Citation Needed - Sherman's March to the Sea

Episode Date: December 21, 2022

Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major general of the Union Army. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta on November 15 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. His forces followed a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy and transportation networks. The operation debilitated the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender. Sherman's decision to operate deep within enemy territory without supply lines was unusual for its time, and the campaign is regarded by some historians as an early example of modern warfare or total war. Our theme song was written and performed by Anna Bosnick. If you’d like to support the show on a per episode basis, you can find our Patreon page here.  Be sure to check our website for more details.

Eli, Eli, where are you driving us? We're almost there. Why do we keep letting him blindfold us? Because if we don't, he will tint the inside of the windshield again. Right, yeah. How's Mrs. Witherson recovering, by the way? Not well.

A hip injury at her age. And we're here. A parking lot? Ah, kind of. Gentlemen, welcome to the south. What's that smell? Yeah, that is pretty much everywhere here. Eli, why did you bring us to the south?

Because silly, I wanted everyone to understand your essay. You know, about Sherman, it's March to the sea. Sherman, Sherman, Sherman, what's March to see? I knew that if we didn't get a look at the real desolation, the gravity wouldn't really hit us. So here we are. Do we? Doesn't Noah already live in the South? No, not in the podcast diverse. Here I actually live in Pennsylvania with Eli and Heath.

Wait, what the fuck is the podcast the verse? No, don't, don't ask. He's in like a psychotic fugue state. Don't worry about it. Well, look, Eli, I really appreciate it, but I think we're all going to understand the stakes and consequences based on the essay. We don't need to be in a giant parking lot or whatever. Where are we anyway?

Oh, we're at the stadium for the jacks. I figured this would really show the squalor the best. I mean, he's not wrong. Okay, is that guy fucking a four-local can? I mean, he's doing something to it. Hello and welcome to Citation Needed, the podcast where we choose a subject to read a single article about it on a Wikipedia and pretend we're experts because this is the internet and that's how it works now. I know I'm going to be leading the charge this week, but like so many things in my life, I can't

do it without some men at arms. First up, two men who put the art in artillery, Tom and Cecil. Know what you can accuse me of a lot, a lot, but putting art into something is not one of them. Yeah, that's right. It's been not one of them. I heard your roast. I've heard your roast, sir. I put the art into a lot of things. Shark, for instance, I put the art. See, there was a lot of impressive shit. That one, you know, that takes the maze.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, I also got Pollock over here. Get the fuck out of here. That's a remarkably indistinguishable, really, from a Pollock scientifically speak. And also joining us tonight, two men who put the unit in munitions, he and Eli. Nice. Yeah.

Also smut and nuns with unit and in and out like the bird. Okay. I feel like a more of a nut and Tom's guy, but don't let me fuck off the word. I got it. I think that we're doing a different next level. Oh, and quick before we sound the bugle, I want to take a minute to thank the patrons that help make the show go patrons. If it wasn't for you, Cecil would have to tell stories of mass death to passing strangers

at like the boss station or something. That could get ugly quick. So thanks. And if you're not already a patron beer, sure to stick around to the end of the show to learn how to join their ranks. So with that out of the way, tell us Eli, what person plays thin concept phenomenon or event we'll be talking about today.

Edith Murman's March to the Sea. Yeah. More or less. All right, so that is one of the two aspects of the Civil War they actually go into detail about in Southern school. So I think this one. So Cecilia, you're fully provisioned with knowledge. Here, are you ready to assault us with your wisdom? I am ready to rye your brain with liberal lies, Noah, liberal lies.

All right. So why did you pick this topic? All right. So today, I'm going to talk about one offensive maneuver in the civil war that lives on as one of the most destructive and hated acts in that four year conflict. I mean, at least, it's hated by the South and as to why, well, pin in that for later. That might guess was an ass, something to do with them dying. Yeah, them dying as part of it, but not all of it. That was the best. Yeah.

Remember that? You were sick. You were sick. You were best. Yeah. Remember that? USA. USA. You know, honestly, he'd have all people. I thought you would join me on that one. I was, I thought you were doing CSA for a second.

