1. Teresa Long HIST 4133
Critique 2 4/15/2013
TOTAL WAR: AN UNNECESSARY EVIL?
General William Tecumseh Sherman drove a stake straight through the hearts of the
women of the South. Many were overwhelmed with fear, despair, and uncertainty after his army
burned, pillaged, and plundered Atlanta and set off on an unknown path of destruction.Sherman
believed his “Total War” was necessary; Southern women already knew all too well the horrors
and sacrifices war brings. Each day brought about grieving for the endless list of fallen soldiers.
Inflation skyrocketed and shortages of food, shoes, and clothing induced by the blockade gripped
the South.
Sherman„s army marched incessantly; it was just a matter of time before the raiders
arrived to strip them of their precious few possessions, leaving them utterly destitute to face
starvation.What wasn‟t needed by the army was destroyed. Cotton gins, mills, and public
buildings were burned. Homes were set ablaze and farm lands were salted, rendering them
infertile.Not knowing where Sherman‟s army was going next was a very effective tactic which
struck terror in the hearts of these women.
Women and children fledalong with their loyal slaves, constantly moving from place to
place like hunted animals, desperately attempting to guess which towns were to betargeted by
Sherman‟s torches.Blackened columns of burned chimneys were all that remained along
Sherman‟s path of destruction. Beautiful countryside teaming with life was transformed into
virtual wasteland.Not a living thing was to be found.
Was this suffering endured by a destructive attack on Confederate women, children,
Negroes, and old men a necessary evil? General Sherman believed so. He thought it the most
humane way to end the war. He believed cutting off supplies would break the Confederate spirit
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2. Teresa Long HIST 4133
Critique 2 4/15/2013
and lower morale enough to effect a surrender.1 In fact, Sherman inspired bitterness and
contempt in women of the south, but he never broke their spirit.
Southern women responsible for feeding their children and Negro families thought
Sherman‟s campaign cruel and unnecessary. Mrs. Burgess, a young widow from Covington, GA
who had lost all provisions during one of the raids committed by Union soldiers and could not
feed her young child writes: “I see nothing ahead of me but starvation”. Destitution did not have
the effect Sherman intended, her spirit remained unbroken, and she writes “.…this ended the
passing of Sherman‟s army by my place, leaving me poorer by thirty thousand dollars …..And a
much stronger rebel!”2
Mrs. Burgess failed to see Sherman‟s view of his Total War as being humane. The widow
agonizes over her ability to provide for her family (both her young child and her Negroes) and
writes “Why must the innocent suffer with the guilty”. She describes in her journal the
disappointment of her young daughter and the colored children on Christmas morning when they
awoke to empty stockings. 3
Mrs. Mary Chesnut, the wife of a former U.S. Senator turned aide to Jeff Davis and then
Confederate General traveled in the elite circles of the Confederacy. Mrs. Chesnut remained
loyal, courageous and supportive of Confederate President Jeff Davis, her husband, and their
friends throughout the war, never giving up hope even when the realization of certain defeat
looming ahead sunk into her soul.
1
Burke Davis, Sherman's March (New York: Random House, 1988), pages 9-10.
2
Lunt, Dolly Sumner. A Woman's Wartime Journal. Edited by Street Julian. New York: The Century Co., 1918. Kindle
edition.
3
Lunt, Christmas, 1864.
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3. Teresa Long HIST 4133
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Although he issued orders against destruction of private property and looting, Sherman
felt he could not control the troops and turned a blind eye to the cruel acts committed by soldiers
of his army.In the case of South Carolina, Sherman felt they deserved even harsher treatment
than Georgia since they had been the first to secede and would subject them to the full effects of
his Total War. He predicted it would be “one of the most horrible things in the history of the
world” 4
Sherman justified the horrors done to civilians in the path of his march by deeming them
necessary to sustain his army. He believed women had not been treated unnecessarily harsh and
that incidents of violence were rare and that rape was unheard of. He later acknowledged at least
two known cases of rape.5
Mrs. Mary Chesnut describes her husband telling her the story of one extremely violent
rape in her diary. Mr. Chesnut had spoken with the girl‟s mother earlier that day and had
recommended she send her daughter away in order to remove her from the path of both armies.
The girl refused to leave her mother. Later, seven Union soldiers bound her mother and forced
her to watch as they assaulted the girl so violently she died. 6
In Georgia, Negroes were robbed of their provisions, clothing, and prized possessions by
Union soldiers. Their cabins were rifledand some young men rounded up at bayonet point and
forced from their homes to join the army. 7 Mrs. Chesnut describes a Negro on her father in law‟s
plantation who had dressed in his Sunday best to meet the Yankees and intended to leave with
4
Davis, pages 141-142.
Davis, page 43.
6
Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut, A Diary from Dixie, ed. Isabella D Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary (New York: D.
Appleton and Company, 1905), page375.
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=5Wl3AAAAMAAJ(accessed April 01, 2013).
7
Lunt, November 119, 1864.
5
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them. Instead of welcoming him with open arms, the soldiers stole a gold watch given to a Negro
by his master. He returned to the plantation‟s kitchen minus his prize possession. “He knew the
Yankees came to rob white people, but he thought they came to save niggers” Mrs. Chesnut
writes in her diary.8“Neither side now cares a fig for these beloved negroes, and would send
them all to heaven in a hand-basket, as Custis Lee says, to win in the fight.”9
Southern slave owners saw the freeing of slaves as a relief; they had been inherited the
expense of their support was a burden after the devastating effect the war had on southern
economy. Mrs. Chesnut states at the close of the war“Better teach the Negroes to stand alone
before you break up all they leaned on, 0 Yankees!” 10Many Negroes remained loyal to their
former owners long after they had their freedom, but those that left faced a difficult
future.Yankees were guilty of prejudice against the black man also, and Mrs. Chesnut writes"
The black man must go as the red man has gone; this is a white man's country."11
In my opinion, even though Sherman‟s Total War campaign was very effective in ending
the war, it was unnecessarily cruel and inhumane to Southern women. It did not break the spirits
of these women, only their backs.Both Mrs. Burgess and Mrs. Chesnut felt the dead were the
lucky ones; they had been spared the horrors of war.Life as they knew it ceased to exist for
wealthy southern planters. Many, including Mrs. Chesnut, were homeless and penniless and
would have starved to death if it weren‟t for the generosity of friends and neighbors. Despite
their beloved Confederacy‟s defeat, with head held high, armed with tenacity and sheer
determination, Mrs. Mary Chesnut and Mrs. Thomas burgess step into a new era.
8
Chesnut, pages 396-397.
Chesnut, page 224
10
Chesnut, page 398.
11
Chesnut, page 396.
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