2 chapters across the catalog
Following a meeting with Black church leaders in Savannah, General William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15, promising 40 acres of land to newly emancipated people. While President Lincoln initially approved the order, his successor Andrew Johnson overturned it, returning the confiscated Confederate land to white Southerners. This reversal is cited as a primary failure of the Reconstruction era.
A segment from the 1619 Project podcast details General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea and his complicated relationship with the thousands of formerly enslaved people following his troops. At Ebenezer Creek near Savannah, Union troops reportedly dismantled a bridge after crossing, leaving Black families stranded to face drowning or capture by the pursuing Confederate Army. The hosts note this narrative challenges the traditional "Great Emancipator" depiction of the Union Army.