I was like, I'm letting this go. I'm going to let you lie. I do his Confederate States of America chant. I told myself I wouldn't cry during this week's adhesive. USA. There you go. Sherman's March to the Sea was an absolute total war move and literally was the key moment where he gave momentum to keep Lincoln in office and to eventually win the war. In the end, this scorched earth, 50 mile wide swathed destruction from Atlanta to Savannah

would cripple supply lines for the Confederacy and result in damages that would reach $874 million in today's money. Yeah, spoiler alert. It's the only time the Civil War got slightly worry for the South. So they've dedicated the intervening 200 plus years to yelling no fair and rolling around on the ground, hoping we get a yellow card about it. So. Cecil, sorry, but not to nitpick already, but how exactly would one even notice a swath of destruction in Georgia? I would write Newk in the whole fucking state wouldn't be worth 874 million. That's a similar like some inflated real estate numbers. I don't know that I. That's why they need to put it in the textbooks. Tom over and over and over. I swear it didn't look like this before you got here.

In shirts and justers just like no, man, I'm sorry, no, there's no way. All right, to get to the actual march, we need to cover a few things. The Civil War in the United States, if you don't know, was about slavery. That is not one of the aspects they teach you about in schools in the South. Yeah. That's true. That's not an exact same thing down there. But it's about slavery.

And if you want to hear the story about that, you can listen to our September 6th episode from 2017 about it. But needless to say, it was not about states rights. Unless you're talking about the right of people in that state to own other humans as enslaved labor, then yes, it was about states rights. That's not to say that the people on the other side were 100% abolitionists. And in fact, the main character in all this is not at all an abolitionist. He was a white supremacist. His name was William to Cumpse Sherman and to his family and friends, he was called Cump.

We're not kidding. Cump. What? Cump. How do you live on that? William to Cumpse, so sure. What's the best part of that name? Yum.

I'm sure we call him yum. No, that's dumb. That's dumb. Come nailed it. Okay. To be fair, if my family gave me the name Cump, I'd probably burn and murder 50 miles worth of So William to Cump's to Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1820. His father died when he was nine years old and left Sherman's mom with 11 kids and no inheritance.

11 budget. Did he die of exhaustion? I know. I agree. I'm at least right. Yeah. So I guess she started giving away kids as white elephant gifts for a while and William wound up with a family friend that was also a former

Senator and the Secretary of the Treasury. A lot of other kids that got T-shirt gunned off to new homes or that stayed with their mom also did pretty well out of the 11 kids with competing lists. Their future occupations as federal judge, founders of the Republican Party, senators, bankers, ambassadors and major generals in the Union Army. Okay. Well, the lesson I'm taking away here is that if I want my kids to be successful, I should start giving them away.

All right. Make a note. Absolutely. Make a note. Yeah. We just stay a t-shirt gun. Yeah. And you just have to be friends with the Secretary of Treasury.

Just don't put conditions in front of this. See, so I had a plan. We could have had a lot more of time. You know, you and I, we could have had a lot more time. And now, you know, start a whole nother show. Sherman went to West Point at 16. And while he appears to have been remarkably bright,

he wasn't very good at the rigid, disciplined part of the army and wasn't as neat or as well behaved as he needed to be to excel there. He graduated and became a second lieutenant in the army and fought in the second seminal war in Florida and was assigned desk duty in California in the Mexican American war. Interesting, fun fact At this point in his life, quote, Sherman unwittingly helped launch the California gold rush by drafting the official documents in which governor Mason confirmed that gold had been discovered in the region. And quote, okay, a guy named Cump being the first crypto, though, not surprising at all. All tracks registering. To mind now, he flound clear. Got it. Come coin to the moon.

In 1850, Cump married his childhood sweetheart. It seems cum foster sister. Man, this is a really is about the sound. I said everybody is really a little high. Oh, damn it. She was four years younger than he was and they would have eight kids. He resigned from the military and tried his hand at business, but he was a failure. He failed at banking. Protocryptobroponophyte's intensify.

He's so hard to fail at banking. He's holding it and making more. Eventually he got a job as an office manager and a law firm run by his brothers. And he got a license to practice law, even though he never actually studied it. And he failed at that. He became a superintendent of a military academy in Louisiana. That school would eventually become Louisiana State University. Okay, you know what?

This is bullshit. When the rest of us fail, our next job isn't like manager of the law firm or lawyer without a license or superintendant of the military academy, okay? podcaster. That's the right Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the cup cast Sherman was pissed when he found out about the South's secession. He is quoted as saying, quote, you people of the South don't know what you're doing. This country will be drenched in blood and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly madness, a crime against civilization.

