Customer Reviews

William Tecumseh Sherman and the Settlement of the West

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Robert A. Athearn spins an amazingly good yarn quite out of step with both the Hollywood version of Native American / Military relationships during the settlement of the American West as well as today's apologetic view of Native American / white relationships during that time. Sourced almost entirely from Sherman's and others official correspondence, Athearn drives home the important point that the settlement of the West revolved around four key issues: the railroads, continued Congressional reduction of Army personnel, the complete failure of the Interior Department in developing effective Indian policies and the polar opposite attitudes of frontier whites and their more civilized (safer) East and West coast fellow citizens.

This is a very well done review of one of the key participants who directly set a good portion of the Military policy that was pursued in dealing with Native Americans during this era. From Sherman's own writings we see an Army commander who was pragmatic, yet very evenhanded.

Very well written, this is an easy read that accurately reports Military policy in the West from 1865 - 1885. You will not be disappointed.

There are literally dozens of biographies on General William T. Sherman. But this is the only one, at least of which I am aware, that deals with the eighteen years of Sherman's military career AFTER the Civil War in any amount of detail. It is sad that such an important work as Sherman's in the West should be overlooked, but Robert G. Athearn attempts to correct this oversight with this work. Athearn's treatment of Sherman commences right after the Civil War, when Sherman became commander of the Division of the Missouri, and ends with Sherman's retirement. The book deals with Sherman's relations with the railroad, with his dealings with the press, and with how he treated the Indian question.

As stated, this book is not a biography of Sherman's whole life. Instead, it is a concise and detailed study of what Athearn considers the most important years of Sherman's professional life. It is Athearn's contention that, though he had been the hero of Atlanta and the march to the sea, Sherman's most important military contributions took place East of the Mississippi River. His argument, while perhaps not totally convincing, is nevertheless worthy of consideration. Sherman saw the importance of the intercontinental railroad and, as Athearn points out at some length, did all he could to help push that project along. He also devotes considerable space to Sherman's relations with the Indians.

This is a very good book. Sherman's part in the Indian Wars is often overlooked, but Athearn narrates the problems with the Native Americans through Sherman's eyes, and looks, in a sense, at a larger view of the problem. Throughout the book Athearn maintains objectivity, though it does seem his sympathies lie with the general. The only problem I have with this book is when Athearn tries to get inside his subject's head. Though it happens fairly often, this does not really detract from the book. Still, such statements as "Sherman must have felt that..." or "Sherman longed to be..." are annoying, and detract from the overall quality of the book.

This book is unique, and as such is a very valuable resource. I consider this book to be essential to any study of the life of Sherman, as well as essential to any student of the postwar Army or the Plains Indian Wars.