William Tecumseh Sherman Research Paper

William Tecumseh Sherman was born on February, 8, 1820, in Lancaster, PA, to an illustrious family, to ten other children. Charles Sherman, William’s father, was a great lawyer and a Supreme Court Justice of the state. When he was nine, William’s father died abruptly, leaving the family with little to no money. After his father’s death, William was raised by Thomas Ewing. Thomas Ewing was a successful and well known Ohioan Senator, who was also prominent in the Whig party. Although there have been different opinions about the origin and choice of William’s middle name, it is believed that he was named after a Shawnee chief who his father praised. In 1836, Thomas Ewing gave William an opportunity to go to Army West Point, which William accepted. While at West Point, William shined in the classroom,
He had assignments in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, befriending the prominent families that lived in those states. Although William had completed assignments, he did not fight in the Mexican American war like many of his classmates. Unlike them, William worked as an executive officer while the war went on. In 1850, William Sherman married Thomas Ewing’s daughter, Eleanor Boyle Ewing. In 1853, William Sherman resigned from the Army, citing a lack of combat experience. During the prime years of the California gold rush, William remained there and worked as a banker. His banking job ended during the panic of 1857, and William moved to Kansas to practice law, with little to no avail. Two years after William left California, he became the headmaster at a military school in Louisiana, which would later become LSU. While there, William became a well known, and respected member of his area of work in Louisiana. With that, he was viewed as a great headmaster. Strains began to rise between the North and the South, with William trying to help his friends understand that the war would be arduous, with the North