Details
SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH, General. Autograph letter signed ("W.T. Sherman") as Brigadier General and Commander, District of Memphis, to his close friend and brother-in-law, Philemon Ewing, Muldraugh's Hill, 30 September 1861. 4 pages, 4to, on lined stationery, slightly soiled at central fold, otherwise in very good condition.
SHERMAN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST HIS SOLDIERS DEPRIDATIONS ON THE TENNESSEE CIVILIAN POPULATION
A long, remarkably candid letter lamenting the lack of discipline among his volunteer soldiers, who terrorized the local population, and expressing his concern for his weak military situation. "...I never did like to serve with volunteers, because instead of being governed they govern, and with the principle that the King can do no wrong: so they can do no wrong and any misadventure is charged on the officer...The volunteers...with their unbridled will are killing hogs, cattle, hopping fence rails, and taking hay and wheat, all calculated to turn the people against us. I do all...to stop this but it is ineffectual, and I cannot expect to escape the consequences...I have no authoritative information of what our Enemy is doing, but I know [Confederate Generals] Buckner and Smith who command, and...they see at a glance the weakness of my position, and Buckner...knows the ground perfectly...If the reinforcements designed for us are delayed I cannot forsee the consequences, for the country is all ambush -- Woods envelope us with roads & paths familiar to them and strange to us and we are tied down...[General Robert] Anderson...is compelled to divert some reinforcements coming to us...and so I suppose I must meet the shock with whatever I have, viz about 5000 volunteers dwindling daily...I placed myself in this unmilitary position for political reasons to enable the people to rally to support their vote [for the Union] and the action of their Legislature, but I despair of their apathy..."
Sherman soon succeeded to Anderson's command of the Deparment of the Cumberland, but his criticism of the Lincoln administration's strategic policies and his hostility towards the press almost ended his military career. Accused by the press of insanity, and lacking Secretary of War Simon Cameron's support, Sherman was replaced by General Buell, and did not regain a field command until the Shiloh Campaign of April 1862.
SHERMAN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST HIS SOLDIERS DEPRIDATIONS ON THE TENNESSEE CIVILIAN POPULATION
A long, remarkably candid letter lamenting the lack of discipline among his volunteer soldiers, who terrorized the local population, and expressing his concern for his weak military situation. "...I never did like to serve with volunteers, because instead of being governed they govern, and with the principle that the King can do no wrong: so they can do no wrong and any misadventure is charged on the officer...The volunteers...with their unbridled will are killing hogs, cattle, hopping fence rails, and taking hay and wheat, all calculated to turn the people against us. I do all...to stop this but it is ineffectual, and I cannot expect to escape the consequences...I have no authoritative information of what our Enemy is doing, but I know [Confederate Generals] Buckner and Smith who command, and...they see at a glance the weakness of my position, and Buckner...knows the ground perfectly...If the reinforcements designed for us are delayed I cannot forsee the consequences, for the country is all ambush -- Woods envelope us with roads & paths familiar to them and strange to us and we are tied down...[General Robert] Anderson...is compelled to divert some reinforcements coming to us...and so I suppose I must meet the shock with whatever I have, viz about 5000 volunteers dwindling daily...I placed myself in this unmilitary position for political reasons to enable the people to rally to support their vote [for the Union] and the action of their Legislature, but I despair of their apathy..."
Sherman soon succeeded to Anderson's command of the Deparment of the Cumberland, but his criticism of the Lincoln administration's strategic policies and his hostility towards the press almost ended his military career. Accused by the press of insanity, and lacking Secretary of War Simon Cameron's support, Sherman was replaced by General Buell, and did not regain a field command until the Shiloh Campaign of April 1862.