Sherman's Flame and Blame Campaign Through Georgia and the Carolinas ― ... and the Burning of Columbia

General William T. Sherman created a new form of physical, economic and psychological "total warfare" against civilians and private property in Georgia and the Carolinas that he readily admitted would be violent and cruel. In addition to physical and economic assaults, he designed a massive psychological strategy designed to cripple the Confederacy, to destroy the faith of civilians in their leaders and their government, and to kill the will of the people to fight for their cause. Even though Sherman openly admitted most of the strategies and his efforts to "mystify the enemy," those elements have been all but overlooked through the years. However, they were an integral part of the campaign that would help end the Civil War in 1865.