What do you think?
Rate this book
Marching With Sherman: Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers November
“Tomorrow morning we set out on a campaign which will be remembered. God grant it aid to bring to a speedy end this terrible and lamentable war!” So wrote Major Henry Hitchcock on the eve of General William Sherman’s epic march across Georgia to the sea. Hitchcock, a new member of Sherman’s staff, was right about the fame, or infamy, that would attach to the campaign. His diaries and letters describe at first hand the destructive swath Sherman’s army cut through Georgia and the Carolinas. The major, religious and trained in the law, watches the burning and pillage with as much sorrow as satisfaction. If his sympathy for the Southern people is strong, so is his devotion to the Union and its unstoppable general.
344 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 1995
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 21, 2024
4.5 stars
The only thing I didn't really enjoy about this was all of the abbreviations Hitchcock used. Sometimes it was hard for me to keep things straight. However, he was writing the diaries and letters for his wife, and likely never in his wildest imagination to expect them to be published.
Sherman is such a controversial person in history that it was interesting for me to see him through Hitchcock's eyes. I found the ending to be really interesting. Looking back, we basically treat Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House as the ending of the war. While Hitchcock does talk about the surrender, he certainly didn't treat it in that light. Hindsight is 20/20 and we know a lot of things he didn't. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how long it took him to address Lincoln's assassination. I expected that to be such a big deal to him that it would be at the front of a letter as soon as he found out. It was actually at the back of one, several days later. When he talked about it, he did say "the horrible assassination of Mr. Lincoln", but I had just expected a little more, and sooner.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this.
The only thing I didn't really enjoy about this was all of the abbreviations Hitchcock used. Sometimes it was hard for me to keep things straight. However, he was writing the diaries and letters for his wife, and likely never in his wildest imagination to expect them to be published.
Sherman is such a controversial person in history that it was interesting for me to see him through Hitchcock's eyes. I found the ending to be really interesting. Looking back, we basically treat Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House as the ending of the war. While Hitchcock does talk about the surrender, he certainly didn't treat it in that light. Hindsight is 20/20 and we know a lot of things he didn't. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how long it took him to address Lincoln's assassination. I expected that to be such a big deal to him that it would be at the front of a letter as soon as he found out. It was actually at the back of one, several days later. When he talked about it, he did say "the horrible assassination of Mr. Lincoln", but I had just expected a little more, and sooner.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review