Famous Civil War General Was Once Stationed in Monterey and You Can Still See His Home

KSBW ^ | Jun 19, 2023 | Josh Copitch

[ProtectOurFreedom]

That’s enough reason to pay every black person in CA $100 million.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

He traveled to his posts all over the west and midwest with his wife and children. The amount of travel they did is amazing especially before the transcontinental railroad was built. Sherman was in Monterey in 1847-1848.

After the Civil War, W.T. Sherman came to the Idaho Territory on an inspection tour in 1877 and camped by Coeur d’Alene Lake. He was so impressed by the scenery of the area that he recommended it as a site for a fort. Sherman’s recommendation received attention the following year, and on April 16, 1878, a military post known as Camp Coeur d’Alene was established. The name was changed to Fort Coeur d’Alene on April 5, 1879, and finally to Fort Sherman, April 6, 1887.

The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863 until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho.

The departure of the command on April 21, 1898, for participation in the Spanish- American War signaled the demise of Fort Sherman. A small detachment remained; but in April 1901, when the reservation was turned over to the Interior Department, they relocated at Fort George Wright, Washington.

The Sherman Chapel still exists close to downtown Coeur d'Alene and is one of the oldest buildings in town. Built in 1880 by the U.S. Army (two years after the post opened), the Fort Sherman Chapel is Coeur d’Alene’s oldest church, school, library and meeting hall. Fort Sherman was abandoned in 1900 and the buildings and property sold at public auction in 1905. Developers bought what is today known as the Sherman Park Addition, which included the Chapel. Over the years many denominations used the Chapel for church services. Concerted effort began in 1934 to preserve the Chapel. In 1942 The Athletic Round Table held the Chapel in trust and began repairs of the structure. To ensure the preservation of Coeur d’Alene’s oldest standing building, the A.R.T. donated the Chapel to the Museum of North Idaho in 1984.

[Brilliant]

It’s sad when they have to refer to him as “a famous civil war general”. History is not their strong suit.

[LegendHasIt]

Thank goodness it was a Union General.

Were it a Confederate, The place would be torn down within the next couple of days.

[mass55th]

Sherman was also the first Superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy in 1859. The school was the precursor of LSU.

[jeffersondem]

“Much of what happened was done by undisciplined soldiers on their own.”

I believe Sherman wrote freely about the need to exterminate enemies; first in the South, later in the West (native Americans).

He is credited with developing “modern war.”

[x]

Did Sherman exterminate anyone? His idea was to destroy the resources (to the extent that he could) that the other side used to carry on the war. That’s not what WWII’s exterminationist regimes were doing — they went much further. It is what the US has been doing in so many of its wars.

[Michael.SF.]

Interesting. So the media was covering for him!

[Michael.SF.]

Much of what happened was done by undisciplined soldiers on their own.

Which ultimately places the blame right back onto General Sherman.

Since the march to the sea took several weeks, at the first sign of soldiers getting out of hand they should have been disciplined in front of the troops.

[jeffersondem]

“Did Sherman exterminate anyone? His idea was to destroy the resources (to the extent that he could) that the other side used to carry on the war. That's not what WWII’s exterminationist regimes were doing — they went much further.”

Now you are getting into the finer points of extermination - bad extermination, good extermination, and common-sense extermination.

Any conversation about extermination must include a look at the intent of the people advocating it. Sherman - from his writings - was rather clear what he meant.

I don't have the quotes at my finder tips but if you deny Sherman advocated extermination of his enemies I may have to do a search.

[Reily]

Sherman was a WWII strategic bombing campaign on foot & horseback. If he’s a war criminal so is the WWII 8th Air Force.

[x]

The troops fanned out in small bands to move quickly, live off the land, and destroy the enemy’s resources. Reports of excesses wouldn’t get back to commanders, and opportunities to discipline were fewer than would otherwise be the case.

[x]

The Sherman who lived in Louisiana before the war? He fought a hard war, a destructive war, but didn’t want to exterminate his enemies.

And you’ve opened up a massive can of worms concerning our conduct in WWII, Vietnam, and other wars. Do you want to get into that?

[jeffersondem]

“He fought a hard war, a destructive war, but didn’t want to exterminate his enemies.”

To be clear: are you saying there is no written record of his writing about the extermination of his (or his country’s) enemies?

[jeffersondem]

“If he's a war criminal (Sherman) so is the WWII 8th Air Force.”

