Greatest American? (All Over on Page Eight)

[Storm Raven]

Gee, maybe he should have taken all their water , clothes, and air as well? :\

Were those contraband?

Regardless of what you are fighting for or against, you don't take a basic, life sustaining necessity away from civilians who are not actively involved in the conflict. That's just plain evil, and unjustified.

And leave the supplies for the Confederacy to forage for and supply their forces with? I'm glad you weren't prosecuting the war. We'd still be fighting it.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Were those contraband?

And food was? What were they supposed to eat? Dirt?

I'm glad you weren't prosecuting the war. We'd still be fighting it.

Let's not get personal, I haven't attacked you.
I think I'm done here.

 

[Elf Witch]

I voted for good ole Ben Franklin. Mainly because a lot of the wise things he said back in his day are still true now.

I don't really like list like these. How do you rate one achievement as more important than another.

 

[Elf Witch]

Were those contraband?

[/i]

And leave the supplies for the Confederacy to forage for and supply their forces with? I'm glad you weren't prosecuting the war. We'd still be fighting it.

Sherman left a path of destruction and death. A general who did what he allowed his men to do today would be tried and convicted of war crimes. Burning down civilian's homes stealing all of there food and what he could not carry he burned. He allowed his men to rape and loot. They even went as far as digging up cementries to rob the dead in some of the areas they went through.

Sherman was a monster. And the fact that he freed slaves does not change what he was.

 

[Captain Tagon]

Sherman was a monster. And the fact that he freed slaves does not change what he was.

I think that one is debatable. And I'm one who still swears the Conferderacy should of been seen as a legitimate government. Sherman did what he did to win a war, and destroyed the ability of his enemy to continue waging said war. Luckily, as the world becomes even more high-tech this concept becomes easier to do in a "humane" manner, blowing up factories and the like. At the time of Sherman though, destroying the enemy's ability to wage war was a lot uglier.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Sherman was a monster. And the fact that he freed slaves does not change what he was.

Maybe in your opinion, which is fine with me, but I would be more than willing to post the orders Sherman gave on his march to the sea. Link

Recap to Johnston's surrender to Sherman. Link

He hardly seems like a monster to me.

 

[TanisFrey]

The South was an anachronism fighting under outdated concepts of warfare. They lost to a modern nation. The "civilized rules of warfare" that the South espoused hadn't been a reality since before the Napoleaonic Wars.

[/i]

You'd like to believe that, but Tarleton's raids amounted to little more than looting expeditions designed to terrorize the populace. And he wasn't the only one guilty of such actions. Yes, the Patriot version was exaggerated, but it doesn't mean that atrocities didn't occur.

The band of british soliders in green from the Patriot were that bad but the rest of the british forced in the south were much less brutetal

 

[TanisFrey]

It wasn't quite that one-sided. The Battle of Lake Eerie, the Battle of Chipewa, the Battle of Lake Champlain, the Battle of Baltimore, and the Battle of the Thames, for example, were notable American successes against British Canada and/or their Indian allies. The Americans even burned York (later rebuilt and renamed Toronto) which probably precipitated the infamous burning of Washington in the first place. Stephen Decatur, Isaac Hull and whatsisname Porter had some notable early naval successes. And even though the timing made it ironically unnecessary, the Battle of New Orleans was hailed as a great victory for the Americans.

Although the War of 1812 is probably merely a footnote in British history, especially in light of their other "War of 1812" against Napolean it had a profound impact on the national identity of both the U.S. and what would later emerge as Canada.

Much more that just Washtion DC was torched in response. YOU WILL NOT FIND A SINGLE BUIDLING BUIDLT BEFORE THE WAR OF 1812 in New York west of the Gennesese river, with the execption of Fort Niagara.

 

[Elf Witch]

Maybe in your opinion, which is fine with me, but I would be more than willing to post the orders Sherman gave on his march to the sea. Link

Recap to Johnston's surrender to Sherman. Link

He hardly seems like a monster to me.

He accepted the surrender the way he did not because he was such a good man but because he did not want to prolong the war by having Johnston's men from a renegade army that kept fighting.

My family history was effected by Sherman and his men. My grandmother was the youngest daughter of a family who had the misfortune to have to deal with Sherman. Her grandfather was gunned down on his own land because he hid two chickens from the soldiers. They burned all the out buildings and tried to burn the main house. Lucky for the family the main house did not burn all the way. So they had partial shelter. Two of the children of the family died from illness brought on by lack of food.

This is not an unsual story. I heard plenty of accounts like this one growing up. I have read journals and newspaper articles on Sherman march to the sea.

I have read that even Presdient Lincoln was dismayed at some of Sherman's actions.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

He accepted the surrender the way he did not because he was such a good man but because he did not want to prolong the war by having Johnston's men from a renegade army that kept fighting.

Then why did he give better terms of surrender than Grant? (and I would hardly say that not wanting to see the war prolong would make him a bad man... I would say that would make him a good or at least reasonable man.)

This is not an unsual story. I heard plenty of accounts like this one growing up. I have read journals and newspaper articles on Sherman march to the sea.

Then which ones do you suggest reading?

As for your families ordeal. I'm not going to comment on that other than to say I'm sorry it happened.