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SHERMAN, ROGER (1721–1793)

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 852 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SHERMAN, See also:ROGER (1721–1793) , See also:American See also:political See also:leader, a signer of the See also:Declaration of See also:Independence, was See also:born at See also:Newton, See also:Massachusetts, on the 19th of See also:April 1721 (O.S.). He removed with his parents to See also:Stoughton in 1723, attended the See also:country school there, and at an See also:early See also:age learned the cobbler's See also:trade in his See also:father's See also:shop. Removing to New See also:Milford, See also:Connecticut, in 1743, he worked as See also:county surveyor, engaged in See also:mercantile pursuits, studied See also:law, and in 1754 was admitted to the See also:bar. He represented New Milford in the Connecticut See also:Assembly in 1755—1756 and again in 1758–1761. From 1761 until his See also:death New Haven was his See also:home. He was once more a member of the Connecticut Assembly in 1764–1766, was one of the See also:governor's assistants in 1766–1785, a See also:judge of the Connecticut See also:superior See also:court in 1766–1789, treasurer of Yale See also:College in 1765–1776, a delegate to the See also:Continental See also:Congress in 1774–1781 and again in 1783–1784, a member of the Connecticut See also:Committee of Safety in 1777–1779 and in 1782, See also:mayor of New Haven in 1784–1793, a delegate to the Federal Constitutional See also:Convention of 1787 and to the Connecticut Ratification Convention of the same See also:year, and a member of the Federal See also:House of Representatives in 1789–1791 and of the See also:United States See also:Senate in 1791–1793. He was on the committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence, and also on that which drafted the Articles of See also:Confederation. His greatest public service, however, was performed in the Federal Constitutional Convention. In the See also:bitter conflict between the large See also:state party and the small state party he and his colleagues, See also:Oliver See also:Ellsworth and See also:William See also:Samuel See also:Johnson, acted as peacemakers. Their See also:share in bringing about the final See also:settlement, which provided for equal See also:representation in one house and proportional representation in the other, was so important that the settlement itself has come to be called the " Connecticut See also:Compromise." He helped to defeat the proposal to give Congress a See also:veto on state legislation, showing that it was illogical to confersuch a See also:power, since the constitution itself is the law of the See also:land and no state See also:act contravening it is legal. In the Federal Congress (1789–1793) he favoured the See also:assumption of the state debts, the See also:establishment of a See also:national See also:bank and the See also:adoption of a protective See also:tariff policy. Although strongly opposed to See also:slavery, he refused to support the See also:Parker See also:resolution of 1789 providing for a See also:duty of ten dollars per See also:head on negroes brought from See also:Africa, on the ground that it emphasized the See also:property See also:element in slavery.

He died in.New Haven on the 23rd of See also:

July 1793. Sherman was not a deep and See also:original thinker like See also:James See also:Wilson, nor was he a brilliant leader like See also:Alexander See also:Hamilton; but owing to his conservative temperament, his See also:sound See also:judgment and his wide experience he was well qualified to See also:lead the compromise cause in the convention of 1787. Two of Sherman's grandsons, William M. See also:Evarts and See also:George F. See also:Hoar, were prominent in the later See also:history of the country. See also:Lewis H. Boutell's See also:Life of Roger Sherman (See also:Chicago, 1896), based on material collected by Senator Hoar, is a careful and accurate See also:work. SHERMAN, WILLIAM See also:TECUMSEH (1820–1891), American See also:general, was born on the 8th of See also:February 1820, at See also:Lancaster, See also:Ohio. He was descended from Edmond Sherman, who emigrated from See also:England to the Massachusetts See also:Bay See also:Colony in 1634. His father, See also:Charles R. Sherman, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, died suddenly in 1829, leaving his widow with a See also:family of See also:young See also:children. William was adopted by the Hon.

