“Oh, he did plenty of fighting during the war, and he was pretty good at it too.”
For the first three years of the war, his contribution was nil. He would have been out of the war entirely after he botched the planned invasion of Tennessee had he not been buddies with Grant. After Grant saved him, he contributed to the union almost losing when he was surprised at Shilo. he failed at Chickasau Bayou. He couldn’t secure victory at Chattanooga. Where, might I ask, is the evidence of his being pretty good, when he wasn’t fighting civilians?
“Remember, he had to take Atlanta from Hood’s army just to have the opportunity to do what he did later.”
As I recall it, the Army of Tennessee was destroyed by General Thomas in the Battle of Nashville. It was gone by the time Sherman took Savannah. That left Lee’s army, which was being ground down by Grant, as the only capable fighting force in the South. With or without Sherman capturing Atlanta and marching to the Sea, it was only a matter of time, then.
Sherman’s march itself has been vastly overrated by historians and military analysts for various reasons. Most importantly, it was dramatic. Also, people like B.H. Liddell Hart had their own theories to prove. In his case, it was that the “indirect attack” was preferable (and what’s more indirect than avoiding the enemy entirely?).
“It would finally be decided when one side or another either lost the will, or the ability to continue the war.”
What sucked more will from the South, really? Sherman beating up railroads or Hood vanishing and Lee digging in for a war of attrition?
The Army of Tennessee was destroyed at the Battle of Nashville two days before and a 1000 miles away from Savanna, when Sherman marched in.
Hood took Sherman's bate and willingly marched his army away from Georgia in October of '64 in the typical Hood vainglorious attempt to retake Tennessee. This was after Sherman kicked Hood out of Atlanta and spent a month or more fighting various battles with Hood across North Georgia.
Of all the Generals of the Civil War on both sides, Hood, along with Bragg, were the most vain, incompetent and destructive to their cause. Hood destroyed the Army of Tennessee by invading Union held territory against a superior Union force while leaving Sherman free to do what he wanted in Georgia.
Hood's decision to go for glory allowed Sherman to make his march to the sea.