The Military Ethics of General William T. Sherman: A Reassessment

Abstract

The morality of General William Tecumseh Sherman's military campaigns-what he did and what he allowed his subordinate commanders and troops to do-has been extensively debated for more than a century. Sherman's critics charge that as a commander Sherman employed such terrorist tactics as licensing the random execution of noncombatants, destroying and pillaging private property, and even plotting Indian genocide. According to Sherman's detractors, his troops during both the Civil War and the Indian Wars, protected by the moral indifference of their commander, were guilty of murder, theft, arson, rape, and the desecration of cemeteries and burial grounds.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA517014

Entities

People

  • John W. Brinsfield

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Cemeteries
  • Civil War
  • Genocide
  • Information Operations
  • War
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Wave Propagation and Nonlinear Chaotic Dynamics.