Class of 1840

William Tecumseh Sherman: Born Jan. 31, 1818, Lancaster, OH.

Military History. — Cadet at the Military Academy, July 1, 1836, to July 1, 1840, when he was graduated and promoted in the Army to

Second Lieut., 3d Artillery, July 1, 1840.

Served: in the Florida War, 1840‑42; in garrison at Ft. Morgan, Ala.,

(First Lieut., 3d Artillery, Nov. 30, 1841)

1842, — Ft. Moultrie, S. C., 1842‑43, 1843‑44, — Bellefontaine, Ala., 1844, — and Ft. Moultrie, S. C., 1844‑45, 1845‑46; on Recruiting service at Pittsburg, Pa., 1846; on voyage to California, 1846‑47; in the War with Mexico, in garrison at Monterey, Cal., 1847, — and as Acting Asst. Adjutant-General of the Department of California, May 31, 1847,

(Bvt. Capt., May 30, 1848,
for Meritorious Services in California during the War with Mexico)

to Feb. 27, 1849; as Aide-de‑Camp to Major-General P. F. Smith, and Acting Asst. Adjutant-General of the Pacific Division, headquarters at San Francisco, Cal., Feb. 27, 1849, to Jan. 1, 1850; in garrison at Jefferson

(Captain, Staff — Commissary of Subsistence, Sep. 27, 1850)

Barracks, Mo., 1850; and on Commissary duty at St. Louis, Mo., 1850‑52, — and at New Orleans, La., 1852‑53.

Resigned, Sep. 6, 1853.

Civil History. — Banker, San Francisco, Cal., 1853‑57, — and at New York city, 1857. Major-General, California Militia, 1856. Counselor at Law, Leavenworth, Kan., 1858‑59. Superintendent of the Louisiana "State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy," at Alexandria, La., and Professor of Engineering, Architecture, and Drawing, 1859‑61. President of the Fifth Street Railroad at St. Louis, Mo., 1861.

Military History. — Re-appointed in the U. S. Army with the rank of

Colonel, 13th Infantry, May 14, 1861.

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861‑66: in  p28 Defense of Washington, D. C., June 13 to July 15, 1861; in command

(Brig.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, May 17, 1861)

of a brigade (Army of the Potomac), in the Manassas Campaign, July 15‑23, being engaged in the Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; in the defenses of Washington, D. C., July 23 to Aug. 28, 1861; in the Department of the Cumberland, Aug. 28 to Nov. 9, 1861, succeeding Brig.‑General Robert Anderson in command, Oct. 8, 1861, being engaged, Sep. to Oct., 1861, in the Occupation of Muldraugh Heights, to cover Louisville, Ky., from a threatened attack of the Rebel Army under General Buckner; in the Department of the Missouri, Nov. 23, 1861, to Feb. 14, 1862, — on Inspection duty, Nov. 23 to Dec. 3, 1861, — and in command of Camp of Instruction at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 23, 1861, to Feb. 14, 1862; in command of the District of Paducah, Ky., Feb. 17 to Mar. 10, 1862, aiding in forwarding reinforcements and supplies to General Grant, then operating up the Tennessee River; in command of a division in the Tennessee and Mississippi Campaign, Mar. to Oct., 1862, being engaged in the Battle of Shiloh, Apr. 6‑7, 1862, where he was wounded, — Skirmish and Destruction of Bear Creek Bridge, Apr. 14, 1862, — Advance upon and Siege of Corinth, Apr. 15 to

(Maj.‑General, U. S. Volunteers, May 1, 1862, to Aug. 12, 1864)

May 30, 1862, — and movement on Memphis, which he occupied, July 21, 1862; in command of the District of Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 26 to Dec. 20, 1862, being engaged, Nov. 26, 1862, in concert with General Grant, in driving the Rebels, intrenched behind the Tallahatchie, to Granada, Mis.; in command of the hastily organized Expedition to Vicksburg, Mis., being engaged in the attempt to carry the place by coup-de‑main, Dec. 27‑29, 1862; in command of the 15th Army Corps, Jan. 2, 1863, to Mar. 12, 1864; on the Expedition to Arkansas Post, Jan., 1863, which was carried by Assault, Jan. 11, 1863; in the Vicksburg Campaign, Jan.‑July, 1863, in command of 15th Army Corps, being engaged in the Expedition by Steele's Bayou to the Yazoo, Mar., 1863, — Demonstration upon Haines's Bluff, to hold the enemy about Vicksburg, Apr. 29‑30, 1863, — Advance to Grand Gulf, May 1‑6, 1863, — Skirmish at Fourteen Mile Creek, May 12, 1863, — Attack and Capture of Jackson, Mis., May 14, 1863, — March to Bridgeport, and Passage of Black River, May 16‑18, 1863, — Seizing of Walnut Hills, May 18, 1863, — Assaults of Vicksburg, May 19 and 22, 1863, and Siege of the place, May 22, till its unconditional surrender, July 4, 1863, — and Operations against the relieving

