William T. Sherman

"War is war and not popularity-seeking.” With these words to his Confederate opponent at Atlanta, General William T. Sherman displayed the attitude that made him both a successful commander and a bitterly hated figure in the South. Sherman first distinguished himself at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862, before promotion to command the Army of the Tennessee, and then the entire western theater.

In 1864, Sherman set out to demolish the Confederates’ will and capacity to fight. In Atlanta, he destroyed everything of potential military value: railroads, factories, and supply depots. His army then cut a 285-mile path of destruction to the coastal town of Savannah. Thousands of formerly enslaved African Americans followed Sherman’s army through Georgia. Hoping to provide for some of these people, on January 16, 1865, Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, which re-allocated four hundred thousand acres of land in forty-acre segments to Black families.