman combined both psychological and traditional war tactics engaging in total warfare. His legacy of total warfare has been utilized to this very day as an effective way to create instability and win wars.

Now that we have a clear understanding of who General Sherman was, the next section of the discussion will focus more specifically on the strategies that he utilized during the Civil War. The explanation of General Sherman's Civil War Strategies will also serve as a foundation for explaining the strategies that he chose to deploy during the Indian Wars.

The Civil War and the Indian Wars

A book entitled Lincoln's Generals explains that General Sherman was the successor of Ulysses Grant when Grant went east. Apparently President Lincoln was pleased with this choice. The book explains that Lincoln rarely interjected in the activities of General Sherman. Lincoln seemed to be confident in Sherman's abilities and they had very little contact during the Civil War. In fact

They corresponded infrequently; in their few letters, Lincoln usually would make some modest request for kindness to southern civilians, which Sherman would reject. Sherman was never called to a conference in Washington, and he rarely solicited or received military advice…though he frequently reported his activities and requested material aid. Such decentralization typified the war in the West for both North and South. Neither the elements of the military which had been centralized in Washington, nor Lincoln exercised anything approaching on-going control.

Lincoln's decentralized approach to the war allowed Sherman and other generals to devise their own strategies.

During the Civil War Sherman was relentless in his desire to lead the Northern troops to victory. Sherman's strategy involved both traditional and psychological warfare.

These tactics were most evident in what is known as Sherman's March. This particular March took place at a pivotal time during the Civil War, when Sherman and his men had just captured Atlanta in 1864.

In addition other strongholds of the confederacy had also been captured including of the Valley in Virginia captured by General Philip Sheridan's Army; Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant had captured Petersburg, Virginia.

With this understood Sherman wanted to bring the confederate Army into complete submission. To this end, Sherman ordered his men to pillage farms and to take enough provisions for ten days. Not only was this tactic useful in guaranteeing that the union soldiers had the provisions that they needed but it was also designed to break the will of the confederate army and the people of the south. Sherman said of the south, "They don't know what war means, but when the rich planters of the Oconee and Savannah see their fences and corn and hogs and sheep vanish before their eyes they will have something more than a mean opinion of the 'Yanks."

To fulfil Sherman's orders 60,000 union soldiers moved from farm to farm and took whatever provisions that they deemed necessary. The troops were allowed to move away from the primary army bases but they were told not to enter homes of the Southerners. However, the soldiers disobeyed these orders and often drifted into homes and looted residences. According to soldiers took all types of household items including household goods and clothing. In addition soldiers burnt down houses after they were pillaged. They also burnt barns, mills, cotton fields and even railroads. Basically, they burnt down the livelihoods of the Southerners. There was a 50-mile wide path of destruction caused by Sherman's men.

There has been much debate about Sherman's strategy as it pertains to the March. According to Hanson (1999) Sherman's strategy during the march was indeed a success. The author posits

"in purely strategic terms, Sherman was now three hundred miles closer to the last major source of Confederate resistance, Lee's army in Virginia. Until Sherman

reached Savannah, Grant was holding Lee firmly in his grasp and waging, whether intended or not, a brutal and steady war of annihilation. When Sherman reached

the Atlantic -- as he had foreseen all along -- the complexion of that death lock changed radically: Lee was faced with the prospect of a lethal force marching steadily northward at his rear, devouring the source of supply for his army, and ruining the homes of his soldiers in the trenches. Whereas before, Lee had kept

Grant out of Richmond and had the option either to threaten Washington or to just stay still, now he had to move either northward over Grant or southward through

Sherman."

The author further asserts that even if Sherman's armies had not pillaged and burned the many southern farms, the march would have still been successful because of the manner in which he was able to organize the Union Armies. In addition, the organization and size of the unified union armies would have dealt a heavy psychological blow to the Confederate army and their efforts.

The article further explains that Thomas Osborn, the artillery officer reported that when Sherman and his army Marched into Savannah that the most important goal of the campaign had been completed. The officer reported that the army was moved from the center of the country to the sea, Savannah was seized and the provisions for the confederate army were ruined. Furthermore he stated that "The Confederacy proper is now southern Virginia and North and South Carolina. It has no other territory now at its disposal for military operations and this campaign has shown there is not much more left to it, except General Lee's army and the small force in our front."

