William Tecumseh Sherman  William Tecumseh Sherman had a lot in
common with Ulysses S. Grant. Like Grant, he was born in Ohio.
Like Grant, he graduated from the military academy at West
Point. Like Grant, he failed as a businessman. Like Grant, he
was criticized as an incompetent officer. And like Grant, he
became a fierce, uncompromising warrior who helped batter the
Confederates into submission during the Civil War. In fact,
Sherman spent much of his life providing evidence to support his
most famous statement: "War is hell."  Sherman was born in Ohio
in 1820. When he was just nine, his father died, and he was sent
to be raised by a family friend. Sherman graduated from West
Point in 1840. He saw his first action in the U.S. war against
the Seminole Indians in Florida. During the Mexican War, he
served in California and did not see battle.  In 1853 Sherman
resigned from the Army and traveled to San Francisco, which was
then a gold boom town. There, he began work as a banker, but the
Panic of 1857 put an end