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William Tecumseh Sherman

1820 CE – 1891 CE

Retrace William Tecumseh Sherman's life across the map — 30 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Vicksburg Campaign1862 CE
   The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
2. Battle of Chickasaw Bayou1862 CE
   The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, also called the Battle of Walnut Hills, fought December 26–29, 1862, was the opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton repulsed an advance by Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman that was intended to lead to the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
3. Battle of Snyder's Bluff1863 CE
   The Battle of Snyder's Bluff was fought from April 29 to May 1, 1863, during the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Federal Major General Ulysses S. Grant had decided to move most of his army down the west bank of the Mississippi River and then cross south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, at Grand Gulf as part of his campaign against the city. To cover his planned crossing, Major General William T. Sherman took Francis P. Blair Jr.'s division of his XV Corps on a maneuver up the Yazoo River to feint at Confederate defenses at Snyder's Bluff and Drumgould's Bluff.
4. Chattanooga campaign1863 CE
   The Chattanooga campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Rosecrans and his men by occupying key high terrain around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was given command of Union forces in the West which was now consolidated under the Division of the Mississippi. Significant reinforcements also began to arrive with him in Chattanooga from Mississippi and the Eastern Theater. On October 18, Grant removed Rosecrans from command of the Army of the Cumberland and replaced him with Major General George Henry Thomas.
5. Battle of Missionary Ridge1863 CE
   The Battle of Missionary Ridge, also known as the Battle of Chattanooga, was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces in the Military Division of the Mississippi under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg, forcing it to retreat to Georgia.
6. First Battle of Collierville1863 CE
   The First Battle of Collierville, also known as the Battle at the Collierville Depot, was fought during the American Civil War between the United States (Union) and Confederate States. The fighting occurred during a raid in West Tennessee and North Mississippi by Brigadier-General James R. Chalmers, Confederate States Army, commanding the expedition.
7. Battle of Jackson1863 CE
   The Battle of Jackson was fought on May 14, 1863, outside Jackson, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. As part of a campaign to capture the strategic Mississippi River town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army began moving his force east across the river on April 30, 1863. This beachhead was protected by a victory at the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1. Moving inland, Grant intended to wheel his army north to strike the railroad between Vicksburg and the Mississippi capital of Jackson. On May 12, the Union XVII Corps of Major General James B. McPherson defeated Confederate troops commanded by Brigadier General John Gregg at the Battle of Raymond. This alerted Grant to the presence of a potentially dangerous Confederate force at Jackson, leading him to change his plans and swing towards Jackson with McPherson's corps and Major General William T. Sherman's XV Corps.
8. Battle of Resaca1864 CE
   The Battle of Resaca, from May 13 to 15, 1864, formed part of the Atlanta campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. The battle was fought in Gordon and Whitfield counties, Georgia, and is generally viewed as inconclusive.
9. Battle of New Hope Church1864 CE
   The Battle of New Hope Church was a clash between the Union Army under Major General William T. Sherman and the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.
10. Battle of Adairsville1864 CE
    The Battle of Adairsville was a part of the Atlanta campaign fought during the American Civil War on May 17, 1864, just northeast of Rome, Georgia. The brief engagement was a Confederate delaying action that allowed General Joseph E. Johnston to bait a trap for the Union army at Cassville.
11. Atlanta Campaign1864 CE
    The Atlanta campaign was a series of battles fought in the western theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May 1864, opposed by the Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston.
12. Meridian campaign1864 CE
    The Meridian campaign or Meridian expedition took place from February 14, 1864 – February 20, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured Meridian, Mississippi, inflicting heavy damage to it. The campaign is viewed by historians as a prelude to Sherman's March to the Sea in that a large swath of damage and destruction was inflicted on Central Mississippi as Sherman marched across the state and back.
13. Sherman's March to the Sea1864 CE
    Sherman's March to the Sea, officially 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 United States Army Major General William T. Sherman. It began on November 15 with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta, recently taken by Union forces under Sherman, and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. Emulating the chevauchée of medieval European warfare, 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.
14. Battle of Dallas1864 CE
    The Battle of Dallas was an engagement during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. The Union army of William Tecumseh Sherman and the Confederate army led by Joseph E. Johnston fought a series of battles between May 25 and June 3 along a front stretching northeast from Dallas toward Acworth, Georgia. At Dallas a probe launched by William B. Bate's and William Hicks Jackson's Confederate divisions accidentally turned into a full-scale assault against the defenses of John A. Logan's XV Corps. The attack was driven off with heavy Confederate losses. The previous Union defeats at New Hope Church and the Pickett's Mill are sometimes considered with Dallas as part of one battle.
15. Battle of Jonesborough1864 CE
    The Battle of Jonesborough was fought between Union Army forces led by William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate forces under William J. Hardee during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. On the first day, on orders from Army of Tennessee commander John Bell Hood, Hardee's troops attacked the Federals and were repulsed with heavy losses. That evening, Hood ordered Hardee to send half his troops back to Atlanta. On the second day, five Union corps converged on Jonesborough. For the only time during the Atlanta Campaign, a major Federal frontal assault succeeded in breaching the Confederate defenses. The attack took 900 prisoners, but the defenders were able to halt the breakthrough and improvise new defenses. Despite facing overwhelming odds, Hardee's corps escaped undetected to the south that evening.
16. Siege of Savannah1864 CE
    The siege of Savannah occurred at the conclusion of the Savannah campaign, when Union armies under the command of Major-General William T. Sherman successfully besieged the Confederate city of Savannah during the American Civil War.
17. Battle of Marietta1864 CE
    The Battle of Marietta was a series of military operations from June 9 through July 3, 1864, in Cobb County, Georgia, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The Union forces, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, encountered the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, entrenched near Marietta, Georgia.
