William T. Sherman was Ulysses S. Grant's staunchest ally in the Union Army; in 1862 he even dissuaded his friend from resigning. This opinionated work on the leader of the merciless March to the Sea takes issue with many previous biographies. According to Stanley Hirshon, Sherman was not a racist (at least, not by 19th-century standards), not a philanderer (though he liked to flirt), and not a bad general (though he lost a lot of battles). The author makes a persuasive case for these contentions in his strongly argued text.


From Library Journal
Utilizing regimental histories, historian Hirshon offers a sympathetic yet excellent biography of one of the more noted Civil War generals, best remembered for burning Atlanta, cutting a swath of destruction across Georgia, then creating total destruction in South Carolina, including the burning of Columbia. Hirshon gives us an insight into how Sherman's own troops felt about him and his relationships with fellow generals, especially Grant. The author not only describes Sherman's role in the war but also details his early life and family problems. The latter part of the book deals with his life after the war, especially with the Indians in the West as well as his relationships with Presidents Johnson and Grant. This work focuses more closely on Sherman's battles and marches than most other biographies do and discusses his failures and accomplishments in detail. Highly recommended.?W. Walter Wicker, Louisiana Tech Univ., (ret.) RustonCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
As is true of most complicated historical figures, the way Sherman looks depends on how the historian looks at him. Hirshson disagrees "completely" with the previous biography, Citizen Sherman, by Michael Fellman (1995), which delved into speculative psychobiography. What Sherman did, rather than why he did it or what racialist attitudes he harbored, matters most to Hirshson. And since Sherman was a soldier, that means a helluva lot of soldiering goes on in this book, which consequently reads like the hundreds of regimental histories the author consulted for this work. The detail, though, doesn't obscure the main and well-known events of Sherman's career, from prewar business failures to wartime battles and campaigns to postwar matters, like writing his memoirs, putting down the Indians, and putting up with importunate politicians. Adopting a posture as Sherman's defense counsel, Hirshson argues that he was better at maneuvering than at set-piece battling, a view the bloody results of Shiloh and Kennesaw Mountain support. A carefully researched, closely written work for seasoned Civil War buffs. Gilbert Taylor


From Kirkus Reviews
A sympathetic biography that seems undecided whether to focus on Sherman the warrior or Sherman the family man. As Hirshson (History/Queens Coll.; The Lion of the Lord, 1969, etc.) himself notes in his preface, this is hardly the first recent study of Sherman. In fact, the general has been poked and prodded quite a lot of late, and Hirshson compares his experience watching various works emerge to ``the academic equivalent of having the contents of a six-shooter slowly emptied into one's body.'' Still, he has tried to turn this to his advantage, showing where his predecessors failed to use all available sources while at the same time culling from their works what he found useful. The result is a competent biography that, to justify its existence, stresses the importance of regimental histories of the Civil War, on which Hirshson relied most heavily. The problem is that while he spotlights them, it's clear that the more personal interactions of the Sherman family, especially the relationship between Sherman and his wife, Ellen, seem to be closest to his heart. The Sherman who emerges is a tormented man who, like his friend Ulysses S. Grant, tried his hand at a number of (mostly unsuccessful) ventures in the private sector but returned to the army during the Civil War to claim his share of glory. Sherman's record during that conflict is more difficult to categorize than Grant's, and it would be hard to point to a battle that he actually won. More impressive, claims Hirshson, were Sherman's marches, especially his famous (or infamous) March to the Sea through Georgia in 1864, which the author claims could have been accomplished only by a superbly skilled officer. Not the most comprehensive biography, but a good supplement for those eager to understand the ``firebug'' in all his somewhat dubious glory. (photos, maps, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
"Extraordinarily readable." —Paul D. Casdorph, author of Jackson and Lee

Best remembered as the man who burned Atlanta and marched his army to the sea, cutting a swath of destruction through Georgia, William Tecumseh Sherman remains one of the most vital figures in Civil War annals. In The White Tecumseh, Stanley Hirshson has crafted a beautiful and rigorous work of scholarship, the only life of Sherman to draw on regimental histories and testimonies by the general's own men. What emerges is a landmark portrait of a brilliant but tormented soul, haunted by a family legacy of mental illness and relentlessly driven to realize a powerful military ambition.

"Sympathetic yet excellent . . . insight into how Sherman's own troops felt about him and his relationships with fellow generals, especially Grant. . . . Highly recommended." —Library Journal


