William Sherman was on of the greatest Union commanders in the Civil War. He was a graduate from West Point in 1840. Sherman's first action in the Civil War happened when he led a brigade at the First Bull Run in July of 1861. After that he was given command of the Union forces assigned to hold Kentucky in the Union. When he was there in late 1861 he suffered form a mild nervous breakdown from all the pressure he was getting from Washington and the press. After he recovered form the nervous breakdown he was assigned to Ulysses Grant's command and got his own units to lead at Shiloh in 1862, Vicksburg in 1863, and Chattanooga in 1863. When Ulysses Grant left to take command of the Federal Forces, Sherman took control of the operations in the west. By September of 1864 he took control of Atlanta in one of the Civil War's most important battles. After Atlanta Sherman went on to his famous March to the Sea. He led 62,000 men through Georgia causing a mass of destruction. After that in February of 1865 Sherman headed north through the Carolinas. By April of 1865 he forced the surrender of the last major Confederate forces. The last battle was fought at Bentonville, N.C. on March 19-21. When General Lee surrendered to Grant in Virginia on April 9th, Johnston's position was going down the drain. Sherman accepted his surrender near Durham, N.C., on April 26th. Latter though Sherman would be criticized for how generous he was with the terms of the surrender. After the war Sherman commanded the Mississippi form 1865 to 1869. He would then be promoted to lieutenant general in 1866 and to full general in 1869. After Grant was elected president in 1869 Sherman became general chief of the army. People would latter want to make Sherman was a president candidate but he would never accept. ...