18. Battle of Cassville1864 CE
    The Battle of Cassville was a clash between the Union Army under Major General William T. Sherman and the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. Johnston attempted to strike a fraction of Sherman's forces with two of his three infantry corps, but the plan miscarried when a Union force appeared from an unexpected direction. Later in the day, Johnston withdrew to a line of field works on a ridge to await attack. However, two of his corps commanders reported that their defenses were enfiladed by Federal artillery fire and that the position could not be held. That night, Johnston decided to withdraw his army south of the Etowah River to a new defense line.
19. Battle of Utoy Creek1864 CE
    The Battle of Utoy Creek was fought August 5–7, 1864, during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Union armies had partially encircled the city of Atlanta, Georgia, which was being held by Confederate forces under the command of General John Bell Hood. Sherman had at this point adopted a strategy of attacking the railroad lines into Atlanta, hoping to cut off his enemies' supplies. This was the third direct attack on Confederate positions during the campaign.
20. Battle of Gilgal Church1864 CE
    The Battle of Gilgal Church was an action during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. The Union army of William Tecumseh Sherman and the Confederate army led by Joseph E. Johnston fought a series of battles between June 10 and 19 along a front stretching northeast from Lost Mountain to Pine Mountain to Brushy Mountain. At Gilgal Church, attacks by the divisions of John W. Geary and Daniel Butterfield from Joseph Hooker's XX Corps were repulsed with about 700 casualties by Confederates from William J. Hardee's corps. That day in a separate action, other Union troops overran a Confederate skirmish line, capturing about 300 men. Gilgal Church was part of a series of minor actions that included the Battle of Latimer's Farm on June 17–18.
21. Battle of Noonday Creek1864 CE
    The Battle of Noonday Creek was a series of combat events in the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War that took place between June 10 and July 3 of 1864.
22. Battle of Ezra Church1864 CE
    The Battle of Ezra Church, also known as the Battle of Ezra Chapel and the Battle of the Poor House saw Union Army forces under Major General William T. Sherman fight Confederate States Army troops led by General John B. Hood in Fulton County, Georgia during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. Sherman sent Oliver Otis Howard's Union Army of the Tennessee circling around the west side of Atlanta with the purpose of cutting the Macon and Western Railroad. Hood countered the move by sending two corps commanded by Stephen D. Lee and Alexander P. Stewart to block the move. Before Howard's troops reached the railroad, the Confederates launched several attacks on them that were repulsed with heavy losses. Despite the tactical defeat, the Confederates prevented their foes from blocking the railroad.
23. Battle of Atlanta1864 CE
    The Battle of Atlanta took place during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply hub of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed and defeated Confederate forces defending the city under John B. Hood. Union Major General James B. McPherson was killed during the battle, the second-highest-ranking Union officer killed in action during the war. Despite the implication of finality in its name, the battle occurred midway through the Atlanta campaign, and the city did not fall until September 2, 1864, after a Union siege and various attempts to seize railroads and supply lines leading to Atlanta. After taking the city, Sherman's troops headed south-southeastward toward Milledgeville, the state capital, and on to Savannah with the March to the Sea.
24. Battle of Pickett's Mill1864 CE
    The Battle of Pickett's Mill was fought in Paulding County, Georgia, between Union forces under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate forces led by General Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta campaign in the American Civil War. Sherman sent Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood's division, supported by other formations, to turn Johnston's right flank, but the Federals were repulsed with heavy casualties when they ran into tenacious Confederate opposition. Author Ambrose Bierce, an eyewitness, later wrote an account of the battle titled The Crime at Pickett's Mill.
25. Battle of Kennesaw Mountain1864 CE
    The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on June 27, 1864, during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. The most significant frontal assault launched by Union Major General William T. Sherman against the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Joseph E. Johnston, it produced a tactical defeat for the Union forces but failed to deliver the result that the Confederacy desperately needed: a halt to Sherman's advance on Atlanta, Georgia.
26. Battle of Averasborough1865 CE
    The Battle of Averasborough fought March 16, 1865, in Harnett and Cumberland counties, North Carolina, as part of the Carolinas campaign of the American Civil War, was a prelude to the climactic Battle of Bentonville, which began three days later.
27. Carolinas Campaign1865 CE
    The Carolinas campaign, also known as the Campaign of the Carolinas, was the final campaign conducted by the Union Army against the Confederate Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. On January 1 Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, with the intention of linking up with Union forces in Virginia. The campaign culminated in the defeat of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at the Battle of Bentonville, and its unconditional surrender to Union forces on April 26, 1865. Coming just two weeks after the defeat of Robert E. Lee's army at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, it signaled that the war was effectively over.
28. Battle of Bentonville1865 CE
    The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Johnston County, North Carolina, near the village of Bentonville, as part of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the western field armies of William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston.
29. Comanche Campaign1867 CE
    The Comanche campaign is a general term for military operations by the United States government against the Comanche tribe in the newly settled west. Between 1867 and 1875, military units fought against the Comanche people in a series of expeditions and campaigns until the Comanche surrendered and relocated to a reservation.
30. Jackson Expedition1900 CE
    The Jackson expedition, preceding and related to the siege of Jackson, immediately followed the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863, to Union Army Major General Ulysses S. Grant commanding the Union Army of the Tennessee. The Confederate Army of Mississippi at Vicksburg, under the command of Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, had been isolated in the Vicksburg defenses by Grant's forces since May 18, 1863. The Confederates were under constant artillery bombardment, had to fight off a series of Union Army attacks and could not receive supplies of food and ammunition during the siege.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].