Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman by Robert L. O’Connell (review)

William T. Sherman is one of the most important figures of the American Civil War and the latter half of the nineteenth century. Biographers have been producing works on General Sherman since the end of the war. This makes it extremely difficult for the modern historian who wants to write about him, since there are so many good biographies of the man. In Fierce Patriot, Robert L. O’Connell has written something beyond just another biography of Sherman.

O’Connell’s Fierce Patriot can best be described as a character study of Sherman. More than presenting facts and detailing the events of the man’s life, this work answers the question “Who is Sherman?” It answers this question in a rather unique way. Instead of writing the traditional biography that starts with the subject’s birth and ends with his death, O’Connell divides his work into three sections, covering Sherman’s professional life, his personal life, and the relationship between Sherman and his forces during the Civil War. By dividing Sherman’s life in this way, the author provides the reader with the whole picture of the man, whereas in a traditional biography one aspect of Sherman’s life would take precedence over the others throughout the book.

In the section on Sherman’s professional life, O’Connell calls him the “general contractor” of Manifest Destiny (xviii). Sherman was not the architect or designer, but he was the man who did the work. From fighting the Seminoles as a young second lieutenant, to his service in California, to a general fighting against the Confederacy, and of course to his war against Native Americans on the western plains, Sherman’s entire career was about preserving and expanding the American Union. There are better books about his Civil War campaigns, but O’Connell offers a very good overview. Sherman’s postwar career as commander of the army was consumed with westward expansion and army reform. Although it is only a minor part of the work, O’Connell gives one of the best explanations of army policy in the West that I have read. The author does make the distinction between what Sherman said and what he actually did. Most of the myths that have been too readily accepted are based on Sherman’s statements, not his actions. O’Connell is able to dismiss many of these myths.

The second section deals with Sherman’s personal life. O’Connell shows how much private Sherman affected public Sherman. His father died when he was just a boy. His large family was broken up and taken in by friends and neighbors. Sherman was taken in by the judge and upwardly mobile politician Thomas Ewing. Sherman later married Ewing’s daughter Ellen, further linking him to the Ewing clan. The elder Ewing’s goal was a powerful and wealthy family. The family all worked for the success of each member. Sherman and later his natural brother John greatly benefited from membership in this clan. O’Connell argues that Sherman’s major motivation was to dominate the Ewing/Sherman clan. This drive is just an extreme example of the natural competition between son-in-law and father-in-law. Eventually the Sherman brothers came to be the major providers. O’Connell successfully shows that Sherman’s private life affected his professional life much more than the private lives of his contemporaries affected theirs.

The third section of the book focuses on Sherman’s relationship to his Union army of the West. At the start of the war, Sherman, like most professional officers, had little faith or respect for the volunteer armies that fought the Civil War. As the war progressed, however, and the midwestern volunteers proved themselves in victory after victory, Sherman began to understand the strength of his volunteer force. This was an army that could not be led in the same way as the prewar...