In this instance, Sherman used Psychological warfare to confuse the enemy. Sherman wanted the plantation owners and the people of the south to recognize the urgency of the hour. The General wanted the surrender of the confederate troops and he was willing to go to great lengths to secure this surrender. The warfare was also psychological because the looting of southern homes and the pillaging of southern farms greatly diminished the resources of the confederate army. The confederate army was running out of options. In addition to the use of psychological warfare, Sherman also used traditional warfare tactics to bring about surrender and ultimately victory.

Sherman's strategies during the Civil War also had an influence upon the manner in which the Indian Wars were conducted. Again the general utilized a combination of traditional and psychological warfare tactics. The Indian wars were a series of conflicts between the Colonists and Native American tribes. The Indian Wars lasted foor several decades.

According to Hughes (2001) the 1840's saw a rise in negative attitudes towards colonists by Native Americans and vice versa. Native American's believed that White men were taking over their native territories and pushing them off of the land where they had lived for centuries. As the settlers continued to push their way onto the land that was once Native American territory Indians began to see their way of life become jeopardized. As such they felt threatened and decided to fight back against what they felt were injustices. For decades Native Americans fought against settlers. They would stage attacks without warning and perform acts of hostility as they tried to regain the land that once belonged to them. Hughes (2001) explains

"If the settlers were lucky enough to arrive at their destination, knock-together a makeshift cabin and set up home, their tranquillity could be broken in a moment.

While away hunting, a husband could return to find his hard toil and loved ones gone forever. His house burned, his wife murdered and scalped (or worse captured) and his prized stock runoff. Such was the ferocity of an Indian attack."

Of course settlers also fought Native Americans and the violence between the two groups went on for many years. Some people desired to just kill all the Native Americans so that settlers would not have to confront the danger associated with the attacks they often endured.

In order to resolve the problem General Sherman along with other military experts were deployed. Keep in mind that there were Indian Wars taking place at the same time that the Civil War was taking place. General Sherman worked to try and develop a solution to the ongoing problem just described. In some ways developing a strategy for this type of war was quite different from developing a strategy for the civil war because of the type of problem that existed between Native Americans and settlers. The first difference was the stark contrasts between the cultures as it pertained to trying to preserve a certain way of life. Settlers did not seem to understand that there presence in certain areas was disruptive to the way of life of the various Native American Tribes. As such there was a great deal of hostility and dealing with this hostility while also coming to some sort of resolution was the type of problem that Sherman was tasked with resolving.

An article entitled "New perspectives on the west" once the Civil war was completed General Sherman was made the commander of the Missouri district. This district included the Rocky Mountains and extended out into the Mississippi River. As commander in this region he was responsible for sending troops to guard those working on the transcontinental railroads from the attacks of Native Americans. Indians were attacking these workers because they believed that there presence would mean an even more significant invasion onto the land that they believed belonged to them.

During his time as commander over this district he established certain beleifs about what the policy should be towards Native American's. General Sherman came to the conclusion that the Indian Policy should be established by the army as opposed to outside forces who did not have direct contact with Native Americans. In addition, Sherman asserted that Native Americans needed to be placed on reservations and be forced to remain there.

Sherman's approach to the relationship between Native American's and Settlers was quite visceral and it seemed to shape the strategy that he adapted to resolve the violence between the two groups. He was so vehement that Native Americans should be placed on reservations that he declared that those who refused to go to plantations would be killed. General Sherman was actually able to legalize these assertion when he played an instrumental role in the development of the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. These two treaties, he established the assignment of tribes each to its own separate and limited territory.

"Sherman became general commander of the United States Army in 1869, and in this position directed a series of campaigns that finally crushed Indian resistance across the plains. He perceived clearly the devastating effectiveness of striking at the economic basis of the Plains Indians' lives, once commenting to General

Philip Sheridan that "it would be wise to invite all the sportsmen of England and America... For a Grand Buffalo Hunt, and make one grand sweep of them all."

It is obvious from this quote that Sherman believed that Native Americans were nothing more than inferior trouble makers. He believed that the only strategy that would be effective in stopping the dispute between settlers and Native Americans was the death of all the Native Americans who would not move to reservations.

On November 21, 1868 General Sherman published a Report entitled "The Indian War-Its Cause and Extent -- What Should be done with the tribes." In this report Sherman outlines the issues that he saw as it pertained to the native American people and their place in America.

