April 2023 MBR The Civil War Shelf

The Civil War Shelf

Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War
Derek D. Maxfield
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611215991, $16.95, PB, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Fire-William-Tecumseh-Emerging/dp/1611215994

Synopsis: William Tecumseh Sherman has been accused of "studied and ingenious cruelty". By turns, he has been called a savior and a barbarian, a hero and a villain, a genius and a madman. But whatever you call General Sherman, he is arguably one of the most fascinating character within the context of the American Civil War.

Sherman spent a lifetime in search of who he was, striving to find a place and a calling. Informally adopted by the Ewing family of Lancaster, Ohio, when his own father died when he was just nine, the young redhead lived in a spacious mansion just up the hill from his mother. Later, as a young man, he would marry his adopted sister, Ellen.

After attending West Point, the intrepid Ohioan found that being a soldier suited him. Yet he always seemed to miss his opportunity. The second Seminole War was in its closing days before he saw action. When the Mexican-American War broke out, he anticipated the opportunity to earn military glory only to be posted to Pittsburgh on recruiting duty. Transferred to California, he arrived too late after surviving two shipwrecks, then ended up on administrative duties.

Hounded by his family to leave the military, Sherman tried banking and practicing law. Finally, he became superintendent of a new military academy in Louisiana and thought he had found his place -- until civil war intervened.

After leading his troops at the battle of Bull Run, the anxious brigadier general was sent West to Kentucky. Apprehensive over the situation in the Blue Grass State, suffering from stress, insomnia, and anxiety, Sherman begged to be relieved. Sent home to recover, the newspapers announced he was insane. Colleagues concluded he was "gone in the head".

Instead, like a phoenix, he rose from the ashes to become a hero of the republic. Forging an identity in the fire of war, the unconventional general kindled a friendship with Ulysses S. Grant and proved to everyone at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Georgia, and in the Carolinas that while he was unorthodox, he was also brilliant and creative. More than that, he was eminently successful and played an important role in the Union's victory.

With the publication of "Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War", Professor Derek D. Maxfield tells the story of a man who found himself in war -- and that, in turn, secured him a place in history. Condemned for his barbarousness or hailed for his heroics, the life of this peculiar general is nonetheless compelling and thoroughly American.

Critique: illustrated throughout with black/white historical images, this new paperback edition of "Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War" from Savas Beatie must be considered a core and essential addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library American Civil War History & Biography collections. It should be noted for students, academia, Civil War buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note: Derek Maxfield (https://ddmaxfield.com/about) is an Associate Professor of History at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York. Author of Hellmira: The Union's Most Infamous Civil War Prison Camp - Elmira, NY, Maxfield has written for Emerging Civil War since 2015. In 2019, he was honored with the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2013, he was awarded the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities.

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