2-710-132 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Sherman's March to the Sea', (1878). Unionist Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's men sabotaging a railrway during a military campaign of the American Civil War. Sherman's forces followed a 'scorched earth' policy in November-December 1864, destroying military targets as well as industry and infrastructure, and disrupting the Confederates' transport networks. The operation broke the back of the Confederacy and helped bring about its eventual surrender. From "Our Country: a Household History for All Readers, from the Discovery of America to the Present Time", Volume 3, by Benson J. Lossing. [Johnson & Miles, New York, 1878]