The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
A thoroughly researched biography of William Tecumseh Sherman, one of the most prominent generals of the Civil War, who is best remembered as the man who razed Atlanta and brilliantly marched his army to the sea cutting a swath of destruction through Georgia. The author is more sympathetic to Sherman, presenting him as brilliant but unhappy, and devotes far more consideration to Sherman's battles and marches than any previous biographer.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Hailed by his admirers as "a fighting prophet," cursed by his enemies as "the concentrated quintessence of Yankeedom," General William Tecumseh Sherman is one of the most complex and fascinating figures in the history of the U.S. military. His fierce campaigns of the Civil War, climaxed by the burning of Atlanta and his famous march to the sea, are the stuff of legend. Yet, until now, much of Sherman's life and troubled times have remained mired in controversy. In this superbly detailed, scrupulously documented account, author Stanley P. Hirshson presents the most vivid, revealing, and complete biography ever of the controversial general. Drawing on a wealth of new information, including actual regimental histories, The White Tecumseh offers a refreshing new perspective on a brilliant, tormented soul and often misunderstood leader. Peeling away layers of myth and misconception, Hirshson draws a remarkable portrait of an enigmatic, temperamental, and unique individual - a man of enormous contradictions, strengths, and weaknesses; a loyal but largely absent husband and father; a determined and courageous, yet deeply flawed, military man. The White Tecumseh offers a fresh and frank assessment of Sherman as a military tactician. For the first time, we learn how he was regarded by his own men. The battle of Shiloh made Sherman a national figure, while defeat at Bull Run cast doubt on his judgment and abilities. Publicly portrayed as an unbalanced hysteric - a perception fueled by his own proclamations of collusion and conspiracy - privately he suffered from depression, forever haunted by the mental instability that had plagued his mother's family. However, it was on the long campaigns and marches, such as his march across Mississippi in the summer of 1863, that Sherman's logistical and leadership abilities excelled. With the capture and razing of Atlanta in 1864, Sherman's notoriety - and historical legacy - was assured.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The Civil War general infamous for the burning of Atlanta cuts a more sympathetic figure than usual in this biography, which is as psychologically penetrating as it is painstakingly researched. Hirshson (Farewell to the Bloody Shirt), a professor of history at Queens College at CUNY, shows how Sherman (1820-1891) evolved from a rebellious yet intellectually gifted student into an inspired leader of men, driven as much by a fear of giving into the mental illness that ravaged his mother's side of his family as by his military ambition. According to Hirshson, prior biographies of Sherman have largely exaggerated the general's fierceness, and in so doing have failed to comprehend the complexities of his character. Hirshson is the only recent Sherman biographer to tap even a portion of the hundreds of unit histories to find out what Sherman's men thought about their commander. Although sympathetic to his subject, he admits that Sherman made mistakes during the Civil War, and he details the genesis and nature of these errors. He also uncovers new material about the general's personal difficulties before the war, and about his post-1865 squabbles with brother officers regarding army policy. The one drawback to this fine study is its lack of a detailed bibliography, which forces readers to delve through the endnotes to appreciate the depth of Hirshson's research in what is sure to become a controversial book on one of America's great generals. Photos; maps. (May)

Library Journal

Utilizing regimental histories, historian Hirshon offers a sympathetic yet excellent biography of one of the more noted Civil War generals, best remembered for burning Atlanta, cutting a swath of destruction across Georgia, then creating total destruction in South Carolina, including the burning of Columbia. Hirshon gives us an insight into how Sherman's own troops felt about him and his relationships with fellow generals, especially Grant. The author not only describes Sherman's role in the war but also details his early life and family problems. The latter part of the book deals with his life after the war, especially with the Indians in the West as well as his relationships with Presidents Johnson and Grant. This work focuses more closely on Sherman's battles and marches than most other biographies do and discusses his failures and accomplishments in detail. Highly recommended.W. Walter Wicker, Louisiana Tech Univ., (ret.) Ruston

Carl Smith - Osprey Military Journal

Hirshson's book draws on archival records, unit histories, diaries, and military history to unfold the story of a brilliant, fiery leader with deep fears of family mental illness that he fought his entire life. Hirshson's biography is a fascinating read about the convoluted life of a brilliant general.

Kirkus Reviews

A sympathetic biography that seems undecided whether to focus on Sherman the warrior or Sherman the family man.

As Hirshson (History/Queens Coll.; The Lion of the Lord, 1969, etc.) himself notes in his preface, this is hardly the first recent study of Sherman. In fact, the general has been poked and prodded quite a lot of late, and Hirshson compares his experience watching various works emerge to "the academic equivalent of having the contents of a six-shooter slowly emptied into one's body." Still, he has tried to turn this to his advantage, showing where his predecessors failed to use all available sources while at the same time culling from their works what he found useful. The result is a competent biography that, to justify its existence, stresses the importance of regimental histories of the Civil War, on which Hirshson relied most heavily. The problem is that while he spotlights them, it's clear that the more personal interactions of the Sherman family, especially the relationship between Sherman and his wife, Ellen, seem to be closest to his heart. The Sherman who emerges is a tormented man who, like his friend Ulysses S. Grant, tried his hand at a number of (mostly unsuccessful) ventures in the private sector but returned to the army during the Civil War to claim his share of glory. Sherman's record during that conflict is more difficult to categorize than Grant's, and it would be hard to point to a battle that he actually won. More impressive, claims Hirshson, were Sherman's marches, especially his famous (or infamous) March to the Sea through Georgia in 1864, which the author claims could have been accomplished only by a superbly skilled officer.

Not the most comprehensive biography, but a good supplement for those eager to understand the "firebug" in all his somewhat dubious glory.