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From: Bill Rogers, Tyler TX
Date: 1/28/2004
Time: 11:51:51 PM
Remote Name: 66.76.254.12
Sherman wrote to Grant: "We cannot change the hearts of the peple of the South, but we can make war so terrible that they will realize the fact that however brave and gallant and devoted to their country, still they are mortal and should exhaust all peaceful remedies before they fley to war." Hanson (see my note above in What Are You Reading) offers a provocative observation in "Ripples of Battle": "Had Sherman been in charge of Lee's army in June 1863, the Army of Northern VA would have sidestepped Meade at Gettysburg, may well have burned Washington DC, and crippled the economy of southern PA and MD - before returning to the Southe and the likelihood of a brokered peace. In contrast, had Lee been Sherman in the Fall of 1864, his army would have sought out Hood, Hardee, and Bragg and never reached Savannah." Shiloh, according to Hanson, had taught Sherman how NOT to fight civil war campaigns-that is: the headon clashing of great armies was destined to a carnage filled failure. The alternative was exhibited in the March to the Sea (and in the drive on Baghdad-but that is another story).