You people speak so lightly of war, You don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing. End quote. Now to be clear, he was never all that mad about people owning people. He was mad that South Carolina quit our club. Right. Yeah. Okay. He sucks, but I still like the idea of the North burning the South to the ground and be like, this hurts us more than it hurts. That's all I mean, if you count supporting them with welfare and our taxes while letting them drag our culture back hundreds of years to the next to history, then yeah, it really did. I really did.

Really did. All right. overturned rovers as well. Yeah. So sad. He resides his position in Louisiana and eventually becomes an officer in the Union Army. In 1861, he was assigned to Kentucky and had command there.

While he was there, he had a nervous breakdown and is sent home to Ohio to rest. He's visited and convinced the come back into service by general grant. He later said, quote, grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk once and now we stand by each other. They stood by each other so much that they would 100% find a bunch of dead bodies by railroad tracks in the next few years. I should explain to our younger listeners, there was once a kids movie about poking a dead body with a stick. And that's why everyone on this podcast is the way we are.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Did it. The Civil War from 1861 to 1864 is anyone's game. There's lots of punches thrown by each side and a lot of back and forth in the battles. The war was pretty much an astaleate in the spring of 1864. At this point, Lincoln is up for reelection and a lot of people in the north want to

create a peace treaty with the South. In fact, Lincoln's political opponent in the presidential race, General George B. McClellan, ran with that intent, but there's a chance to cripple the Southern forces with an assault on Atlanta. Okay, but you also just know you know that there is that one guy in the room who would not stop calling it hotlanta. And I know war is a tragedy and blah, blah, blah, but I am absolutely glad that guy's dead.

I said hotlanta like a hundred times when we would. It land at the time was the railroad hub of the Confederacy. It had four major train lines that fed the city. And there was also a large manufacturing base there too. Sherman was given the task to take Atlanta and cut off those supplies. He's facing off against 70,000 Confederate soldiers and his force outnumbers them by about 40,000 that isn't as lopsided as it looks as holding on to and defending land as a little easier and it requires less men. Sherman had a bit of an advantage as he was stationed in Georgia earlier in his military career and he did know the land.

Don't worry guys, I know we're all the good boiled peanuts. I want to take this one. Trust me. His plan was pretty straightforward. Quote, my aim then was to whip the rebels to humble their pride, to follow them to their innermost recesses and to make them fear and dread us. And quote, okay, that's the classic disappointed father move right there. I like that. Just Tom roasting the Confederacy over the

last few minutes. In order to take Atlanta, he has to outflank the Confederates who have surrounded the city with 12 miles of fortifications. Most of this was built with slave labor. So he decides to soften up the city by shell in it with artillery for five weeks. The citizens that are left in Atlanta because a lot of them left town before even arrived are forced to live in sellers or have their enslaved workers dig them bomb shelters in their plantation yards. The absolute human. Yeah. Oh my God. Well, they can't use slave labor anymore. So these days they, they keep people out with 12 miles of stand still fucking traffic. I've been a little one time. Oh, literally. I think the whole time I just spent in

traffic. I didn't do anything else. You're still there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You got it. Hey, if you haven't been to Atlanta, take a second to picture yourself in traffic. You're still there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, if you haven't been to Atlanta, take a second to picture yourself in traffic. You did it. Yeah. And then there are more. The roads are like 24 lanes across. There's fucking the biggest roads I've ever been on my life. And it's stopped. How is that possible? The only thing to do in Atlanta is leave. Just why everyone is doing it all the time. Somehow the airport is even worse than the row. It's yeah. Classic hotlana. Classic. In any case, the bombing doesn't win the battle forum. They actually have to disengage from the fighting to head to the south and cut

off the rail line and leave the city untethered to its supply lines. When this happens, the military that stationed Atlanta retreat to the north. Okay, boys, to be free of this tyranny, we'll need to go north. No, I hear it now. I hear that. Yeah. Yeah. The union recaptures Atlanta on September 2nd, 1864, and word travels to the North. Lincoln

is basically reelected on this news with the recapture comes the release from slavery. This was upsetting to some of the southerners. Here's a quote, quote, one unpleasant feature of the present circumstances is the impotent as the, the Negroes put on and they're in difference to the wants of their former masters. Of course, they are all free and the Yankee soldiers don't fail to assure them of that fact. So our Negro property has all vanished into the air. End quote.

