William Tecumseh Sherman

1820-91
Ohio
General

Hated across the South but a hero to the North, William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta in record time and lay waste to the Georgia and South Carolina countryside on his 1864 “March to the Sea.” A failed banker, he re-entered the military in 1861 under a personal cloud dispelled only by victories at Shiloh and Fredericksburg. His success helped reelect Lincoln. When Grant entered the White House, he kept his friend in charge of the army.