In this particular report Sherman speaks on the difficulty of war with the Indians. He explains that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the declarations of war in which the Indian tribes engage. Additionally he asserts that there is often no warning of the impeding war. These issues associated with war with the native Americans makes them difficult enemies to face. It seems that Sherman had a more difficult time establishing a strategy for the Indian War when compared to the civil war because the nature of the enemy was quite different. In addition, the general was facing war with an enemy that had lived on the land for many years and had deep connections to the land. These variables were not particularly prominent during the civil war.

In his report, Sherman proposes several options as it pertained to dealing with the Native American tribes. The first of which was to "save the Indians." Again his idea of saving the Indians was to place them all on reservations according to tribe. Although this is what ultimately occurred, history has shown that this "solution" had devastating effects. Unlike the outcome of the Civil War which led to the freedom of southern slaves, the decision to relegate Native American tribes to reservations has proven to be an aspect of American history that is dark and has received a great deal of criticism.

The article also reports that Sherman also adopted Sheridan's strategy of attacking Native American Camp Grounds during the winter. Winter attacks were used as a strategy because the provisions and the ability of the camp to move was more limited during the cold winter months. Sherman's field commander Sheridan was instrumental in carrying out these attack strategies.

According to the article the first attacks on winter camps took place against the Kiowas and Comanches who resided in the southern Plains. The next tribes to be attacked were the Lakota and Cheyenne in the north.

The article further explains that by the late 1870s, all of the aforementioned tribes and other free-roaming warrior tribes had been placed on reservation.

General Sherman's strategy during the Indian Wars has received a great deal of criticism because of the way it destroyed the way of life for numerous Native American tribes and the amount of death and cruelty that was visited upon native Americans during this time. Since this time many Native Americans still live on reservations where they do not always have access to the same services as those who live outside of the reservations.

"the native population suffered terribly in the name of expansion and progress.

Native Americans were deprived of their homelands, killed mercilessly, or placed on reservations where many continue their marginalized existence today.

Early concepts of the "good Indian" or "noble savage" quickly were replaced by attitudes and policies that reduced the native inhabitants to "wild savages" who were standing in the way of expansionism in the name of "manifest destiny."

Indeed, many reservations are stricken with high rates of poverty and substance abuse. It may seem inconceivable but the problems facing native Americans today are a direct result of General Sherman's Strategy.

Although hindsight is always 20/20 General Sherman and others could not have known the lasting effects of placing Native Americans on reservations. At the time the government and General Sherman wanted to simply end the fighting. The Indian Wars were cost a great deal of money and the United States government believed that ending the bloodshed by relegating Native Americans to reservations would be the simplest way to end the bloodshed. According to Kessel (1981)

"Like no other man, Sherman understood total war, war to break the spirit of a people-fighting men and noncombatants alike. He had lived it. He had seen its

devastating effect upon the South, and he had pronounced it cruel. Now, in New

Mexico in 1868, he was assessing its effect upon Navajo Indians. Sherman believed in reconstruction-of the South, and of the Navajos. Personally, he doubted the Indians' capacity for citizenship, but he thought they deserved the chance. For their part, they must co- operate. They must settle on well-defined reservations, embrace "civilized" pursuits, and in no way impede the westward march of the Union so recently preserved."

It is apparent that General Sherman viewed the Indian Wars and the Native American people as a threat to what he had already accomplished during the civil war. The research seems to indicate that this view caused Sherman to act firmly against Native American's. Sherman didn't seem to have much compassion for their plight or see the situation from their prospective. In his estimation the violence of Native Americans towards settlers was an impediment to expanding America and the interests of the Union. With this understood, Sherman did everything in his control to protect his interest and what he believed to be American Interest.

The impact of the Civil War Strategy of the later strategy used during the Indian Wars

In both the Civil and the Indian Wars, General Sherman understands the psychological aspects of warfare. During the Civil War Sherman used pillaging as a tool to psychologically devastate Southern Estates and as such the confederacy. Sherman's troops robbed confederate troops of their ability to get supplies and provisions needed to fight the Union Soldiers. In doing this the result was ultimately surrender. This strategy allowed the Union to demonstrate their power and their resolve as it pertained to winning the civil war.

This no-holds-barred approach was also used to an extent in the Indian Wars. As with the Civil War, General Sherman was relentless in his pursuit of a solution to the violent conflict existing between Indians and settlers. In the case of the Indian Wars he actually used a similar strategy in that he destroyed or seized the areas that the Native Americans called home. Just as with Sherman's March the General wanted the Native American population to know who had the control and what lengths those in power were willing to go to ensure that they would be able to keep the power.