Welcome to
the Most important Round Table, in the Most important small town,
at the most important battlefield,
in the most important country
in the world.
Joe Mieczkowski, Past President
September 26 - SHERMAN: Man or Monster
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Presented by Derek Maxfield
By turns, William T. Sherman has been called a savior and a barbarian, a hero and a villain, a genius and a madman. But whatever you call him, you must admit he is utterly fascinating.
Sherman spent a lifetime in search of who he was, striving to find a place and a calling. Hounded by his family to leave the military, Sherman tried banking and practicing law. Finally, he became superintendent of a new military academy in Louisiana and thought he had found his place – until civil war intervened.
But after leading his troops at the battle of Bull Run, the anxious brigadier general was sent West to Kentucky. Apprehensive over the situation in the Blue Grass State, suffering from stress, insomnia and anxiety Sherman begged to be relieved. Sent home to recover, the newspapers announced he was insane. Colleagues concluded he was “gone in the head.”
Instead, like a phoenix, he rose from the ashes to become a hero of the republic. Forging an identity in the fire of war, the unconventional general kindled a friendship with Ulysses S. Grant and proved to everyone at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Georgia, and in the Carolinas that while he was unorthodox, he was also brilliant and creative. More than that, he was eminently successful and played an important role in Union victory.
This talk is based on Maxfield’s book Man on Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War and tells the story of a man who found himself in war – and that, in turn, secured him a place in history. Condemned for his barbarousness or hailed for his heroics, the life of this peculiar general is nonetheless compelling – and thoroughly American.
About the Speaker
Derek Maxfield is an associate professor of history at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York. In 2019 he was honored with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and in 2013 he was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. His research interests include Victorian death ways and 19th century politics and culture. Maxfield has written for Emerging Civil War since 2015.
Maxfield lives near Rochester, NY, with his wife Jess, four cats, a basset hound, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel and a python. He hopes to soon acquire a Bengal tiger cub (subject to his wife’s approval).
Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Adams County Historical Society