SHERMAN. 



4C5 



mand of an expedition to Kettle Lake, Dakota. On 

 the outbreak of the civil war, in 1861, he was pro- 

 moted to major, and to lieutenant-colonel of the 

 Fifth Artillery, May 14, and to brigadier-general of 

 volunteers, May 1?" Till the end of June he was 

 chief of light artillery in the defence of Washington. 

 His next employment was organizing an expedition 

 for holding Bull's Bay, S. C., and Fernaudina, Flor- 

 ida, for the use of the fleet blockading the southern 

 coast, when he was assigned to the command of the 

 land forces in the Port Royal expedition. With a 

 division of tbe Army of the Tennessee he took part in 

 the siege of Corinth, Miss., and commanded a divi- 

 sion in the Department of the Gulf till May, 1863, 

 when ho joined the expedition to Port Hudson, La., 

 where he commanded the left wing of the besieg- 

 ing force. Here, while heading an assault on May 

 27, he lost his leg and was invalided till February, 

 1861, but in the meantime was made colonel of the 

 Third Artillery, June, 1863. He served afterward 

 in the command of a brigade in the Department of 

 the Gulf, and in the southern and eastern districts 

 of Louisiana. He was in 18C5 brevetted brigadier- 

 general U. S. army, and major-general for " gallant 

 and meritorious services during the war." Subse- 

 quent to the war he commanded the Third Artillery 

 at Fort Adams, at Newport, and the post of Key 

 West, Florida. In December, 1870, he was retired 

 from active service for disability, and died, March 13, 

 1879. 



SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECDMSEH, the general whose 

 oj>erations, more than those of any other save Gen. 

 Grant, contributed to bring the American war for the 

 Union to a successful issue, was bora in Lancaster, 

 Ohio, Feb. 8, 18JO. He is the son of Judge Charles B. 

 Sherman, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and brother 

 of Hon. John Sherman (q. p.). Judge Sherman's fancy 

 was captivated by the famous Shawnee chief, Tecum- 

 si-h, for he insisted on giving this name to his second 

 son, and on this being overruled by the mother, he en- 

 grafted it into that of his third son, William Tecum- 

 seh. The father died in 1829, leaving his family in, 

 poor circumstances, and William was brought up in 

 that of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Lancaster, till 

 hi'* liith year, receiving his education in Lancaster 

 Academy, where he studied French, Latin, and 

 Greek, "in 183G he entered West Point Military 

 Academy, where he graduated, June 30, 1840, sixth 

 in a class of 43. " At the academy," says Sherman 

 himself, "I was not considered a good soldier, for 

 at no time was I selected for any olHce, but remained 

 a private throughout the whole four years." He 

 was commissioned 2d lieutenant of the Third Artil- 

 lery, and nerved in Florida against the Seminole 

 Indians through the winters of 1840-41. In Novem- 

 ber, 1841, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant, and 

 \\.m shortly thereafter stationed at Fort Moultrie, 

 8. C., where he remained for five years, having, 

 among others, Bragg and Koyes for companions till , 

 the Mexican war. In 1846 lie was sent to Califor- 

 nia, where he found a companion in H. W. Halleck, ! 

 and remained through the war as acting assistant ad- 

 jutant-general till 1850, having in the meantime 

 obtained, for meritorious services, a brevet of cap- 

 tain in the regular army, dated May, 1848. In 1850 

 he returned East, with despatches to Gen. Scott in 

 Nw York, and, having obtained leave of absence, 

 visited his mother in Lancaster, and was married, on 

 May 1, to Ellen Boyle, daughter of his benefactor, 

 the Hon. Thomas Ewing, then secretary of the in- 

 terior. In 1851 he took up his residence as com- 

 missary of subsistence in St. Louis, where his father- i 

 in-lavv had a property, rendered valuable by being 

 included in the city survey, and whore he himself 

 made some purchases, which lie still retains. lu 

 1852 he moved in the same capacity to New Orleans. ' 

 Finding his pay inadequate to support his family, ho 



resigned his commission in September, 1853, and 

 accepted the position of managing partner of the 

 branch of the banking house of Lucas, Turner & Co., 

 then opened in San Francisco. The disordered con- 

 dition of that city in 1855-5(5 tended to paralyse busi- 

 ness, and Sherman took active part in the Vigilance 

 Committee. After spending some time in New York, 

 and subsequently in San Francisco, in winding up 

 the business, he returned to his family in Lancaster. 

