Grant and Sherman used the strategy of total war to shorten the war in their favor, using the many deaths of enemies to save live on their side. We way never know if more would have died if they didn’t use the tactic, but in my opinion civilian lives were not theirs to take.
Why did Sherman and Grant wage total war?
Grant and Sherman wanted to wage total war against the Confederacy to demoralize Southern civilians and force the South to surrender.
What was Grant and Sherman’s strategy of total war?
Grant, in his autobiography, explained that Sherman was to attack Gen. Joseph Johnston’s army in the South and capture Atlanta and the railroads, effectively cutting the Confederacy in two. Grant was to pummel Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia.
What was the purpose of Sherman’s total war?
The purpose of Sherman’s March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Sherman’s soldiers did not destroy any of the towns in their path, but they stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back.
Why did Ulysses Grant adopt a total war strategy?
Under Grant, Union armies did not retire to winter quarters to refit and reorganize, and they would require their enemies to remain in the field against them. But total warfare was more a strategic than operational change. … Grant used maneuver in order to increase tempo as well as to place his forces.
Why was total war used in the Civil War?
Although many of the Civil War’s participants conceptualized the conflict as a total war, they did so largely because the war demanded (at least for the South) that all of the nation’s resources be devoted to fighting the war.
Was Sherman’s total war justified?
Sherman’s march was justified because he was able to feed his troops while denying the enemy food and supplies. And even though this showed the hardness of war, it was done without physically harming civilians like Dolly Sumner Lunt.
Why was the total war important?
Total war, such as World War I and World War II, mobilizes all of the resources of society (industry, finance, labor, etc.) to fight the war. It also expands the targets of war to include any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure.
What was Grant’s total war strategy?
Grant hoped that “so far as practicable all the armies are to move together and towards one common [center].” Earlier in the war, Grant observed how “various [Union] armies had acted separately and independently of each other, giving the enemy an opportunity often of depleting one command, not pressed, to reinforce …
What was meant by total war?
total war, military conflict in which the contenders are willing to make any sacrifice in lives and other resources to obtain a complete victory, as distinguished from limited war. Throughout history, limitations on the scope of warfare have been more economic and social than political.
What did Sherman do to Atlanta?
Atlanta’s Roundhouse
On November 15, 1864, United States forces led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman burned nearly all of the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. This event occurred near the end of the U.S. Civil War during which 11 states in the American South seceded from the rest of the nation.
What was William Tecumseh Sherman’s main goal using total war tactics when invading the South in 1864?
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.
How did the total war strategy contribute to the end of the war?
It boosted morale and revitalized the Confederacy’s fighting spirit. It caused Southern generals to adopt their own total war strategy. It resulted in the South’s immediate surrender and the end of the war.
What was the impact of total war and Sherman’s March to the Sea?
His forces followed a “scorched earth” policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy’s economy and transportation networks. The operation broke the back of the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender.
How and why was total war used against the Confederacy in the Civil War?
Total war was used against the confederacy because Grant and Sherman believed it was necesario to fight not only the confederacy’s army but its civilians as well. These civilians produced weapons, food, and transported goods on which armies relied.