Sherman’s March to the Sea

Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea began at Atlanta, Georgia, on November 15, 1864, and ended thirty-seven days later in Savannah, Georgia. With roughly 60,000 infantry and 5,500 cavalry, Sherman cut a path often sixty miles wide across the state’s most fertile and populated region. He wanted to make war so harsh on civilians that they would demand that the Confederate government abandon the fight. Despite the folklore surrounding the March there was not widespread destruction, but Sherman did succeed in bringing the war to the state’s previously untouched plantation region and to the White population that had not felt any direct effects from the fighting. The March also forever changed the lives of slaves who abandoned their masters to follow Sherman’s soldiers. As a result, the March to the Sea ranks as one of the most significant Union campaigns despite the fact there were no major battles or heavy casualties.

Sherman's March to the Sea: A March in Brilliance

In November 1864, Union General William Sherman launched his "March to the Sea" campaign in order to destroy the Confederate forces. Even though his plan was considered to be risky by others during his time, the march would come to symbolize an evolution in the history of warfare as Sherman willingly broke numerous entrenched 'military principles' and ushered in 'hard war' tactics, which preceded the 'total war' tactics of the twentieth century. Sherman's March was a key campaign in the development of modern warfare.

Johnston’s Last Stand

Joseph E. Johnston was formerly the highest ranking officer in the Confederacy-forced by wounds and politics from the main theatre of war. Now Robert E. Lee calls upon him to take command of all forces rallying to oppose Sherman’s march. While he is assembling all his troops, his subordinate, Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee, fights a holding action at Averasboro. Confident he is engaging only one wing of Sherman’s forces, Johnston then makes his stand at a road junction called Bentonville. For three days battle rages across 6,000 acres of farmland, leaving 4,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in action. Despite initial success, Johnston’s army is doomed by a wave of reinforcements and battlefield blunders. Sherman’s army drives the Confederates from the field, west toward Raleigh. He reaches Goldsboro, where he links up with the forces under Generals Schofield and Terry. Now he commands 90,000 men. Victory seems certain.

UNHEARD VOICES AND COUNTER DISCOURSE, A STUDY OF THE MARCH BY E.L. DOCTOROW; WITH SPECIAL REGARDS TO ALAN SINFIELD’S THEORIES OF DISSIDENCE

There have been many texts and writings which show the resistances against dominant power and ideology. Texts offer glimpses of resistances and deviancies and their outcomes in the society. According to Foucault's theories, texts can be investigated to reveal the power relations in them and how power reacts to such deviancies. Literary texts can be viewed as sources where dominant ideologies, beliefs, opinions and ideas can be found. This can be more interesting when texts refer to an important event in history. The March is about historical event of General Sherman's march through America. Doctorow's text offers some resistances and dissidences against conventional ways of acting and behaving. But Sinfield believes that this representation of resistances in texts can show some fault-lines in power relations and create some gaps in power structures. These gaps can be considered as threat for dominant ideology. Doctorow tries to highlight such gaps in the society which he reveals in the novel.

Sherman’s March in American History and Cultural Memory

Sherman’s March, more accurately known as the Georgia and Carolinas Campaigns, cut a swath across three states in 1864–1865. It was one of the most significant campaigns of the war, making Confederate civilians “howl” as farms and plantations were stripped of everything edible and all their valuables. Outbuildings, and occasionally homes, were burned, railroads were destroyed, and enslaved workers were emancipated. Long after the war ended, Sherman’s March continued to shape American’s memories as one of the most symbolically powerful aspects of the Civil War. Sherman’s March began with the better-known March to the Sea, which started in Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and concluded in Savannah on December 22 of the same year. Sherman’s men proceeded through South Carolina and North Carolina in February, March, and April of 1865. The study of this military campaign illuminates the relationships between Sherman’s soldiers and Southern white civilians, especially women, and African Americans. Sherman’s men were often uncomfortable with their role as an army of liberation, and African Americans, in particular, found the March to be a double-edged sword.