 As a means of living he in 1858 entered a law firm in 

 Leavenworth, Kansas, but, as the business was not; 

 sufficiently profitable, he made application in June, 

 1859, to the War Department for occupation, and 

 was appointed superintendent of the Louisiana 

 Military Academy. In 1861 Louisiana seceded from 

 the Union, and Sherman threw up his office and re-. 

 turned to St. Louis, where he accepted the prehi. 

 dency of a street railroad. 



On the capture of Fort Sumter Sherman offered 

 his services to the government. These were ac- 



; cepted and, June, 1861, he was appointed colonel <! 

 the 13th Infantry. In the disastrous battle of Bull 

 Bun Col. Sherman commanded the third brigade in 

 Tyler's division, and the vigor with which he fought 

 his four regiments and battery is demonstrated by 

 their loss namely ,.009 the total for the whole tinny 

 being computed at only 1590. The Ohio delegation 

 in Congress urged Sherman's promotion for gallan- 

 try, and, Aug. 3, he was made brigadier-general of 

 volunteers. 



When Gen. Bobert Anderson, late commander of 

 Fort Sumter, was assigned to the Department of the 



I Cumberland, Gen. Sherman was attached as his sec- 

 ond in command, and was soon thereafter despatched 

 to occupy Muldraugh's Hill, south of Salt River. 

 Here his " home guards" deserted him, and he found 



j himself, with barely 5000 men, confronting Breckeu- 



I ridge with 25,000. When Anderson was relieved 

 Sherman was appointed to succeed him. His posi- 

 tion was far from enviable. Most of the young men 

 of Kentucky had joined the Secessionists, and the 

 non-combatants were usually unfriendly. He ear- 

 nestly demanded re-enforcements, and in a perscnul 

 interview with Secretary Cameron at Lexington, in 

 presence of Gen. Thomas, explained the exigencies 

 of the situation. On Nov. 3 he telegraphed to Gen. 

 McClellan : "Our forces are too small to do good, 

 and too large to be sacrificed." All representations 

 proving vain, he asked to be relieved ; Gen. Buell 

 was appointed to succeed him, and at once re-en- 

 forced. Gen. Sherman, for his importunity, was 

 set down as "cruzy," especially for having stated to 

 the secret aiy of war: "That to make a successful 

 advance apaiiist the enemy, then strongly posted at 

 all strategic points from the Mississippi to Cum- 

 berland Gap, would require an army of 20(1,000 

 men ;" and this charge clung to him till events justi- 

 fied his view. In the meantime lie was relegated to 

 the command of a recruiting rendezvous at Bullion 

 Barracks, near St. Louis. 



But Halleck now succeeded to the Department of 

 the West, and Sherman was ordered to Paducah, 

 with the charge of forwarding re-enforcements and 

 supplies to Grant, who WHS moving on Fort Donel- 

 son. After the capture of this stronghold, Sherman 

 was put in command of the Fifth Division of Giant's 

 army at Pittsburg Landing. In the battle of Shiloh 

 (q. v.) Sherman's division held the key of the position 

 around the little church, and his conduct during all 

 the fiercely contested conflict proved him to be pos- 

 sessed of genius of a high order. His division 

 consisting of 12 regiments infantry and 4 batteries 

 lost 2034 men. Gen. Halleck, who took the com- 

 mand-in-chief immediately afterthe battle, reported : 

 "It is the unanimous opinion that Brig. -Gen. Sher- 

 man saved the fortunes of the day ; lie was in the 

 thickest of the fight, had three horses killed under 