(Brig.‑General, U. S. Army, July 4, 1863)

forces, resulting in the Capture of Jackson, Mis., July 16, 1863, with extensive destruction of Railroads, and forcing General J. E. Johnston's Army beyond Brandon, Mis.; in command of the Expedition from the Big Black River, via Memphis, to Chattanooga, Ten., Sep. 22 to Nov. 15, 1863, being engaged in the Action of Colliersville, Mis., Oct. 11, 1863, — Passage of the Tennessee River at Eastport, Ala., Nov. 1, 1863, — and Battle of Chattanooga, Ten., Nov. 23‑25, 1863, where he commanded the left wing of General Grant's Army in the Attack of Missionary Ridge, — and in the pursuit to Ringgold, Ga., of the beaten Rebels, Nov. 25‑28, 1863, constantly skirmishing and making large captures of men and material of war; in command of the Expedition to Knoxville, Ten. (commenced, Nov. 28, 1863, without giving a moment's rest to his troops), and after compelling the Rebel General Longstreet to raise the siege of the place, Dec. 1, 1863, he returned to Chattanooga, Dec. 18, 1863, and thence to Memphis and Vicksburg, Jan., 1864; on Winter March, Feb. 1‑25, 1864, with 20,000 men, to Meridian, Mis., breaking up the Railroads centring there and supplying the Rebel forces in the Southwest, thus enabling him to spare 10,000 troops for General Banks's Red  p29 River Expedition, and 10,000 to reinforce the armies about Chattanooga; in command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee, Oct. 25, 1863, to Mar. 12, 1864, — and of the Military Division of the Mississippi, composed of the Departments of the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Arkansas, Mar. 12, 1864, to June 27, 1865; in organizing at his headquarters, at Nashville, Ten., an Army of 100,000 men for the Spring Campaign of 1864; in the Invasion of Georgia, May 2 to Dec. 21, 1864, in command of the Armies of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee, being engaged in the Battle of Dalton, May 14, 1864, — Battle of Resaca, May 15, 1864, — Occupation of Rome, May 18, 1864, — Action of Cassville, May 19, 1864, — Battle of Dallas, May 25‑28, 1864, — Movement on Kenesaw, with almost daily heavy engagements, May 28 to June 20, 1864, — Battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 20 to July 2, 1864, — Occupation of Marietta, July 3, 1864, — Assault at Ruff's Station, July 4, 1864, — Passage of the Chattahoochee, July 12‑17, 1864, — Combats of Peach Tree Creek, July 19‑21, 1864, — Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, — Siege of Atlanta, July 22 to Sep. 2, 1864, — Repulse of Rebel Sorties from the

(Major-General, U. S. Army, Aug. 12, 1864)

place, July 28 and Aug. 6, 1864, — Battle of Jonesborough, Aug. 31 to Sep. 1, 1864, — Surrender of Atlanta, Sep. 2, and Occupation of the place, Sep. 2 to Nov. 15, 1864, — Pursuit of Rebels under General Hood into Alabama, with frequent engagements with the enemy, Sep. 28 to Nov. 15, 1864, — March to the Sea, with numerous actions and skirmishes, from Atlanta to Savannah, Nov. 16 to Dec. 13, 1864, — Storming and Capture of Ft. McAllister, Ga.,º Dec. 13, 1864, — and Surrender of Savannah, Dec. 21, 1864;​1 in the Invasion of the Carolinas, from the "Base" of the Savannah River, Jan. 15 to Apr. 6, 1865, in command of the Armies of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia, being engaged on the march through Salkahatchie Swamps to the South Carolina Railroad, Feb. 1‑6, 1865, — Occupation of Columbia, S. C., Feb. 17, 1865, — Passage of the Catawba River, Feb. 23‑25, 1865, — Capture of Cheraw, Mar. 3, 1865, — Crossing Pedee River, Mar. 6‑7, 1865, — Capture of Fayetteville, N. C., Mar. 12, 1865, — Passage of the Cape Fear River, N. C., Mar. 13, 1865, — Battle of Averysborough, Mar. 16, 1865, — Battle of Bentonville, Mar. 20‑21, 1865, — Occupation of Goldsborough, Mar. 22, 1865, — Capture of Raleigh, Apr. 13, 1865, — and Surrender of the Rebel Army, under General J. E. Johnston, at Durham Station, N. C., Apr. 26, 1865, being one of the closing acts of the Rebellion; on the march to Richmond, Va., and Washington, D. C., Apr. 28 to May 24, 1865, terminating his Great Marches of •over 2,600 miles, — and in command, June 27, 1865, to Aug. 11, 1866, at headquarters,

(Lieut.‑General, U. S. Army, July 25, 1866)

St. Louis, Mo., of the Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the Departments of the Ohio, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Served: as Member of Board to make recommendations for Brevets to general officers, Mar. 14‑24, 1866; and on Special Mission to Mexico, Nov.‑Dec., 1866; in command of the Division of the Missouri, Aug. 11, 1866, to Mar. 5, 1869; as Member of Board to examine proposed system

(General, U. S. Army, Mar. 5, 1869)

of Army Regulations, Dec., 1867, to Jan., 1868; commanding the Armies of the United States, Mar. 8, 1869, to Feb. 8, 1884; on tour of inspection of frontiers of Texas, Indian Territory, Kansas, and Nebraska, Apr. 4 to June 20, 1871; on professional duty in Europe, Nov. 10, 1871, to Sep. 17, 1872; as President of Howard Court of Inquiry, Mar., 1874; and on tour of Inspection of posts on the Yellowstone River, and in Montana Territory, June 26 to Oct. 22, 1877.

Retired from Active Service, Feb. 8, 1884,
upon his own Application, under the Law of June 30, 1882.

 p30  Civil History. — Degree of LL. D. conferred by Dartmouth College, N. H., July 19, 1866; Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, 1871‑83.