Healey, George Peter Alexander, 1813-1894

William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) was born in Lancaster, Ohio. Orphaned at age nine, he was raised by Thomas Ewing, a U.S. senator who also served as secretary of the treasury and secretary of the interior. Sherman graduated sixth in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He served in the Mexican War, but left the army in 1853. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sherman accepted a position as a colonel in the regular army. Sherman became well known for his tactics of property damage and psychological warfare against the Southern people, best illustrated by his march through Georgia. Sherman's military career continued after the Civil War. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant promoted Sherman to full general and commander of the United States army.