There's that southern hospitality and charm on display. Right there. right there. Yeah. Now when the Confederate army heads to the north, they try to call off the supply lines for the union and a counterman Hoover. Sherman is able to stop them from doing it, but he realizes how dangerous it is just sitting in Atlanta. So he has an idea how to stop the war.

He would have to make the war unalatable to the Southerners. All right, well, if there's one thing I can say for the people who live among fist-sized mosquitoes and sky syrup levels of humidity nine months of years, it's that they can pal it out the quite a bit. So, quick before this thing gets ugly, we're going to think a quick break for some apropos of nothing. Hi, yep. How goes the work on that bomb shelter I'm having you build me? Oh, it's going really good. Come and take a look.

Now, now this door here. That is the strongest gene material I could find. Did you say gene material? Yes, sir. Yep, I think about it. Have you ever seen a broken piece of gene? Well, no, I suppose not. Exactly. Super strong stuff. And on? Well, no, I suppose not.

Exactly, super strong stuff. And on the inside, we have all these flags. Oh, yeah. Now, are these made of metal? Yep, yep, didn't want anything to happen to your flags. So I made them out of razor, sharp steel. And then I just hung them from the ceiling all over the place. OK, all right.

And these barrels, they are full of food, I suppose then. Well, even better, a gun powder. Gun powder. Yeah. Yeah. So we can celebrate defeat in the North when it's all over. You do want fireworks, right? All right.

Right. Fireworks. Look, slave steve, understand if this goes badly, it could be terrible. The south would be ravaged and all the slaves would be set free with nobody to own them or give jobs like this. I, I am aware that those are the stakes. Yes, sir. Well, I'll rise long as we're on the same page, son. And with a quick year welcome to Cecil for ignoring Eli's and treaties to do the voice during that schedule we're back. A little authenticity, So I asked.

So see, so when we last, when we last left off, Sherman was about to fuck Atlanta harder than the Brett Farve trade. So tell us about that. Got one goddamn breath. So tell us about that. Fucking. Oh, yeah. Okay.

Here we go. So Sherman, knowing that his supply lines to the North are in danger, decides to head to the South and march to the sea. This has two objectives. First, it lets him resupply from a port, and secondly, he can basically fuck shit up so bad the south will quit. His goal was to quote, make Georgia howl. And quote, he said, quote, we are not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people. We must make old and young rich and poor feel the hard hand of war. We cannot change the hearts and minds of those people in the South, but we can make war so terrible and make them so sick of war that generations will pass away before they

would again appeal to it. And quote, nice. Yeah. And it worked for like 156 years. before they would again appeal to it." And quote, nice. Yeah. And it worked for like 156 years. Yeah, no, so that was pretty solid. Good run well. I mean, as this is, it goes on.

It becomes more and more obvious what needs doing. But I'm going to save Cecil the Beeps. They start in the city of Atlanta. The first thing they do is evict all the citizens. They send their wounded and some of the civilians north on the train do is evict all the citizens. They send their wounded and some of the civilians north on the train line and then tear up the railroad. They rip up 40 miles to track north of Atlanta. Then they go to work smashing and knocking down every public building.

It's great. One of the last ones to go was the concert hall. The engineers tasked with the destruction of the buildings, interrupted the destruction of the buildings interrupted the band of the 33rd Massachusetts regiment as they were performing there and shoot them out to finish their watch. Sherman swings in naked. Hey, do you guys know record ball? I should have asked before I started doing this. Do you know, record ball? The band then marches over. No, record is white. The band marches over to Sherman's headquarters and serenaded him for the rest of the evening.

I don't want to get all toxic masculinity on us here, but I cannot help but wonder. Like if you're the average soldier who's in constant danger of being blown up by cannon fire or gut shot with a musket, how do you feel about the guy whose job it is to play the war cello or whatever? They fucking love them. They fucking love them. There's letters written about how beautiful it was that they were playing, you know, these songs, like the couple of these songs that, and they like literally mentioned the songs and how move they were. They fucking love those people. I don't know, man. I don't know, man.

