Posted on 01/04/2009 2:29:32 PM PST by NCjim
Reviled in the South to this day as a terrorist, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman decided that the only way to end the protracted armed conflict of the American Civil War and terminate the rebellious, racist, slave-regime in the south was to bring the war home to the civilian population of the Confederacy. Defying conventional military wisdom, he turned his back on the Confederate field armies, captured and burned Atlanta, and commenced his "March to the Sea". According to Wikepedia"
He and U.S. Army commander, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth, ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path."
While the Union Army respected the sanctity of private homes, all public buildings and infrastructure including railroads were subject to complete destruction. Needless to say, resistance was not tolerated. Millions of slaves were freed in the wake of his march.
Recognizing that it was not in their economic interest to continue the fight, civilian political support for the Confederacy began a precipitous collapse and the war soon ended. Despite rebellious pledges that the "South Would Rise Again", peace and prosperity has lasted 144 years.
Misguided attempts to distinguish Hamas Jihadists from the rest of the Palestinian population show ignorance of the political problem in war that was understood and solved by Sherman and Grant. Unfortunately, the "International Community" continues to reinforce the recalcitrant violence of the Palestinians by rewarding it with "humanitarian aid". Until the Palestinian civilian population rejects the war as not being in their interest, the conflict will continue as it has for 60 years.
Hah! Tell that to my ancestors who lost everything.
Sherman’s march was ugly, but it did the job. Same thing with the Battle of Berlin. Ultimately, the only way to win a war is to kill and break the enemy. Sadly, the people running our State Dept and the UN have (apparently) never really studied war—or if they, it was from the wrong people.
My ancestors got all your ancestors stuff.
So just what does Sharia Law have to say about “disproportionate responses”?
If the North had not passed laws aimed at preventing the South from selling cotton to Europe, so the cotton could be uses in northern mills ...
Sounds like “American Thinker” sees the Union as a “roach motel” or street gang; i.e., once in, never out. The esteemed economist Walter Williams disagrees strongly with this outlook.
Early on, the war was fought with rather genteel manners by the officers. In the early months, Union armies paid (or gave receipts) for supplies taken from land owners. As it ground on, it became total warfare.
I love reading the old diaries.
The problem is Liberals want to see Hamas win. Their notion of nirvana is the Middle East without a viable Israel and Jews.
Sherman belonged in a sanitorium. While Washington may have thought Union forces respected the sanctity of private homes, anyone whose families descend from those who lived through it will tell you otherwise.
The "international community" is part of that wide swath of humanity that is convinced that something intelligent issues forth each time their lips flap.
Hoo boy, here we go. Time to make some popcorn...
That it did.
Amazing << Hear this. Feel this, and tell me that this isn't music.
This generation cannot judge that generation. What we think is right was a different right to them ... the South will always believe that the North invaded them regardless ... it’s about time we put all this to rest ....
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Which laws were those? There were no laws against or taxes on exports until after the South initiated war. Then the Union started a blockade. Anyway, the Confederacy put an embargo on sales of cotton, on the highly mistaken theory that the resulting cotton famine would force European powers to intervene.
Bwahahaha! That is the Northern version of history, I suppose. The author ought to read Union correspondence in the Official Records.
Yep. That;s what Hitler said about Auschwitz, Stalin said about Ukraine, Pol Pot said about Cambodia, and Mao said about the Great Leap Forward.
You mean as the Union discovered it couldn't win against the Confederate army.
“War is cruelty. There is no use in trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
William T. Sherman
Out of our civil war there are two generals (one Northern the other Southern) that I admire greatly because they both believed in Total War. General William T. Sherman, USA and General Thomas J. Jackson, CSA.
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