William T. Sherman Quotes
War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.
I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine.
I will make Georgia howl.
If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.
I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.
War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen.
I make up my opinions from facts and reasoning, and not to suit any body…
My aim then was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us.
I want to express my gratitude to you and your men for your labors in re-establishing the broken lines of communication and supply.
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded, who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation.
I confess without shame that I am sick and tired of fighting – its glory is all moonshine; even success the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies…
Avenge you dead! fear not that ye shall see your soldiers fail…
The legitimate object of war is a more perfect peace.
We today have touched only the fringe of what we shall know tomorrow.
The genius of you Yankee constitution is that amongst you, the humblest Citizen, the poorest is the equal of the highest noble…
We are not only fighting armies but a hostile people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.
I remember Atlanta in the days before the war…
There is a class of people – men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order.
Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books…
…The trade for the time being, has left the regular channels and is carried on in by-paths and secret places. Specie is the medium of exchange…
War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is the sooner it will be over.
The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one.
The forests, the mountains, the rivers, marked the hand of Him who created all…
We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children…
I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, when there is to be great harmony between the Federal and Confederate. I cannot stay to be a living witness to the correctness of this prophecy; but I feel it within me that it is to be so.
My aim then was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us.
I propose to move against Johnston’s army…
War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen…
You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say…
You can score as many runs in the last inning as in the first, but only if there is a time limit and the number of innings is known.
If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.
I Sherman said that ‘War is hell,’ but even Sherman knew war was amendable to organization and discipline.
The Confederates are at last reduced to the defensive. They lost at least 50,000 men going …
It has been hard work to find water for a large army but we have generally succeeded in reaching the Sequatchie River…
I remind them that we are all nationalists – brevet, full rank and no rank.
His new theory about a rainbow is rather soiled in spots, but if you will look long enough you will at last see enough dirt to convince you that there is a possibility of his theory being right.
Some, by infantry support, cross the Etowah below the mouth of Allatoona Creek…
Many of the Valley plantations are fine and large, and as this district is considered a reserve for the negroes…
I turned over to Major Henry Bryan 38 tons 10 cwt. of tobacco, for which I have no invoice or papers of any kind…
Three eggs for dessert. Mince pies, sardines and cigarettes.
Enclosed you will find a petition signed by over 500 men, who make the affidavit attached. Some are Gamblers – all swear that Gamblers have mastered and the state sustained…
We are now on our road back to the Ohio…
Our guides report a considerable movement back across the Tennessee great mountains…
…display of the constituent voices in State and national contests…
Each corps dispatching a messenger to report through you to me…
Alexander Montgomery, with 48 others, reports to the 7th Indiana…
Report of arms, equipments…by brigades. Brigadier-generals will turn in to their respective States…
Field return of 2nd Mississippi, at Resaca…
The secretary of this road represents by letter that this road needs protection from marauders.