I don't know, man. They fucking loved them. Yeah, but still get the fuck out of the way. We're doing it. You gotta worry about them half of the high school class. Let me know if you need a really moving flip to die to in the mud with your own leg in your mouth. in the mud with your own leg in your mouth. On the morning of November 16th, 1864, they marched out of Atlanta, leaving it a burning wreck and over 40% of the city was destroyed. The band finishes a movement, but not the song. One guy starts destroying too early. It's super embarrassing. song one guy starts destroying too early. It's super embarrassing. So so now 40% of it was a burning rack 150 years ago, but a lot has changed since then they have that number up to at least 70 by now. Now the Union Army is isolated from their supply line and they have to live off the land, which means taking everything they can from the South and either using

it or destroying it. Sherman uses a census map of Georgia to plot his course to the sea. He basically looks for the most affluent areas between Savannah and Atlanta and heads there to take all their shit. Quote, nice. We have devoured the land and our animals eat up the wheat and cornfields close. All the people retire before us and desolation is behind to realize what war is. One should follow our tracks and quote. Okay. A big drink like a, a wandering minstrel from medieval times being like, dude, yeah,

love the intensity. That's a cool speech. You got to rhyme some stuff. You got to rhyme some stuff. You're getting this whole thing reads as if Cormac McCarthy were a civil war general. As they move, they also destroyed book guy. That's in the podcast. Exactly. It is. I say new car guy. And because I could go to the boss. As they moved, they also destroyed the rail lines. They made what are called Sherman's neck ties. They would remove the iron rails from the tracks. And then they make huge bonfires with the center of the rail right in the hottest part

of the fire. Then when they were hot enough, the soldiers would pick up the rails and hold them at the ends and then use a tree to bend them in a loop. I mean, I don't think there was like a huge danger of people rebuilding railroads that quickly in your destructive wake, Sherman, but go off, I guess. They want to do it. They want to. Seems like doing a full loop is showing off or maybe it was the thing where like Larry kept

begging him to let him do animal shapes or whatever. And this was the compromise. So like, okay, you could do a fucking loop, Larry. Jesus, we have to get going. I love that the soldiers would pick up these burning hot rails and just picturing some guy like you guys made fun of me for bringing oven mitts to war, but who's laughing now? One guy with big ice tongs just holding it. He's walking. During the march, they did run into resistance, but it was minimal. Sherman had split his troops sending about half of them north to chase the Confederate army

that left Atlanta and he kept about 62,000 for his forces to the south. They only lost about 1300 soldiers in the whole march. They made their way south in two large divisions, destroying any infrastructure and supplies that they came across. A week after the campaign started, they arrived in the capital of Georgia, Millageville. Is it Millageville? Is that how it's pronounced? I guess I didn't want to go with Millagevilleage, that's how he's stupid. It's a Millageville compil. He should have called it compville. All right. Any resistance to the union had fled already. So the union soldiers went to the state house there and they held a mock legislative session and voted Georgia back into the news.

It's great. And repeal the acts of the Confederacy. Why does everybody think it's magical in that building? You can just do what you, it doesn't have to be. Oh, yeah. I was picturing like a man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man,

man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man session. They made a fun of it the whole time. They also burned the penitentiary and then they poured molasses and sorghum into the pipe organ at the Piscopal structure. And then then they took with them loads of confederate currency. Some of them burned it to make coffee and others kept it as a joke hoping to spend it farther south. Okay. That must have been fun. Just marching into Florida, making it rain with a strip club gun, a better, yeah, we just burned all of Georgia literally to the ground. Are you guys

still feeling good about your fucking troop box? I'm sorry, I'm just stuck on the image that like years after all of this, a pastor finally sits down and his reclaimed throne in the house of God to play a mournful, amazing grace and just gets a face full of molasses and so on. Okay. You got, Mr. Man. You got me.

The March did stop and meet resistance in Savannah. The Confederate Army had flooded part of the outskirts of the city and they set up battlements to defend against the Union. Sherman and his troops were able to link up with the Navy at the coast and resupply so the troops holding Savannah fled. And the Confederacy didn't flee right away, but did flee is the noteworthy moment of brave resistance. That tracks that tracks. On December 21st 1864, 158 years ago today, he was able to walk into Savannah and the city surrendered to him.

When he captured the city, he sent a telegram to President Lincoln, quote, I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and also about 25,000 bales of cotton. And quote, and Lincoln was like, Oh, Savannah, George, no, I love it. I love it. Did you keep the receipt? Obviously. No, I love it. I love it. Did you keep through a seat? Oh, just on the stairs. Yeah, obviously.

