Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-192) and index.

General William Tecumseh Sherman famously said, "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." This statement has contributed to his mythic status as a grim-visaged character who embodied implacable war. Now acclaimed Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth delivers a nuanced, insightful portrait of Sherman as an original, decisive, and efficient leader who wanted the war to end as quickly as possible, and whose level-headed singleness of purpose gave him his greatness.