Shermans March to the Sea as an example of modern warfare essays

Shermans March to the Sea as an example of modern warfare essays General William T. Shermans March to the Sea was the first example of modern warfare. Both the destruction that Sherman instigated and his reasoning for doing it were seen before the Civil War. The tactics that Sherman used in his March to the Sea have been used in more recent wars as well as his ideas, truly making his March the beginning of modern warfare. In past wars throughout the world, armies would throw themselves at each other, leaving the families at home to support them. Napoleon brought about the idea of total destruction of the enemys army, which in turn would result in great losses of their own army. Even General Grant believed in this total destruction of the army. Grant was notorious for sending men into die, just to destroy the other army because, although he rejected the Napoleonic glorification of the battle, he accepted a Napoleonic strategy of annihilation. (The American Way of War, Weigley, 141) Grants attacks against the north were different in that he was not afraid to lose hundreds of men simply to beat the enemy because he saw that the Union greatly outnumbered the Confederacy army. Because the Confederacy army was so greatly outnumbered, General Grant simply had to throw his men at the other army with victory almost inevitable. Also in past wars, the idea of total annihilation, as used by General Sherma n, was not a totally new idea. In Europe the other countries depended on one another for certain supplies that were not avaliable in their own country so it would have made no logical sense to destroy the land of the enemy because it would essentially ruin their own economy as well. (Weigley, 149) Therefore, the old ways of fighting at the armies of the enemy was not enough to end wars quickly and effectively, and thats where General Sherman came in. During Shermans March to the Sea, Sherman had with him 62,000 men (A Short History of Warf...