See also:

Thomas See also:Ewing, a See also:close friend of the father, sometime a senator of the United States and a member of the national See also:cabinet. In 1836 he entered See also:West Point, and on graduating near the head of his class he was appointed second See also:lieutenant in the 3rd See also:artillery See also:regiment. His first See also:field service was in See also:Florida against the See also:Seminole See also:Indians. The usual changes of station and detached duty made him acquainted with the See also:geography of all the See also:Southern states, and Sherman improved the opportunity by making topographical studies which proved of no small value to him later. He also employed much of his See also:time in the study of law. When the See also:war with See also:Mexico began in 1846 he asked for field duty, and was ordered to join an expedition going to See also:California by See also:sea. He was made See also:adjutant-general to See also:Colonel See also:Mason, military governor, and as such was executive officer in the See also:administration of See also:local See also:government till See also:peace came in the autumn of 1848 and the See also:province was ceded to the United States. In 1847 he served on the See also:staff of the general commanding the See also:division of the Pacific. In 185o he married Ellen See also:Boyle, daughter of Thomas Ewing, then secretary of the interior. Transferred in the same year to the See also:commissariat See also:department as a See also:captain, he resigned three years later and went back to California to conduct at See also:San Francisco a See also:branch of an important St See also:Louis banking-house. He continued successfully in the management of this business through a See also:financial crisis incident to a wildly speculative time, until in the See also:spring of 1857 the house, by his See also:advice, withdrew from Californian affairs. Afterwards for a See also:short time he was engaged in business at New See also:York and in 1858 practised law at Leavenworth, See also:Kansas.

In 1859, the state of See also:

Louisiana proposing to establish a military college, Sherman was appointed its See also:superintendent. On the 1st of See also:January 186o the " State See also:Seminary of Learning and Military See also:Academy " was opened, and here Sherman remained until the spring of 1861, when it was evident that Louisiana would join the states seceding from the See also:Union. He thereupon resigned the superintendency and returned to St Louis, parting with the governor of the state and his colleagues in the school with regret and mutual esteem. Though his See also:brother See also:John Sherman was a leader in the party which had elected See also:Lincoln, William Sherman was very conservative on the slavery question, and his See also:distress at what he thought an unnecessary rupture between the states was extreme. Yet his devotion to the national constitution was unbounded, and he offered his services as soon as See also:volunteers for the three years' enlistments were called out. On the 14th of May 186, he was appointed colonel of the 13th U.S. See also:Infantry, a new regiment, and was soon assigned to command a See also:brigade in General McDowell's See also:army in front of See also:Washington. He served with it in the first See also:battle of See also:Bull Run, on the 21st of July. Promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, Sherman was in See also:August sent to See also:Kentucky to serve under General See also:Robert See also:Anderson. In See also:October he succeeded to the command of the department. On the 26th of October he reported that 200,000 men would be required for the Kentucky See also:campaign. He was relieved of his See also:post soon afterwards in consequence, but the event justified Sherman's view.

He was soon re-employed in a See also:

minor position, and, at the head of a division of new troops, accompanied See also:Grant's army to See also:Pittsburg Landing. At the battle of See also:Shiloh Sherman's gallant conduct gained him promotion to See also:major-general. His appreciation of Grant, and his sympathy with the chagrin he suffered after this battle, cemented the friendship between the two. He took See also:part in See also:Halleck's advance on See also:Corinth, See also:Mississippi, and at the close of 1862 led the Mississippi See also:column in the first See also:Vicksburg campaign. He suffered defeat at See also:Chickasaw See also:Bayou, but the See also:capture of Fort Hindman, near See also:Arkansas Post, compensated to some extent for the Vicksburg failure. In Grant's final Vicksburg campaign Sherman commanded the XV. See also:corps and the right of the investing See also:line, and after the surrender he was sent to oppose General See also:Johnston in the country about See also:Jackson, See also:Miss. In July he was made a brigadier-general in the See also:regular army. When, after See also:Rosecrans's defeat at Chickamauga, Grant was placed in supreme command in the west, Sherman succeeded to the command of the Army of the See also:Tennessee, with which he took part in the See also:great battle of See also:Chattanooga (q.v.). He had already prepared for a further advance by making an expedition into the See also:heart of Mississippi as far as See also:Meridian, destroying See also:railways and making impracticable, for a See also:season, the See also:transfer of military operations to that region; and on Grant becoming general-in-See also:chief (See also:March 1864) he was made See also:commander of the military division of the Mississippi, including his Army of the Tennessee, now under McPherson, the Army of the Cumber-land, under Thomas, and the Army of the Ohio, under See also:Schofield. Making detachments for garrisons and minor operations in a See also:theatre of war over 500 M. wide, he assembled, near Chattanooga, his three armies, aggregating 1oo,000 men, and began (May 1864) the invasion of See also:Georgia. After a brilliant and famous campaign of careful manoeuvre and heavy combats (see AMERICAN See also:CIVIL WAR), Sherman finally wrested See also:Atlanta (q.v.) from the Confederates on the 1st of See also:September. His able opponent Johnston had been removed from his command, and See also:Hood, Johnston's successor, began early in October a vigorous See also:movement designed to carry the war back into Tennessee.

