Uncle Billy Sherman

The picture above is of a photo of General William Tecumseh Sherman that was taken later in life and is on display the Museum of the Grand Army of the Republic. Few Civil War figures on either side bring out the sheer emotion of General Sherman.  Emotions that for the most part vary depending on what part of the country you are from.

In the South, too many he is a villain who wrecked the South and will never be forgotten. In the North, he did what he had to do to bring the war to an end.

To the soldiers that served under him, he was quite affectionately known as Uncle Billy.  He was a General that honestly cared for his soldiers, but never let that stand in the way of doing his job. Often after the war men that served under him would show up at his door hungry, broke and abandoned. He never turned them away. He always provided what food or money he could to help them make it one more day. That was Uncle Billy.

Quotes From the Man

• “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it is over.”
• “Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.”
• “In our country…one class of men makes war and leaves another to fight it out.”
• “I am tired and sick of war. 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, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”
• “War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.”
• “I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for Mercy.”