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| Posted: Sat Aug 30th, 2008 05:53 pm |
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1st Post |
44th VA INF
Member
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Geanral Shermans march to the sea help win the war for the union but was his actions agaisnt the civlian population in gerigia and south cariolina to villaniasd he aloowed his troops to pillage to rape and excute in captured confedrate soldiers i personally think his action were wrong and unesary
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30th, 2008 06:20 pm |
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2nd Post |
Captain Crow
Progressive Southerner
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There is a school of thought based on more current research that seems to shed a less dastardly light on Sherman's March. while there is no doubt that much destruction was wrought along the way, it may be that some of the Army's villianous deeds were a tad bit exagerated by the immediate post-war historians for whatever reasons. No doubt bad things happened along the route. However I suspect it was not quite the scorched-earth- policy style destruction that was portrayed by many pro-southern historians of that era. The new book by Noah Andre Trudeau: "Southern Storm-Sherman's march to the sea" may be of some assistance in shedding a more balanced light on this topic.
http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Storm-Shermans-March-Sea/dp/0060598670/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220120314&sr=1-1
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:10 am |
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3rd Post |
The Iron Duke
Member
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The truth is somewhere in between.
Sherman's men were not executing civilians and sowing salt into the soil as I've seen "neo-Confederate" sites claim. Rapes were extremely rare and men were executed for such actions.
On the other hand, Sherman's men weren't only destroying railroad tracks and mills as some "neo-Unionists" seem to imply. There are times when Sherman's men did get out of control like at Milledgeville, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina.
We have done much much worse to other ethnic groups.
____________________
"Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:20 am |
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4th Post |
Reb till death
Is a yank
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I agree my southern side says a cold blooded killer and my one yankee ancestor in me says he was a hero so I am mixed.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:31 am |
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5th Post |
CleburneFan
Member
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44th VA INF wrote: Geanral Shermans march to the sea help win the war for the union but was his actions agaisnt the civlian population in gerigia and south cariolina to villaniasd he aloowed his troops to pillage to rape and excute in captured confedrate soldiers i personally think his action were wrong and unesary
Are you aware that some Southern troops behaved in ways that could be considered unnecessarly violent and damaging too, sometimes against their own civilian population? In their desperate search for food which their own government had difficulty providing, they plundered the farms and homes of their own Southern civilians.
Also, because some Southern soldiers were so outraged at the idea of Northern African-American troops, they would treat such men with a special harshness even to the extent of killing wounded black troops or POWS or making a special effort to shoot at them during battles.
There were plenty of atrocities on both sides. That's what so often happens in war. War is barbaric. It brings out the worst in people.
Last edited on Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:31 am by CleburneFan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:48 am |
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6th Post |
Crazy Delawares
Member
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The wanton theft of private property by any soldier was wrong. Rape is always wrong. Leaving a family without their milk cow was wrong as well.
That said though, I feel that Sherman's march was brilliant as a war measure. He was no war criminal in my book. The war criminals were the ones at home who were rioting and killing innocent people because of their own dull ignorance. The war criminals were those who stayed home and massacred whole families because they did not believe in fighting in the war. I am not referencing Cold Mountain either. There was plenty of murder going on in East Tennessee and West North Carolina!
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 11:27 am |
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7th Post |
izzy
Member
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You are right about that Crazy. It was gruesome in East TN and WNC. All parties were guilty of atrocities. Usually the female population was not in danger of being killed, but every male taller than his mother's hip was in danger of being murdered on the spot. It was safer to be in an army than to stay at home here.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:30 pm |
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8th Post |
| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 02:42 pm |
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9th Post |
Reb till death
Is a yank
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Dont forget about the bushwakers in Missouri, then again they did what they did guess they thought they were helping.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31st, 2008 03:01 pm |
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10th Post |
TheColoBearer
Bearer of the Colors
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44th VA INF wrote: Geanral Shermans march to the sea help win the war for the union but was his actions agaisnt the civlian population in gerigia and south cariolina to villaniasd he aloowed his troops to pillage to rape and excute in captured confedrate soldiers i personally think his action were wrong and unesary
You need to make a trip to Southwestern Georgia sir, a place called Andersonville to be exact, and you will see that what shermans people did was a slap on the wrist in comparison.
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Bama46
Guest
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whoa....
POW deaths in Northern facilities were roughly the same by percentage as in Southern facilities.... except that northern prisons witheld food, blankets,and medicine as punishment, while southern prisons simply did not have those items. This is established fact!
For every Andersonville, there is an Elmira NY or a Camp Douglas, Il.
To my knowledge, no southern prison charged civilians for a look at those wretches, nor did they sell the bodies...both happened in the north.... furthermore, you really don't want to get into a discussion about conditions at Alton.
Ed
Ed
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The Iron Duke
Member
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Ed,
I totally forgot that Elmira charged admissions! It reminds me of that scene from The Blue and the Gray.
Could you explain further about selling off the dead bodies? That is something I've never heard of before.Last edited on Mon Sep 1st, 2008 02:45 am by The Iron Duke
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"Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill
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Bama46
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dead from Douglas were sold to local Chicago medical schools IIRC.. I will have to look up the details... the point was that there are absolutely no fingers that can be pointed regarding POW treatment. Here in Springfield,IL. Lincoln's hometown, there is a POW camp where 876 or so Confederates died of "exposure"... translation... they froze to death.
Andersonville was hell,my wife' 3g grandfather survived it, but it was not the only hell!Last edited on Mon Sep 1st, 2008 02:50 am by
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The Iron Duke
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If you could find us some details that would be much appreciated.
____________________
"Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill
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Bama46
Guest
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Beg Pardon Sir.
I am in error, bodies were not sold.
A quick survey of online record reveals the bodies were in fact stolen and given to the medical schools...
oops!
Ed
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