Category Archives: William T. Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman Quotes

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Quotes Of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman

War Is Hell

Sherman's march To The Sea

Sherman’s march To The Sea

  • “Oh, it is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization.”

…Union Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman upon hearing of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. Sherman had lived in the South for nearly 12 years, and he had a true fondness for the South. Sherman would play a major part in winning the Civil War for the Union.

  • “I see every chance of a long, confused and disorganizing civil war, and I feel no desire to take a hand therein.”

…Sherman wrote these words to his wife Ellen, in January 1861.

  • “You people of the South don’t know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end.

“The North can make a steam engine, locomotive or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or a pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth-right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with.

“You people speak so lightly of war; you don’t know what you’re talking about. War is a terrible thing!

“You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it…Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them?

“At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see that in the end you will surely fail.”

…The prophetic words of William Tecumseh Sherman on December 24, 1860, after he learned of South Carolina’s secession. Sherman was superintendent of the Louisiana State Seminary and Military Academy at the time.

  • “You might as well attempt to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt-gun. I think this is to be a long war-very long-much longer than any politician thinks.”

…William Tecumseh Sherman, assessing the war in 1861.

  • “I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash-and it may be well that we become so hardened.”

…General Sherman, from a letter to his wife written in July, 1864.

  • “Three years ago by a little reflection and patience they could have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity…Last year they could have saved their slaves, but now it is too late…Next year their lands will be taken…and in another year they may beg in vain for their lives.”

…General Sherman in January, 1864 regarding the situation of the Rebels. Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865 and the Civil War was over. Happily, Sherman is wrong here with his time estimate of the continuation of the war.

  • “If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir.”

…General Sherman’s warning to an army quartermaster before the departure of Sherman’s army from Chattanooga and heading toward Atlanta. 

William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman

  • “Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless for us to occupy it; but the utter destruction of its roads, houses and people will cripple their military resources. I can make this march, and make Georgia howl.”

…General Sherman, from a telegram sent to General Ulysses S. Grant at Atlanta, Georgia. September 9, 1864.

  • “The whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak violence upon South Carolina. I almost tremble for her fate.”

…General William T. Sherman, as he prepared to march his army into South Carolina. This was following the March to the Sea.

  • “We have devoured the land and our animals eat up the wheat and cornfields close. All the people retire before us and desolation is behind. To realize what war is one should follow our tracks.”

…General William Tecumseh Sherman.

  • “That devil Forrest… must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury.”

…Sherman referring to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

  • “After all, I think Forrest was the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side.”

…After the Civil War, Sherman made these comments about Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

  • “Wars are not all evil, they are part of the grand machinery by which this world is governed.”

…General William Tecumseh Sherman.

  • “War is at best barbarism…Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.”

…William Tecumseh Sherman. These words are from his June 19, 1879 address to the Michigan Military Academy.
  

My book 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes features quotes made before, during, and after the Civil War. Each quote has an informative note to explain the circumstances and background of the quote. Learn Civil War history from the spoken words and writings of the military commanders, political leaders, the Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs who fought in the battles, the abolitionists who strove for the freedom of the slaves, the descriptions of battles, and the citizens who suffered at home. Their voices tell us the who, what, where, when, and why of the Civil War. Available as a Kindle device e-book or as a paperback. Get 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes now!

Civil War Horses

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Some Civil War Horses And Their Riders

Horses used by Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson, and George B. McClellan in the Civil War.

Traveller and Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee and Traveler

General Robert E. Lee and Traveller

Confederate General Robert E. Lee came to Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1861. During this visit Lee was given a bay stallion named Richmond. Richmond was a nervous horse and he proved to be unsatisfactory. When Richmond was near strange horses he would tend to squeal and this was not a good thing for a Civil War horse to do.

Lee took Richmond to West Virginia and purchased another horse called The Roan or Brown-Roan. Unfortunately, The Roan began to go blind during the Seven Days’ Battle in June and July of 1862. The horse Richmond died after Malvern Hill. After Second Bull Run, cavalryman Jeb Stuart got Lee a mare named Lucy Long and also around this time, Lee received a sorrel horse named Ajax.

When Lee rode to Appomattox Court House to surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 he was riding his favorite and most known horse. This gray colored horse was Traveller. After the Civil War when Robert E. Lee was president at Washington University (later renamed to Washington and Lee University), Lee’s favorite old war-horse Traveller was still with him. When Lee died, the horse Traveller walked behind Lee’s hearse in the funeral procession. Traveller walked with his head bowed and in a slow gait. Traveller is buried outside of the Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University. Robert E. Lee is interred in a crypt beneath the Lee Chapel.

Lexington, Sam, and William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman had two favorite horses during the Civil War, these horses were named Lexington and Sam. Sherman rode Lexington at Atlanta and in the Grand Review in Washington at the close of the war. Sam was injured several times during the Civil War. At Shiloh, three of Sherman’s horses were killed during the battle. Two of these three horses died as an orderly held their reigns.

Cincinnati and Ulysses S. Grant

As a young man, Ulysses S. Grant developed a love of horses when he worked at his father’s farm. Grant became a skilled equestrian. Grant was an exceptional equestrian while a cadet at West Point, although he didn’t stand out as having exceptional talents in anything else at West Point. When Grant finished at West Point, he was hoping for a commission in the cavalry. At the time the cavalry had no vacancies, so Grant ended up in the infantry. For a horse-loving equestrian like Ulysses S. Grant, the infantry assignment must have been a great disappointment.

An admirer gave the horse Cincinnati to Grant after the Battle of Chattanooga and Cincinnati became Grant’s favorite horse during the Civil War. Cincinnati was seldom ridden by anyone other than Grant. One notable exception being President Abraham Lincoln, who rode Cincinnati when the president last visited City Point, Virginia. Other horses Grant had in the Civil War were Jack, Fox, and Kangaroo. Kangaroo was left on the Shiloh battlefield by the Confederates. This horse was described as ugly and raw-boned. Grant having an eye for horses however, knew that Kangaroo was a thoroughbred. After becoming a Yankee horse, Kangaroo got rest and care, and became a fine horse.

Little Sorrel and Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson on Little Sorrel

Stonewall Jackson on Little Sorrel

Little Sorrel was Confederate General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson’s horse. Stonewall was riding this horse when he was shot by friendly fire at Chancellorsville. Little Sorrel became Jackson’s horse in May of 1861 at Harpers Ferry. The horse was about eleven-years-old at this time. Note: There is reference to Stonewall’s horse being called both Old Sorrel and Little Sorrel.

That Devil Dan and George B. McClellan

Union General George B. McClellan’s favorite war-horse was named Daniel Webster. Members of General McClellan’s staff began to call this horse “that devil Dan” because Daniel Webster was a speedy horse. The horses of McClellan’s staff members had trouble keeping up with “that devil Dan.” Daniel Webster was with McClellan at Antietam. This horse was described as being a dark bay, about seventeen hands high, a pure bred, handsome, and he seldom showed signs of fatigue. Daniel Webster was a fine example of a horse. When McClellan retired from military service, the horse Daniel Webster went with him. The horse nicknamed “that devil Dan” became the family horse of the McClellan family.

My Kingdom for a Horse: Confederate Leaders and their Horses

“A dog may be man’s best friend, but the horse wrote history.”

…Unknown