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9 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 459 (1995)
General William T. Sherman: Would the Georgia Campaigns of the First Commander of the Modern Era Comply with Current Law of War Standards?

handle is hein.journals/emint9 and id is 471 raw text is: GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN: WOULD THE GEORGIA CAMPAIGNS OF THE FIRST COMMANDER OF THE MODERN ERA COMPLY WITH CURRENT LAW OF WAR STANDARDS? by Thomas G. Robisch I. INTRODUCTION From March 18, 1864, until the close of the Civil War, Major General William T. Sherman was the commander of the Federal Division of the Mississippi.' The campaigns he designed and conducted led to Sherman's reputation as one of the most suc- cessful military leaders of the war.2 Sherman's high standing seems anomalous, however, if judged exclusively by his battle- field exploits, because although he usually succeeded in achiev- ing the objectives of his campaigns, he rarely won individual battles clearly and decisively.3 His great military prestige is really based upon his visionary strategic and operational con- cepts and his army's striking execution of those ideas. In this sense, Sherman is regarded as the first commander of the mod- ern era.4 * Major, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army Reserve; employed with the General Counsel, Dept. of the Navy. M.P-A., Indiana University (1994); J.D., University of Cincinnati (1978); B., Xavier University (1975). The author served as an Operation- al/International Law Officer in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield and Opera- tion Desert Storm. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, MEMOIRS OF GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN 5 (n.p., D. Appleton & Co. 1875). During the Civil War, the United States War Department divided the country into various zones termed departments and divisions. MARK MAYO BOATNER Ill, THE CIVIL WAR DICTIONARY 610-11 (1959). Both were structured to include specific geographic areas, and a division was a higher-level command which included several departments. Id. In 1864, the Military Division of the Mississippi included the Departments of the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Arkansas. SHERMAN, supra, at 5. This area included most of the southern portion of the Confederacy. 2 JOHN MARSzALEK, SHERMAN: A SOLDIER'S PASSION FOR ORDER 315 (1994). 3 LLOYD LEWIS, SHERMAN: FIGHTING PROPHET 515 (1932). MARSZALEK, supra note 2 at 315; LEWIS, supra note 3 at 515; Cf CHARLES ROYSTER, THE DESTRUCTIVE WAR, WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, STONEWALL JACKSON, AND THE AMERICANS 355-59 (1991).

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