There is, at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South in New York City, a striking bronze and gold-leaf statue honoring Union General William T. Sherman, sitting high atop his faithful warhorse Sam. Unveiled in May, 1903, it is one of the last and finest works of the American sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens. The good people of New York had every reason to be proud of their neighbor. Sherman and Grant were the two iron-willed Generals that Lincoln had desperately needed in his effort to quash the ill-fated rebellion in the South. Together, they finally brought an end to the conflict, at least the military part of it.

To most of the millions who pass by here each year, it probably seems like just another statue in just another park. But for many of the visitors from Georgia, the mere site of it stirs generational feelings of bitterness and loss. Even after all these long years, today in most parts of Georgia Sherman is still considered to be a bona fide War Criminal by any definition that you care to use.

Best known for his March to the Sea, Sherman set out from a still smoldering Atlanta with 60,000 troops and the objective of marching 285 miles southeast to Savannah to secure its port. Rather than establish the usual supply lines in their wake, part of Sherman’s strategy was to forage along to way to resupply his army. This meant stealing crops and livestock from the local citizenry, at gunpoint, without discrimination. What’s more, he ordered that what wasn’t taken should be burned, leaving a large swath of innocent dirt farmers and their families without food for the coming winter. He also burned every factory and destroyed all the railroads. In perhaps his coldest act, he took advantage of thousands of slaves who had escaped to follow him, using them for labor in exchange for food and protection.  Then, in a cruel moment of emancipation treachery, he ordered that they be abandoned at Ebenezer Creek outside of Savannah, destroying the bridges before they could cross.  Many drowned trying to follow. Most were left to face starvation and the fury of their former masters.

This scorched-earth policy was intended to break the will of the Southerners and snuff out what remained of their desire to continue the fight. Whether or not he achieved his purpose is for historians to debate. What is without any doubt is that the plunder and devastation of his “campaign” left a permanent scar on the state of Georgia and its people.

So there’s your hero, in all his gilded glory, right in the middle of Manhattan. I don’t see anyone protesting about it, wanting to remove it or put up a plaque “to add context”.  I don’t suspect I will.  Incidentally, under old Sam’s rear hoof is the branch of a pine tree, complete with its cone, being crushed as horse and rider march on.  A nice touch of symbolism by the artist. Unless, of course, you’re from Georgia.