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"The embattled hosts of the North will have the whole world from which to draw their supplies; but if, as it seems but
too probable. our ports blockaded we shall indeed be dependant on our own exertions, and great must those exertions be"
-Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, prominent Virginia matron
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Conflict
in the South
Inner conflict in the South rampant:Women robbed
each other-->raided planations, storehouses for food to feed families
Men on BOTH sides went into any house in South
they pleased, demanded food, brutalized women, invade houses librally.
Union went into houses and proclaimed them HeadQuarters,
kicked women out to fend for themselves as best they could
Women majorly impacted by loss of men in
lives, men unquestioned patriarch, made decisions, brought news--> loss of news agonizing to females wanting news of battles
Total Warfare: A large-scale raid where
an army is non-discriminant about the location of their destruction, or who they kill (farmers, townspeople, etc)
William Tecumsah Sherman and his army (Union)
marched 500 miles, raiding and destroying all towns and farms in their wake, wreaking havoc on the Southern population:
"... We rode out of Atlanta by the Decatur road,
filled by the marching troops and wagons of the Fourteenth Corps; and reaching the hill, just outside of the old rebel works,
we naturally paused to look back upon the scenes of our past battles. We stood upon the very ground whereon was fought the
bloody battle of July 22d, and could see the copse of wood where McPherson fell. Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in
ruins, the black smoke rising high in air, and hanging like a pall over the ruined city. Away off in the distance, on the
McDonough road, was the rear of Howard's column, the gun-barrels glistening in the sun, the white-topped wagons stretching
away to the south; and right before us the Fourteenth Corps, marching steadily and rapidly, with a cheery look and swinging
pace, that made light of the thousand miles that lay between us and Richmond. Some band, by accident, struck up the anthem
of "John Brown's soul goes marching on;" the men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of
"Glory, glory, hallelujah!" done with more spirit, or in better harmony of time and place."
– William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman, Chapter 21
South Carolina and Georgia suffered the worst damage intentionally aimed at citizens.
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