William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

Born in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1820, Sherman lost his father when he was young and was brought up in the household of statesman Thomas Ewing. He graduated from West Point, served in the Mexican-American War, and later worked in business and education before the Civil War pulled him back into national life.

During the war, he became one of the Union's most important generals, working closely with Ulysses S. Grant in the western theater. He is best known for the capture of Atlanta and his 1864 March to the Sea, a campaign that damaged Confederate infrastructure and morale and remains central to debates about the harsh realities of modern warfare.

After the war, Sherman served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army and later wrote memoirs that helped fix his place in American history. Admired for strategic brilliance and criticized for the severity of his methods, he remains one of the most studied military figures of the 19th century.