William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman

Lancaster-born Union general who captured Atlanta and led the March to the Sea, later Commanding General of the U.S. Army.

Born February 8, 1820, Lancaster
Died February 14, 1891, New York City, NY

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: February 8, 1820, Lancaster (Fairfield County) source
Died: February 14, 1891, New York City, NY source
Buried: Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis source
Also known as: Cump, General Sherman, W. T. Sherman
Education: US Military Academy, West Point, NY, 1836-1840, graduate
Known as: Military
Organizations: Fairfield County Heritage Association

Life story

William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1820. When his father, an Ohio Supreme Court justice, died in 1829, the family friend Thomas Ewing took him in and raised him.

He graduated from West Point in 1840, served in Florida and California, worked as a banker in San Francisco, and ran a military school in Louisiana before the war. In 1850 he married Ellen Ewing, his foster sister.

In the Civil War he fought at Bull Run and Shiloh, helped Grant at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, took Atlanta on September 2, 1864, and finished the March to the Sea at Savannah that December.

He succeeded Grant as commanding general in 1869 and held the post until 1883. He wrote his Memoirs in 1875 and died in New York in 1891; he is buried in St. Louis. His birthplace in Lancaster is a museum, and his younger brother John became a senator.

Ohio ties

Lancaster (1820-1836)
birthplace and childhood; raised from 1829 in the Thomas Ewing household Fairfield County · source
Columbus (1880)
'it is all hell' speech to Grand Army of the Republic veterans at the fairgrounds Franklin County · source
Columbus (Ohio Statehouse) (1894)
one of seven Ohioans on the These Are My Jewels monument Franklin County · source

Timeline

1820 Born February 8 in Lancaster. source
1829 His father, Charles Robert Sherman, died of typhoid; Thomas Ewing took the nine-year-old into his Lancaster household. source
1836 Entered West Point at 16 on an appointment secured by Senator Thomas Ewing. source
1840 Graduated from West Point sixth in his class, down from fourth because of demerits. source
1850 Married his foster sister Ellen Boyle Ewing in Washington on May 1, with President Zachary Taylor attending. source
1864 Captured Atlanta on September 2 and ordered most civilians out of the city. source
1880 Told GAR veterans at the Columbus fairgrounds on August 11 that war, which many boys saw as glory, 'is all hell'. source
1884 Refused to seek the Republican presidential nomination, saying he would not accept if nominated and would not serve if elected. source
1891 Died in New York City on February 14 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis. source
1893 His bronze figure was part of Levi Scofield's These Are My Jewels, shown at the Chicago world's fair and moved to the Ohio Statehouse in 1894. source
1949 A plaque marking the 1880 'It Is All Hell' speech was put up at the former fairgrounds site in Columbus. source
1951 His Lancaster birthplace opened as a memorial museum run by the Fairfield Heritage Association. source

What William is known for

Union general, Atlanta campaign and March to the Sea
Commanding General of the US Army 1869-83
Memoirs (1875)

Stories

A wet day at the Columbus fairgrounds

On August 11, 1880 thousands of Union veterans gathered for a Grand Army of the Republic reunion at the fairgrounds in Columbus. It rained. Sherman, there as part of President Rutherford B. Hayes's escort, walked Hayes to the stand, where the president spoke briefly under an umbrella. Then the veterans called for Sherman, who said he had nothing written. He spoke anyway, and an Ohio State Journal reporter wrote down his words as best he could; the paper printed them on August 12. The line that survived was that many a boy there looked on war as all glory, 'but, boys, it is all hell.'

Source

Raised next door by Thomas Ewing

Charles Robert Sherman, a lawyer and Ohio Supreme Court justice, died of typhoid in 1829 and left his widow with eleven children. Neighbour and family friend Thomas Ewing, a Lancaster attorney and Whig, took in nine-year-old Cump. Ewing went on to the U.S. Senate and became the first Secretary of the Interior, and as senator he got the 16-year-old an appointment to West Point. In 1850 Sherman married Ewing's daughter Ellen, his foster sister, in Washington; President Zachary Taylor and Vice President Millard Fillmore were among the guests.

Source

The Grants' parlour set in Lancaster

The Sherman family's frame house on East Main Street in Lancaster dates to 1811, and Judge Charles Sherman added a parlour and study in 1816. The brick front facing the street came in 1870, after the family had sold it. The house was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, mainly for the general's younger brother, Senator John Sherman of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Today the Victorian parlour is furnished almost entirely with pieces the general and Ellen owned in New York after he retired, including a parlour set that had belonged to Ulysses and Julia Grant.

Source

Honors and things named for them

General of the Army
Sherman House Museum, Lancaster, OH

Family

foster father: Thomas Ewing
wife: Ellen Boyle Ewing Sherman
brother: John Sherman

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Sherman House Museum (John Sherman Birthplace)
Lancaster (137 E. Main St.) Fairfield County · source
2 These Are My Jewels monument, Ohio Statehouse
Columbus (Capitol Square, northwest corner) Franklin County · source
3 War - 'It Is All Hell!' plaque, former Ohio State Fairgrounds (unknown)
Columbus Franklin County · source
Sherman grave, Calvary Cemetery
St. Louis, Missouri source

Places in Ohio to see

Sherman House Museum (museum)
137 E Main St, Lancaster, Fairfield County ZIP 43130 · Lancaster · Fairfield County · official page

Ohio places

Where William Tecumseh Sherman was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Lancaster, Fairfield County (Sherman House Museum, 137 E Main St) ZIP 43130 · Lancaster · Fairfield County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about William Tecumseh Sherman, and what the record shows.

Often said Sherman said 'War is hell.'

The record The reported words at Columbus on August 11, 1880 were that many a boy looked on war as all glory, 'but, boys, it is all hell.' A Columbus Dispatch reporter shortened it a month later to 'Gen. Sherman said war was hell,' and by June 1881 'War is hell' was in common use. source

Often said Sherman said 'If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.'

The record His 1884 statement, as Wikipedia gives it, was that he would 'not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.' The popular version rewords it. source

Often said Sherman was named only 'Tecumseh' and got 'William' at a Catholic baptism in the Ewing household at about age nine.

The record That story comes from Lloyd Lewis's 1932 biography. Recent biographers think he was more likely named William as an infant by a Presbyterian minister. His father's admiration for the Shawnee leader Tecumseh accounts for the middle name. source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

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Map of part of the Chattanooga Campaign (the Battles for Chattanooga, Nov. 24-25, 1863) of the American Civil ...
Public domain
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Title: A lenten dream Abstract: Illustration shows a mermaid labeled "Presidency" swimming in water with a cle...
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Small card with photographs of seven Union officers. Maj. Gen. G.H. Thomas, J. McPherson, O.O. Howard, H.J. Ki...
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Title: Army of the West: Schofield, Thomas, Slocum, McPherson, Sherman, Howard, and Rousseau Physical descript...
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Title: Army of the West: Schofield, Thomas, Slocum, McPherson, Sherman, Howard, and Rousseau Physical descript...
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Title: Army of the West: Schofield, Thomas, Slocum, McPherson, Sherman, Howard, and Rousseau Physical descript...
Public domain
Title: Army of the West: Schofield, Thomas, Slocum, McPherson, Sherman, Howard, and Rousseau Physical descript...
Public domain