Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea

by Noah Andre Trudeau

Overview

A gripping, definitive, New York Times–bestselling account of Sherman’s legendary and destructive march through Georgia.

“Mr. Trudeau’s narrative is peppered with trenchant observations from Sherman, one of history’s more quotable military leaders. . . . Mr. Trudeau accomplishes what he set out to do: march through the experience in all its detail.” —The Wall Street Journal

Award-winning Civil War historian Noah Andre Trudeau has written a fascinating account that will stand as the last word on General William Tecumseh Sherman’s epic march—a targeted strategy aimed to break not only the Confederate army but an entire society as well. Sherman’s swath of destruction spanned more than sixty miles in width and virtually cut Georgia in two. He led more than sixty,zero Union troops to blaze a path from Atlanta to Savannah, ordering his men to burn crops, kill livestock, and lay waste to everything that fed the Rebel war machine.

Told through the intimate and engrossing writings of Sherman’s soldiers and the civilians who suffered in their wake, Southern Storm paints a vibrant picture of an event that would forever change America’s course.

“Trudeau succeeds in constructing a seamless historical narrative out of the bits and pieces of human memory. . . . And he does so with both a historian’s discipline and a novelist’s eye for the telling detail.” —The Los Angeles Times

“Vivid and fascinating. . . . Trudeau deserves praise for recognizing the need to revisit in detail this seemingly familiar chapter in American military history.” —The Washington Post Book World

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061860102
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/27/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	706
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Noah Andre Trudeau is the author of Gettysburg. He has won the Civil War Round Table of New York's Fletcher Pratt Award and the Jerry Coffey Memorial Prize. A former executive producer at National Public Radio, he lives in Washington, D.C.

Editorial Reviews

A balanced account of the famous-or infamous, depending on your sympathies-campaign that effectively ended the Civil War in the Deep South. As former NPR executive producer Trudeau (Gettysburg, 2002, etc.) notes, William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea was not without its uneventful stretches; the diary entries of many of the soldiers, he grumbles, can be summarized with the phrase, "Nothing of interest to report." Sadly, that applies to stretches of this book, which reports nearly every datum about the 1864 campaign, interesting or not, while skimping a touch on big-picture interpretations of what the campaign meant in the larger context of the Civil War. Early on, Trudeau promises psychodrama by observing that Sherman was grieving the loss of a son who died the year before. Of course, in that time of carnage, death was everywhere, and Trudeau does not pursue the question of how Sherman handled his sorrow. What he does do-and what will make this book controversial, at least among certain circles-is to hazard that the March to the Sea has been compressed in the popular memory as a frenzy of raiding and burning, whereas in reality the campaign was both longer and less brutal than that. Trudeau reckons, drawing on contemporary statisticians, that Sherman, "at his thoughtful, self-confident best" at the start of the march, was more restrained than he might have been, "blaming southerners for their complicity and deeming himself powerless in the random chance destructiveness of the storm he had unleashed." Just so, rebel military resistance was somewhat tougher than the standard texts suggest, while the vaunted guerrilla resistance to Sherman's foraging troops was less stiff and surelyless organized. Sherman's successful raid across southeastern Georgia served him well personally, however. Grant may have had doubts about the wisdom of sending an army so far from its base, but he esteemed Sherman highly thereafter. Civil War enthusiasts will appreciate Trudeau's careful attention to detail, while general readers may wish for a more vivid, cut-to-the-chase version of events. Agent: Raphael Sagalyn/The Sagalyn Agency

Kirkus Reviews

Mr. Trudeau’s narrative is peppered with trenchant observations from Sherman, one of history’s more quotable military leaders. . . . Mr. Trudeau accomplishes what he set out to do: march through the experience in all its detail.” — The Wall Street Journal

“A sprawling and mesmerizing account of ‘the March’ that reminds the reader that General Sherman had no intention of waging a ‘total war’ against Confederate Georgia.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Excellent ... Rich in detail ... Remarkably even-handed ... (Trudeau) imbues the narrative with a sense of immediacy, without sacrificing his view of the big picture.” — CNN

“The march to the sea was in many ways “the day of jubilo,” and in Trudeau it has found its Xenophon.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Trudeau develops a myth-busting theme, that Sherman’s march was not a lark but a complex and risky military operation. Maps of daily marching routes let Civil War buffs follow the action in this detailed narrative.” — Booklist

“In Southern Storm, Noah Andre Trudeau relies on journals and letters written during the march, rather than memoirs written years later, to peel back the layers of lacquered mythology and offer a realistic, detailed, on-the-ground view of the campaign. . . . Civil War buffs will delight in this.” — The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Vivid and fascinating. . . . Trudeau deserves praise for recongnizing the need to revisit in detail this seemingly familiar chapter in American military history.” — The Washington Post Book World

“Trudeau is an able veteran of the military side of the Civil War, and his latest book lives up to its predecessors. The research is thorough, the judgments mature and objective, and the writing crisp and moving. . . . Perhaps most interesting of all is the portrait of Sherman that emerges.” — William C. Davis

From the Publisher

In Southern Storm, Noah Andre Trudeau relies on journals and letters written during the march, rather than memoirs written years later, to peel back the layers of lacquered mythology and offer a realistic, detailed, on-the-ground view of the campaign. . . . Civil War buffs will delight in this.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Vivid and fascinating. . . . Trudeau deserves praise for recongnizing the need to revisit in detail this seemingly familiar chapter in American military history.

The Washington Post Book World

Trudeau develops a myth-busting theme, that Sherman’s march was not a lark but a complex and risky military operation. Maps of daily marching routes let Civil War buffs follow the action in this detailed narrative.

Booklist

Excellent ... Rich in detail ... Remarkably even-handed ... (Trudeau) imbues the narrative with a sense of immediacy, without sacrificing his view of the big picture.

CNN

Mr. Trudeau’s narrative is peppered with trenchant observations from Sherman, one of history’s more quotable military leaders. . . . Mr. Trudeau accomplishes what he set out to do: march through the experience in all its detail.

The Wall Street Journal

Trudeau is an able veteran of the military side of the Civil War, and his latest book lives up to its predecessors. The research is thorough, the judgments mature and objective, and the writing crisp and moving. . . . Perhaps most interesting of all is the portrait of Sherman that emerges.

William C. Davis

Trudeau develops a myth-busting theme, that Sherman’s march was not a lark but a complex and risky military operation. Maps of daily marching routes let Civil War buffs follow the action in this detailed narrative.

Booklist