Stan,

I don't know about the "Great General" part. I admire a number of Union generals, but ol' Billy Sherman is not one of them. I believe it could be argued that any shortening of the war "saved lives" and certainly, his successful and rapid campaigns taking Atlanta, his March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign, undoubtedly affected that result. But then we get into the old "ends justifying the means" discussion. I do believe that if we practiced this type of campaign today, directing our military strength at the civilian population of Iraq or Afghanistan to undermine the will of our enemies Al Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgents, we would be widely viewed as committing war crimes.

Jim