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He was born on February 8, 1820 and died on February 14, 1891. He died only 6 days, less than one week, after celebrating his 71st birthday.
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William T. Sherman's father was an Ohio Supreme Court Justice. His death in 1829 was sudden, leaving him and his family to stay with several friends/relatives.
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William T. Sherman graduated from West Point ranking 6th in his class. He graduated in the year 1840, however, his initial military career was not superb.
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Sherman, unlike many of his friends and colleagues, did not serve in the Mexican-American war. As a result, he believed his career in the military would quickly die out due to his little combat experience and resigns.
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In 1859 Sherman became the Superintendent of the Louisiana Military Academy and he remained in that position until the outbreak of the civil war, where he re-joined the military on the Union side.
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Despite a Union defeat at the Battle of First Manassas, President Abraham Lincoln was impressed with William T. Sherman's performance, who commanded troops in the engagement. As a result, Lincoln promoted Sherman to Brigadier General, ranking 7th among other officers at that grade.
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During the Battle of Shiloh, Sherman commanded a division of troops that were overrun by Confederate troops under Albert Sydney Johnston. However, almost disregarding the incident Sherman was promoted to Major General of volunteers on May 1, 1862.
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Sherman, utilizing his superior numbers to outflank Confederates under Joseph E. Johnston, managed to capture the capitol city of Georgia (Atlanta) on September 2, 1864. The success helped President Lincoln secure his re-election.
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On December 21st, 1864 Sherman gifted Lincoln and early Christmas present. His present was the newly captured City of Savannah, the capture of Savannah also marked an end to "Sherman's March to the Sea."
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Part of Sherman's campaign of destruction, he captured and burned the capitol city of South Carolina (Columbia). He would be partially led to the town in pursuit of the rest of the Confederate troops under Joseph E. Johnston, and light fires that would destroy most of the town.
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After beating Joseph E. Johnston's forces soundly several times over, he finally beat him again at the Battle of Bentonville. This would be the last straw for Johnston, and afterwards he would surrender all troops in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolina's. This made is the largest surrender of Confederate Troops throughout the entire war.