In case it's the wrong size, I would just get a different. I'm going to swallow one of these. I'm definitely got another cement. This is great. All in all, Sherman had destroyed 300 miles of railroad and telegraph lines. He had quote, seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle confiscated 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of fodder and destroyed uncounted cotton jins and mills. And quote, he fucked the area up so bad down there that quote, elements of the decline in agriculture

persisted through 1920 and quote, and 2020. Have you been to Savannah? It's like an outback state cows is parking lot. Oh, okay. Oh, I'm not going to defend much in Georgia, but Savannah's like, like one of the two nice things that we have. I'm sorry. I don't mean, I hate to know Andrew Jokey, but the deal was they decriminalized marijuana possession. I defend them from scurrilous attacks by Yankee, so I kind of have to step up there. That is very, I'll take it. What's the other thing besides? I was really hoping you weren't going to call me on that man. Oh, listen to Lucenta. Okay. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good behind. And that didn't work by the way. And when the refugees were stuck on the other side of the river, they were attacked by the Confederates. Oh, Jesus. I don't know why they didn't just bring about you. If you leave the Fox and you take the refugees across the river. Anyway,

in any case, one of the ideas that came about as a way to ease the refugee problem was special field order 15, which was basically giving them land to each of the affected. This is the origin of the 40 acres and a mule promise, one that would be revoked a few years later because we suck. This was also really one of the last nails in the coffin for the south. While the Confederacy would putter around for several months and there would be a few major battles, they would surrender at Appomattox in early April in the next year. This was a major loss that ruined the Confederate army and damaged the Southern psyche. Sherman would spend that time chasing a general and his troops around the Carolinas and eventually getting them to surrender. Like the end of a one-sided dodgeball.

Sherman became a five-star general after the war and he would serve as the commanding general for the US Army under President Grant. He would actually go back and visit Atlanta after the war and the people down there didn't hate him. In fact, they actually saw him as someone doing whatever they needed to do based on a bad situation and they welcomed him back down. Where does all the hate for Sherman come from? Well, it comes from the daughters of the Confederacy, the group that Tom talked about in the previous episode. They basically painted Sherman as an evil demon and convinced the people in the South to hate

him based on their bullshit propaganda. Now, it took me wrong. Sherman seems like a fuck knuckle, but the people in the South to this day hate this man with a white hot passion. Heavy emphasis there on white. There's still some debate about him to this day. Some people think he's a monster and others see what he did as necessary. I mean, he even thought what he was doing kind of sucked, but he thought it needed to be

done. He would have been happy to figure this out another way. But as he said, quote, war is the remedy our enemies have chosen. Other simple remedies were within their choice. You know it. They know it, but they wanted war and I say, let us give them all they want, not a word of argument, not a sign to let up no cave in till we are whipped or they are. And quote, and if you had to summarize

what you've learned in one sentence, what would that sentence be, Cecil? Shitty people can do good things for bad reasons. Yeah. Good lesson to take away. And are you ready for the quiz? All right. Let's do this. Let's do it. All right. Cecil, which of the following is the best name? You can't take this quiz anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line. By the way, you're not allowed to take this quiz. Go ahead. All right, Cecil, which of the following is the best name for the currency of the American South. Oh, no.

Hey, so seed months. See, he's so good. I'm Krugerrand. See, bigot coin. D Robert E. Lyra. Four, one KKK. Denture. Oh, they're all so good.

They're all so good. They're all so good. Um, yeah, I'm going to have to go with, uh, F Dentercat, but let's just my favorite. That's very attractive. It turns out it was actually 401 KKK. Oh, and that wasn't always Dentercat. You have to. Yes.

All right, Cecil. Uh, General Sherman sure does get a lot of hell for beating the crap out of the South. But alternatively, he could have a try to be more congenial about the whole thing and wage a civil war. B, now fuck it. They had a coming. B, holy shit. They had a common fuck them.

Jesus. All right, fuck them. Jesus. All right, Cecil, what historical event has proven that Sherman's brutal march to the sea was unnecessary barbarism? Is it A, the debate that changed everyone's mind of Dresda? B, the hearts and minds, winning of Normandy. I see what you're doing here. C, the working it out through compromise of Hiroshima. Okay, or D. Hurricane Katrina.

Oh, my gosh. I stowed. Um, um, I win. I can't see my face. No, he was like, he was like, he was so damn it. No, I win. I win. Yeah. Good. Tom's doing I win. I win. Yeah.

Tom's doing the essay. I like Tom next week. I eat more picked Tom. All right, well, for Tom, he, the Eli and Cecil, I'm no thank you for hanging out with us today with back next week and by then, Tom will be an expert on something else. If you can't wait that long, no worries.

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