"Sherman’s March to the Sea" is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign of Union commander Major General William Tecumseh Sherman that took place from November 15, 1864, to December 21, 1864. After leaving the destroyed city of Atlanta, Sherman led his troops on a destructive campaign which ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia. After the capture of Savannah, the Union army continued its destructive path into the Carolinas in 1865.

Sherman's march, to a large extent, is remembered for the sheer destruction he inflicted on the South. This type of warfare is called a scorched earth campaign. Sherman's army destroyed industrial buildings, wiped out military targets, tore up railroad tracks, burned fields, and set homes ablaze. This broke the South's will and destroyed the Confederate’s capacity to wage war. Strategically, Southern commander Robert E. Lee, who was in a stalemate with Northern commander Ulysses Grant, had to split his attention between the two Union generals, which hastened the ending of the war.

But was the sheer amount of violence vindictive? Was it really necessary? Did it help or hinder the rebuilding of the South that was to come?