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Timeline: Gen. Sherman’s Rise Through the Ranks and March to the Sea

While many are familiar with Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil War, few know that Sherman is a native of Central Ohio, having grown up in Lancaster. As we researched Lancaster for this week’s episode, it became clear that Sherman’s connection to the city remains very important today.

In learning more about Sherman, we found his story fascinating, even long before the Civil War. After graduating from West Point, Sherman lived in California during the Gold Rush, worked as a banker in Kansas and even served as headmaster at a military academy in the South.

In 1861, years after leaving the military, Sherman had the chance to serve the Union Army under Gen. Ulysses Grant — another Ohio native. In 1864, Sherman began his infamous March to the Sea, a military operation that set out to destroy Southern infrastructure.

After the war, Sherman never returned to Lancaster for an extended period of time. But his mark was left on the city nonetheless. To learn more about Lancaster’s connections to the Civil War, catch the episode at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12 on WOSU TV! — Sarah Charlton