Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio. His widowed mother sent him to be raised by another family; his foster mother added “William” as a first name. In 1840 Sherman graduated from the U.S. Military Academy near the top of his class. He served in a variety of positions throughout the South and garnered no special notice. During the Mexican War, Sherman had a desk assignment in San Francisco while many other officers were gaining experience that would be put to use in the Civil War. In 1853 Sherman resigned from the army and entered the field of banking, first in San Francisco and later in New York City. This foray into the financial world was cut short by the Panic of 1857. Sherman worked briefly as a lawyer in Kansas. Through the auspices of friends P.G.T. Beauregard and Braxton Bragg, Sherman secured a position as the superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana (which would later relocate and become Louisiana State University). When Louisiana seceded in 1861, Sherman resigned and settled in [2793St. Louis]. With an assist from his younger brother, Senator John Sherman of Ohio, he was able to secure a position in the army. His experience at the First Battle of Bull Run made him doubt his own abilities and he asked not to be assigned another command. His request was not honored and in April 1862 he performed with distinction at Shiloh; a promotion to major general followed. In the fall Sherman was given command over the District of Memphis. Initially defeated in his effort to take the Confederate position on Chickasaw Bluffs outside of Vicksburg, Sherman would return later and ably serve U.S. Grant in his victory at Vicksburg in July 1863. Sherman took command of the Army of Tennessee in October 1863, serving with distinction at Missionary Ridge in the Chattanooga Campaign. In March 1864 Sherman succeeded Grant as supreme commander in the West. The Atlanta Campaign got off to a slow start at Kennesaw Mountain, but the city fell prior to the election and provided Lincoln with a powerful boost toward reelection. Sherman, deep in enemy territory and his supply lines in jeopardy, began his March to the Sea. In 24 days Sherman’s army cut a 40- to 60-mile-wide swath of destruction from Atlanta to Savannah. His aim was to end the enemy’s ability to wage war and to destroy the morale of the populace. After taking Savannah, Sherman’s force moved into the Carolinas with the army of Robert E. Lee the eventual target. Union soldiers exacted revenge in South Carolina, burning more than a dozen towns. Columbia was burned to the ground and Sherman later claimed that fleeing Confederates were responsible — a charge that has never been substantiated. Following Lee’s surrender to Grant, Joseph E. Johnston capitulated to Sherman a few days later in North Carolina. Following the war, Sherman remained in the service. He succeeded Grant as the commander of the U.S. Army in 1869. Sherman retired in 1884 and turned down a Republican offer of the presidential nomination by stating, “If nominated I will not accept; if elected I will not serve.” Sherman is generally regarded as one of the most able military commanders of the Civil War. He grasped the enormity of the task earlier than most and was willing to take whatever steps were necessary to achieve victory. His march to the sea won him lasting hatred in the South, but demonstrated his understanding that the nature of warfare had changed—conflicts from this point forward would be total wars. Sherman was honest about the misery of war—“war is hell”—and in later years had little respect for those who sought to glorify the conflict.