Who Was Your Daddy and What Did He Do

Let’s start with probably the most recognisable American Tank of the War. Ladies and Gentlemen I present the Sherman.

30+ Tons of American Engineering, the famous 76mm gun and worldwide service has made the Sherman a staple of wargamers but who was the real Sherman?

William Tecumseh Sherman was a General during the American Civil War and fought for the Union. Like most of the Generals on both sides Sherman had a long history of Military service graduating West Point in 1840 and saw some service in the Seminole War.

Sherman did not take part in the Mexican-American War, being one of only a handful of future Civil War Generals not to take part in the war. Sherman resigned his Commission in 1853. He also married his Foster Sister which is a little weird.

When the Southern States began to succeed Sherman offered his services to the military who promoted him to Colonel of the 13th US Infantry who he lead at the battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) and was noticed by Lincoln who had him promoted to Brigadier General. Quite the Jump from Captain to Brigadier in less than a decade!

Sherman joined the Army of West Tennessee which was soon lead by future US President General Ulysses S. Grant who we will be covering later. He fought in some Major Battles of the theater including Shiloh and Vicksburg.

General Grant was promoted out of his Command which then fell to Sherman. Sherman then took three Armies with a total of 100,000 men into Georgia where he succeeded in taking the Capitol Atlanta which he sacked and ordered the burning of all Government and Military Buildings, although fire tends to not discriminate between the Governor’s Mansion and the local pub.

This would set the standard for Sherman’s actions for the rest of the war.

What made Sherman famous however was his famous “March to the Sea”. After being ground to a halt in order to protect his lines of supply and communication Sherman was cut loose. He was given permission to march south and in his own words “Make Georgia Howl”.

Sherman lead his troops south towards Savannah Georgia living off the land, looting and destroying from the local population as he went. Sherman’s March to the Sea is often described as one of the first acts of “Total War” although I would disagree with that definition but this isn’t the place for that conversation here.

Sherman marched his troops to Savannah and captured it before offering it to President Lincoln as a Christmas Present.

Sherman then sailed North and lead his army on a similar Campaign through South Carolina, burning and looting his way to the City of Columbia which then burned down. To this day no one is entirely sure of who started the fires but most sources point to Sherman’s past behaviour as a reason for him having lit the fire.

Now why did the British choose Sherman as the name for the latest tank? Well he was the next most well known General from the American Civil War. Lee and Grant known for their own exploits had already been used so the next famous General was the famous Sherman and his “March to the Sea”.

After the War Sherman went on to Serve during the Grant Administration, he had been a friend of Grant’s since their first meetings and I’ll wind up this entry with a quote by Sherman about Grant.