The legacy of Sherman’s March to the Sea in emancipation

How General William Tecumseh Sherman's March helped liberate enslaved people during the Civil War.

General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) with members of his staff before the siege of Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by MPI/Getty Images

By Hayu Andini and Widya Putri

Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation, by Bennett Parten

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In the context of the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman is often remembered for his military prowess, but his role in the liberation of enslaved Americans was both unexpected and profound. Raised in Ohio and staunchly loyal to the Union cause, Sherman was not initially an advocate for abolition and had no interest in using black troops. However, as Bennett Parten argues in his compelling account of Sherman's 1864 March to the Sea, Sherman’s military campaign inadvertently brought about the most significant liberation of enslaved people in U.S. history.

Sherman’s campaign, which marched over 60,000 troops through Georgia in late 1864, effectively dismantled the South's slave-based economy. As Parten writes in his book Somewhere Toward Freedom, Sherman’s army "stomped out the dying embers of a slave regime," and in doing so, the Civil War transformed from a mere conflict over sectional divisions to a battle that would reshape the meaning of freedom itself.

The Georgia campaign, followed by Sherman’s advance through the Carolinas in 1865, remains one of the most remarkable military feats of the Civil War. The Union Army’s 300-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah exposed the Confederacy’s inability to defend its most vital territory. Although Sherman’s forces caused significant destruction along the way, Confederate apologists exaggerated the scale of this damage, contributing to the narrative that survived well into the 20th century.

Sherman’s forces marched along a 60-mile-wide front, systematically demolishing Confederate arsenals, supply depots, cotton warehouses, and railroads. With their supply lines severed, the Union Army subsisted off the land, seizing food and livestock, mostly from the plantation class that had played a major role in the South’s secession. As one might expect, hungry soldiers were not always particular in their foraging.

Throughout the march, the Confederate forces largely avoided direct engagement, opting instead for hit-and-run cavalry raids that harassed Sherman’s flanks and targeted isolated foragers. Remarkably, despite the scale of the campaign, the number of casualties was surprisingly low, with only about 3,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing. For comparison, the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 resulted in 51,000 casualties in just three days.

While the military aspects of Sherman’s March to the Sea have been well-documented by historians like Brian Holden Reid and Lee Kennett, Parten’s focus is on the profound impact the campaign had on enslaved people. It is difficult to determine the exact number of slaves who sought refuge with Sherman’s troops, but estimates suggest that 20,000 to 30,000 people, including entire families, flocked to the Union Army as it passed through Georgia and the Carolinas. This mass migration of enslaved individuals marked an unprecedented scale of flight to freedom, one that was only amplified as Sherman’s army reached the coast.

Drawing on soldiers’ letters and firsthand accounts, Parten vividly describes the experiences of those seeking freedom. Entire families—young, old, and infirm—set out on foot, horseback, or in carriages, some carrying only the clothes on their backs. One woman, asked by a Union officer where she was headed amid a sea of wagons and livestock, replied simply, "I’se gwine whar you’se gwine."

For many, the journey to freedom was not only about escaping enslavement but also about pursuing opportunities for family reunification or seeking work with the Army as laundresses or wagon drivers. The March represented the possibility of movement and self-determination—options that had been denied to them in slavery. As Parten explains, the March to the Sea symbolized "the ability to migrate and determine one’s way in the world," taking on the attributes of a social upheaval.

However, as the March progressed, the Union Army’s priorities shifted, focusing primarily on defeating the Confederacy, not on managing the growing number of refugees. The influx of freed people soon posed significant logistical challenges for Sherman’s army. In an effort to manage the refugee crisis, some of Sherman’s officers attempted to block escape routes, but the freed people continued to flock to the Army.

By the time Sherman reached Savannah, the situation had become dire. Tens of thousands of freed individuals were already living in the area, and the Union's military occupation since 1861 had laid the groundwork for the Port Royal Experiment. This initiative aimed to help freed slaves adjust to their new lives by teaching self-sufficiency and market-driven values. Parten describes the Port Royal Experiment as "peak nineteenth-century liberalism put toward an antislavery end," focused on utilizing the wage system to address systemic injustices and transform society.

Building upon this model, Sherman issued a field order designating 400,000 acres of land for settlement by freed people. These lands were to be divided into 40-acre parcels, and families were provided with the Army’s "partially broken down" pack animals, laying the foundation for the famous, albeit unfulfilled, promise of "forty acres and a mule."

Sherman’s orders, though intended to address the immediate needs of the Army, thrust land policy to the forefront of the post-war Reconstruction debate. Radical Republicans advocated for the wholesale confiscation of Confederate land, while more conservative voices feared the disruption of private property rights.

By the time Sherman moved into the Carolinas in early 1865, tens of thousands of freed people had settled in the low-country areas and Sea Islands, an extraordinary accomplishment in the context of war. However, as the Union Army moved northward, the logistical problems compounded. The freed people left behind suffered from a lack of provisions, and many died from exposure or disease.

Despite these hardships, the future seemed filled with promise. Sherman’s land policy had set in motion the possibility of widespread land reform, and if the federal government had codified such plans, it could have formed the backbone of a more successful Reconstruction era, laying the foundation for self-sufficiency and equality for freed people. Unfortunately, President Andrew Johnson’s swift pardoning of former Confederates and the restoration of their land rights dashed those hopes.

Thousands of freed families found their lands taken from them, and they were forced to abandon homes they had worked hard to establish. Many protested, asking, “Are not our rights as a free people and good citizens of these United States to be considered before the rights of those who were Found in rebellion against this good and just Government?” Their pleas fell on deaf ears.

Though the hope for radical land reform faded, many black families managed to secure land in the districts Sherman had set aside. These families built communities that would survive for generations. Others, bereft of opportunity, found themselves forced to return to the very places from which they had escaped. Parten’s account poignantly notes, "The great efforts they had made to define freedom and make it more meaningful while on the March now seemed like the beginning of a story that had somehow gone wrong."

In Somewhere Toward Freedom, Parten paints a vivid portrait of the optimism and despair that marked the aftermath of Sherman’s campaign, blending the exhilaration of freedom with the bitter realities of lost opportunities. His account is a moving reflection on the missed potential of Reconstruction, and the struggles that continue to shape American society today. Through his detailed narrative, Parten ensures that the story of Sherman's March and its legacy remains one of both liberation and profound loss.

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