Sherman in the Balance
Civil war–era biographies that can double as doorstops seem to be in vogue again. Frederick Douglass, Ulysses S. Grant, and now William T. Sherman, the Union’s second most famous general and, arguably, its first modern one. More than 90 years ago, an English military historian, Sir B.H. Liddell Hart, portrayed Sherman as the dominant military genius of the Civil War. Brian Holden Reid, now England’s foremost expert on the Americans’ great internal conflict, generally agrees with Liddell Hart’s assessment. But Reid’s conclusion that “the subject of Sherman’s military career is far from closed in terms of scholarly or public scrutiny” will no longer be true. His deeply researched and deftly argued investigation will likely prove to be the definitive one for the foreseeable future.
While Reid’s biography takes the formal chronological approach, he approaches Sherman’s generalship the way a military analyst would. Reid’s analysis rests on three military arts. First, he seeks to explain Sherman’s reaction to forces over which he had little or no control, showcasing Sherman’s ability to pivot and adapt to changing conditions on the battlefield or on the home front. Second, he assesses Sherman’s ability to learn and grow from experience, a trait in which President Abraham Lincoln, for example, excelled. Finally, Reid evaluates Sherman’s strategic, tactical, and logistical abilities as exhibited on the battlefield during various stages of his career. How Sherman evolved in these three areas determined his success as a military
