Speech to the Mayor and Councilmen of Atlanta (1864) Quotes
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Source: Speech to the Mayor and Councilmen of Atlanta (1864)
Speaker: William Tecumseh Sherman
War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.
Context
This line was written by William Tecumseh Sherman in his 1864 response to the Mayor and Councilmen of Atlanta.
William Sherman, otherwise known as General Sherman, was a General for the Union Army during the American Civil War. This dude was a fierce and brilliant leader, and he led many of the successful campaigns in the Confederate States. One such campaign was when he captured Atlanta with his troops, and that's where this quote hails from.
Sherman was a brilliant general, but he could be pretty harsh. The whole "war is cruelty" line is basically justification for wanting to burn Atlanta to the ground. See, Sherman had a hankering for scorching the earth in the places he captured. So when Atlanta fell in 1864, he ordered that the city be evacuated — despite the fact that there were tons of women, children, and other people who would have a tough time leaving.
In a nutshell: One day, General Sherman and his Union Army pals captured Atlanta—hooray! But then General Sherman got all fierce and mean, and he ordered everyone to leave Atlanta so he could burn the city to the ground—er, not so hooray. He then wrote a letter to Atlanta's mayor, justifying his wish to burn the city by saying that war is cruel, yadda yadda yadda.
War is certainly cruel, but writing an excuse for torching an entire city? That's just not cool, General.
Where you've heard it
If you've heard this quote, maybe you've just heard the beginning of it: "War is cruelty." If you've actually heard the whole thing, then someone knows their American history.
Additional Notable References:
- The original speech.
- The History Channel made a docudrama about Sherman's March to the Sea.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
If you go around quoting General Sherman, you might accidentally (1) sound like you've read too many history textbooks, or (2) imply that you want to burn something down. And honestly, it's a little pretentious to quote a Civil War general.