"War Is Hell!" : a Look at Modern Total Warfare

Abstract

This paper examines modern strategy at the general officer level in the context of modern total warfare. This analysis attempts to prove that General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea campaign influenced grand strategy and tactics in future wars. Sherman's understanding of war and the need to defeat enemies psychologically will be compared to the strategy and tactics of French General Napoleon Bonaparte and German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. Sherman's melding of battlefield and rear make him the first of the modern generals. This study uses military theory to define the chief characteristics of a modern general as well as modern total war. Sherman's tactics and strategies, the way he psychologically waged war on his opponents, as well as the technology he implemented will be compared to Bonaparte and Rommel. This comparative analysis demonstrates Napoleon was the prototype of a modern general, albeit with tactical and technological deficits. It was Sherman who implemented tactics that would later be used by Rommel and other World War II generals that allow Sherman to be considered a truly modern general who had ideas of waging war that were ahead of his time.