UTExan said:

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doubledog said:

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UTExan said:

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Sherman was a war criminal who should have been shot or hanged. He shocked Prussian officers with the viciousness of his army in its conduct toward civilians. He is a stain on the history of the US Army, far worse than any other commander in wreaking undeserved misery on southern civilians, livestock and property.

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So by your reasoning, Eisenhower is a war criminal for allowing the Army Air Corps firebombing of Dresden (just to name one) in World War II, because of the viciousness of the Air Corps in its conduct toward civilians.

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I believe that was actually the Strategic Bombing folks, but your suggestion has some merit. Same for target selection of Hiroshima. But that was organized violence. What Union commanders did was allow, even encourage rape/murder, terrorism against civilians, summary executions, etc. Lincoln shut down opposition to the war effort emanating from northern press. Southerners also participated in and planned terrorist acts against northern civilians, but Sherman's March is one for the war crimes books.

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Perhaps don't believe every claim made by folks with an agenda.

UTExan said:

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doubledog said:

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UTExan said:

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doubledog said:

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UTExan said:

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Sherman was a war criminal who should have been shot or hanged. He shocked Prussian officers with the viciousness of his army in its conduct toward civilians. He is a stain on the history of the US Army, far worse than any other commander in wreaking undeserved misery on southern civilians, livestock and property.

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So by your reasoning, Eisenhower is a war criminal for allowing the Army Air Corps firebombing of Dresden (just to name one) in World War II, because of the viciousness of the Air Corps in its conduct toward civilians.

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I believe that was actually the Strategic Bombing folks, but your suggestion has some merit. Same for target selection of Hiroshima. But that was organized violence. What Union commanders did was allow, even encourage rape/murder, terrorism against civilians, summary executions, etc. Lincoln shut down opposition to the war effort emanating from northern press. Southerners also participated in and planned terrorist acts against northern civilians, but Sherman's March is one for the war crimes books.

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You are correct Dresden was the British. Ok back to Eisenhower, the U.S. Army also committed isolated rapes and terrorisms in their March across France and Germany, does that make Eisenhower a war criminal?
The encouragement from Sherman is questionable, I think his Special Field Order no 120 specifically stated

" Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any trespass, but during a halt or a camp they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, and to drive in stock in sight of their camp."

Does not sound like he encouraged terrorism against civilians.

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The abuse of civilians during his Georgia campaign was not isolated. Nor was it during his South Carolina campaign. Looting, burning, murder/gang rape=war crimes.
It's not that hard.

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By his solders... Not by direct orders from Sherman.

If you have one of Sherman's special orders stating that looting, burning, murder/gang rape (other than the confiscation of war materials, including slaves, and burning of property that could be used for the propagation of the war) was encouraged or even acceptable, please provide it.

I repeat by your reasoning, American commanders, such as Patton, Bradly, Ike, MacArthur, Nimitz etc.. would be war criminals..

He executed several Federal soldiers for murder and rape during the March to the Sea and through the Carolinas, so no he did not condone it and the total incidents were pretty few for two entire armies that made the march. Most of the cases of rape as alluded to earlier were against freed women.

UTExan said:

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The New York Times did a piece on this several years ago. Yankee trash soldiers, mostly from the northeast, raped slave women in front of their white mistresses. They summarily executed southern civilians by lot. They intentionally destroyed foodstuffs needed by families to survive. These tactics shocked Prussian officers who were observers to the conflict. Union soldiers from the Midwest farm states were more moral in their conduct toward southern civilians.
https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/rape-and-justice-in-the-civil-war/

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I had no idea about this. What would happen if one of those black women ended up getting pregnant? What did it look like back then for mixed race children?

They were considered black

Did not intend to put an emoji on this

Aust Ag said:

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UTExan said:

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The New York Times did a piece on this several years ago. Yankee trash soldiers, mostly from the northeast, raped slave women in front of their white mistresses. They summarily executed southern civilians by lot. They intentionally destroyed foodstuffs needed by families to survive. These tactics shocked Prussian officers who were observers to the conflict. Union soldiers from the Midwest farm states were more moral in their conduct toward southern civilians.
https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/rape-and-justice-in-the-civil-war/

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I had no idea about this. What would happen if one of those black women ended up getting pregnant? What did it look like back then for mixed race children?

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And perhaps some of their descendants would be purposely infected with STIs by the same government that sought to liberate them during the Tuskegee experiments. Or perhaps become domestic servants in the households of Nazis the US Government imported after WW2.
While we seek to erase the memory of Hood and Bragg, we still officially commemorate actual Nazis like Wehner von Braun, who headed a rocket facility where slow Jewish workers were hanged as well as being worked to death.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-webb-science-team-wins-wernher-von-braun-memorial-award/

No double standard here at all.