USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Sherman’s “total war” in Georgia was brutal and destructive, but it did just what it was supposed to do: it hurt Southern morale, made it impossible for the Confederates to fight at full capacity and likely hastened the end of the war.

Detailed explanation-2: -While these two campaigns are controversial, Shermans application of total war was operationally necessary to achieve the Unions military end state of ending the Civil War, as supporting operations to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grants operations against Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Virginia.

Detailed explanation-3: -Sherman’s goal was to “make Georgia howl.” “We are not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people, and we must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.” The hard war was here for Georgia.

Detailed explanation-4: -What is the BEST reason that Sherman would use the strategy of “total war” to defeat the South? The total war strategy would keep the South from trading with Great Britain and France. Sherman’s men wanted revenge for the treatment of Union soldiers in the Andersonville prison camp.

Detailed explanation-5: -Sherman’s goal was to destroy the Army of the Tennessee, capture Atlanta and cut off vital Confederate supply lines. While Sherman failed to destroy his enemy, he was able to force the surrender of Atlanta in September 1864, boosting Northern morale and greatly improving President Abraham Lincoln’s re-election bid.