Rising in Flames: Sherman’s March and the Fight for a New Nation by Mr. J.D. Dickey
In late 1864, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman brought his brand of “hard war” to the Georgia countryside between Atlanta and Savannah. The campaign decimated the agricultural and economic heart of the Confederacy and relied on Sherman’s leadership. Known as “Uncle Billy” to his Soldiers, Sherman was a man of contradictions facing the contest of internal Army politics, fighting on the enemy’s soil, and coming to terms with the total war he brought to the people of the South. On Thursday, May 2, 2019, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, PA hosted author J.D. Dickey to speak about his latest book, Rising in Flames: Sherman’s March and the Fight for a New Nation. Dickey talked about the pressures and challenges Sherman faced, his experiences in the Western Theater, and ultimately how the Atlanta and Savannah Campaigns helped to secure his infamous reputation well into the current century.
In this lecture, J.D. Dickey looks at how Sherman's skillful and often brilliant campaigns have been viewed by over 150 years of historiography and then delve deeper into his armies' monumental effect on the politics and society of America. Sherman emancipated slaves, demonstrated the war-fighting skills of new immigrants, and marshaled the efforts of women in thousands of Soldiers' aid societies. As Sherman himself was well aware, the social impact of his campaigns could not be divorced from his military strategy, and more than perhaps any Union general of the Civil War, he faced the scrutiny of an often hostile press corps and opposing politicians when he failed to deliver on either aspect. This lecture discusses the many competitive pressures Sherman faced and how he managed to craft a winning strategy that owed much to his insight, daring, and perseverance.
Lecture Date: May 2, 2019
8 май 2019