I'm going to have to take your word for this.

[awelliott]

Lincoln was complicit, thats why I disagree with Mark Levin about how great he thinks Lincoln was to me Lincoln is just the 1860's version of a George Bush or Obama (same thing)

He definitely paved the way for the oppressive government that followed.

[BroJoeK]

Michael.SF. #5: "What Sherman did was a war crime."

KTM Rider #7: "Sherman probably had to hide out there because a lot of Rebs would want to whack him for those hideous deeds after the surrender when Lincoln orderd him to destroy the defensless south so it couldn't rise up again."

Michael.SF. #9: "The March to the sea: Targeting civilian property for destruction in violation of Lincoln’s Lieber code."

KTM Rider #17: "the Yankee newspapers at the time , and now Historians kept it a secret about how the destruction of the south after the surrender went down in order to keep Lincoln's hero status.
They pulled it off by refusing to accept the surrender until they were sure the armies were disbanded and all weapons surrendered, then the north sent in the crazies to loot rape and burn everything tore up railroad tracks bridges killed livestock burned atlanta to the ground"

I see that the nonsense here is growing ever deeper and thicker.
So let's add some facts to an otherwise fanciful tall tale.

First of all, this is the core of Sherman's Order Number 120, in November 1864:

"V. To army corps commanders alone is intrusted the power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, &c., and for them this general principle is laid down:
In districts and neighborhoods where the army is unmolested no destruction of such property should be permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or otherwise manifest local hostility, then army commanders should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless according to the measure of such hostility."

So, Sherman based his Special Field Orders No. 120 (November 9, 1864) on Lincoln's General Orders No. 100 (the Lieber Code, April 24, 1863) for the Union Army.

After Confederate surrenders, in June 1865 Sherman was assigned to the Military Division of Missouri, which covered all the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, so Sherman was not involved in Reconstruction.

On the subject of Confederate surrenders, there were many, spread over several months:

1. "Confederate army units surrendered in various places on April 12, 16, 19, 20,21, 26, and 27.

2. "Various Confederate units surrendered on May 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 26 and 30.

3. "Confederate surrenders also occurred on June 2, 3 and 23.

4. "On November 6, 1865 the CSS Shenandoah surrendered to HMS Donelgal at Liverpool England.

5. "On August 20, 1866, President Andrew Johnson declared what he called the “insurrection” officially over and peace restored.

6. Many Confederate units never surrendered."

Every CSA surrender was "unconditional" including the delivery of weapons and disbanding of units, though, iirc, officers kept their sidearms and cavalry their horses.

As for alleged "crazies" sent after the war to rape, burn and pillage the South, we are now into the land of Lost Cause mythology, totally fanciful, utterly devoid of historical facts, the myths were intended to, and were successful in, solidifying "The South" politically as Democrats.

[Reily]

Also, General Joe Johnson CSA was a pallbearer at Sherman’s funeral. Anyone actually think that Johnson would have been a pallbearer if he thought Sherman was a war criminal?

Johnson made a statement at the funeral that shows he thought highly of Sherman & his character.

“..
It was a bitterly cold day and a friend of Johnston, fearing that the general might become ill, asked him to put on his hat. Johnston replied: “If I were in [Sherman’s] place, and he were standing in mine, he would not put on his hat.” Johnston did catch a serious cold and died one month later of pneumonia.
...”

[Lurker]

“Following Linclon’s orders so it was sanctioned.”

Funny. That’s what the guards at Auschwitz said right before we hung them.

L

[jeffersondem]

“Every CSA surrender was “unconditional” including the delivery of weapons and disbanding of units, though, iirc, officers kept their sidearms and cavalry their horses.”

Retaining sidearms and horses was a condition of surrender so your claim the surrender was unconditional doesn’t make sense. Perhaps the use of quotes around the word unconditional was your way of acknowleding it was, in fact, conditional.

In the case of Lee’s army, surrendered Confederates did even have to agree not to take up arms against the Yanks again - only until they were properly exchanged.

“The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged and each company of regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands.”

Of course, that did not happen. The disaster at Appomattox is why the federal government debt is thirty trillion dollars; most acquired from non-defense spending.

Or is it thirty two trillion dollars today?

https://historical.ha.com/itm/military-and-patriotic/civil-war/-terms-of-surrender-letters-signed-by-confederate-general-robert-e-lee/a/674-72102.s