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“Cump” “Courage ­ a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it” (William Tecumseh Sherman. BrainyQuote.com). William Tecumseh Sherman was an
American General, author, businessman, and educator. Sherman fought in many battles and was an accomplished General. Though some say he was insane, many believe he was a leading factor in the Union victory of the Civil War.
General William Tecumseh Sherman,was born on February 8, 1820 in Lancaster, Ohio
(Tebeau). Sherman was named after the great warrior Chief Tecumseh, who fought in the War of
1812. He was immediately named Cump because Tecumseh was too hard for his brothers and sisters to pronounce. Then, 10 years later he got the name William after being baptized in 1830
(Lewis 4).
Sherman’s father died at a young age and his mother could not provide for him and his ten other brothers and sisters (Whitelaw 14).This forced Sherman to move in with Senator
Thomas Ewing. Senator Ewing sent Sherman to the United States Military Academy when he was sixteen where he graduated sixth of his class in 1840 (William T).
Sherman married Ellen Ewing on May 1, 1850. They had a total of eight kids over a sixteen year period. Sherman and his wife had four sons and four daughters. Their names were
Eleanor, Philemon, Charles, Maria, Thomas, Mary, William, and Rachel. His oldest child,
Maria, was born on January 28, 1851. Next came Mary, who was born on November 17, 1852.
Then, Sherman’s first son, William, was born on June 8, 1854. William died of typhoid fever in
Memphis, Tennessee on October 3, 1863. The next child was son Thomas, who was born

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October 12, 1856. Sherman’s next child Eleanor was born on September 5, 1859. His next child, Rachel , was born July 5, 1861. After Rachel, Charles was born; he was born on May 7,
1864, but Sherman never got to meet Charles because he died as an infant in December of the same year. Sherman’s final child, Philemon, was born January 9, 1867 (Koestler 137).
After the outbreak of the Civil War, Sherman headed North in May 1861 where he was made colonel of the 13th United States Infantry and was assigned command of a brigade under
General William McDowell. Sherman, McDowell, and their men fought at the First Battle of
Bull Run in May 1861. The Union troops were defeated in this battle. After this battle Sherman was sent to Kentucky where he became extremely negative about the war. Sherman was then relieved after being deemed unfit for duty. The press caught up on his troubles and suspected him of insanity (William T. Sherman).
Sherman then returned to service in December 1861 where he served with Ulysses
S. Grant, the Commander of the Union Army, in the Army of West Tennessee. In the 1862 battle of Shiloh Sherman gets his first true test at commanding and regains his respect as commander(William Tecumseh Sherman).
In 1862, Sherman’s first attempt to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi failed. The next year on July 4, 1863 Vicksburg fell to Union forces. After this, Sherman was promoted to brigadier general. After Vicksburg in 1863, Sherman went to Chattanooga where he and his troops fought in November. This victory caused Sherman to move forward to Georgia in 1864 where he took over Atlanta. The famous March to the Sea, Sherman’s attempt to reach Savannah, began on
November 16, 1864. Sherman reached Savannah on December 10 which ended the March to the
Sea (Koestler 136).

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After the March to the Sea, Sherman and his troops went on a campaign to the Carolinas.
On February 17, Sherman entered Columbia, South Carolina and marched through North
Carolina. Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. Grant which ended the Civil War on April 12, 1865 (Koestler 136).
In 1866, Sherman was put in command of the Division of the Missouri and promoted to lieutenant general. Then in 1868, Sherman becomes the commanding