After a devious See also:

chase of a See also:month Hood moved across See also:Alabama to See also:northern Mississippi. Sherman thereupon, leaving behind Thomas and Schofield to See also:deal with Hood, made the celebrated " March to the Sea " from Atlanta to See also:Savannah with 6o,000 picked men. After a march of 300 M. Savannah was reached in See also:December. Railways and material were destroyed, the country cleared of supplies, and the Confederate government severed from its western states. In January 1865 Sherman marched northwards again, once more abandoning his. See also:base, towards See also:Petersburg, where Grant and See also:Lee were waging a war of giants. Every mile of his march northwards through the Carolinas diminished the See also:supply region of the enemy, and desperate efforts were made to stop his advance. General Johnston was recalled to active service, and showed his usual skill, but his forces were inadequate. Sherman defeated him and reached See also:Raleigh, the See also:capital of See also:North Carolina, on the 13th of April, having marched nearly 500 M. from Savannah. Lee's position in See also:Virginia was now desperate. Hood had been utterly defeated by Thomas and Schofield, and Schofield (moved 2000 M. by land and sea) rejoined Sherman in North Carolina. With go,000 men Sherman drove Johnston before him, and when Lee surrendered to Grant Johnston also gave up the struggle.

There was much See also:

friction between Sherman and the war secretary, See also:Stanton, before the terms were ratified, but with their See also:signature the Civil War came to an end. Sherman had the See also:good See also:fortune to learn the See also:art of command by degrees. At Bull Run his brigade was wasted in isolated and disconnected regimental attacks, at Shiloh his division was completely surprised owing to want of precaution; but hisbravery and See also:energy were beyond question, and these qualities carried him gradually to the front at the same time as he acquired skill and experience. When therefore he was entrusted with an See also:independent command he was in every way fitted to do himself See also:justice. At the head of a See also:hundred thousand men he showed, besides the large grasp of See also:strategy which planned the Carolinas march, besides the patient skill in manoeuvre which gained ground See also:day by day towards Atlanta, the strength of will which sent his men to the hopeless See also:assault of Kenesaw to See also:teach them that he was not afraid to fight, and cleared Atlanta of its civil See also:population in the See also:face of a hitter popular outcry. Great as were his responsibilities they never strained him beyond his See also:powers. He has every claim to be regarded as one of the greatest generals of See also:modern history. When Grant became full general in 1866 Sherman was promoted lieutenant-general, and in 1869, when Grant became See also:president, he succeeded to the full See also:rank. General Sherman retired, after being commanding general of the army for fifteen years, in 1884. He died at New York on the 14th of January 188 1. An equestrian statue, by See also:Saint Gaudens, was unveiled at New York in 1903, and another at Washington in the same year. Sherman's See also:Memoirs were published in 1875 (New York).

See also See also:

Rachel Sherman Thorndike, The Sherman Letters (New York, 1894) ; Home Letters of Gen. Sherman (1909), edited by M. A. De See also:Wolfe See also:Howe; S. M. Bowman and R. B. Irwin, Sherman and his See also:Campaigns: a Military See also:Biography (New York, 1865) ; W. See also:Fletcher Johnson, Life of William Tecumseh Sherman (See also:Philadelphia, 1891); See also:Manning F. Force, General Sherman (Great Commanders See also:series) (New York,1899).

End of Article: SHERMAN, ROGER (1721–1793)

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