Did Sherman basically win the Civil War? ?

Question: Did Sherman basically win the Civil War!? !?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

No!. Lee surrendered to Grant because his men were starving and they were surrounded!. Vicksburg fell for the same tactical disadvantage!.
Sherman only cut a scar across the heart of the south, that along will the oppression of Reconstruction lasts today!. The Georgians who were with Lee and Johnston were enraged and determined to fight to the last man if need be to continue the war!. But for the wisdom and graciousness of Lee the war may have dissolved into a guerrilla conflict where there may never have been "reasonable gentleman" to lay down his weapons and concede defeat!.
I would think that even with Grant's swaggering reputation, that he knew Lee as a superior from the Mexican War and knew that Lee's expectations that an honorable defeat was crucial!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I am really tired of hearing about the oppression of reconstruction by Southerners!. In a war, when you fire the first shot, you can't complain if it comes out badly for you!.

The South fired first!. They lost!. We don't allow Germany and Japan to complain about being "oppressed" after the World War II!. Considering how other nations have treated rebel provinces, the South go off easy!.

Having said that, Sherman didn't win the war by himself!. It was a partnership been him and Grant!. However, Sherman realized that war had changed!. Armies had become complicated to the point that they depended on the "home front" to stay in the fight!. So long as the South had an industrial and agricultural base to draw on, they would resist!.

Sherman decided to bring the war to the people of the South!. If they were unable to support the Confederate Armies, then they would whither and die on the vine!. This was total war!. It was modern war, and Sherman was its first master!.

Grant would do the same thing in Virginia!. He let loose Phillip Sheridan into the Shenandoah valley!. This was Lee's last breadbasket!. Sheridan destroyed everything of use to the Confederates; leaving a hellish wake of destruction!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Alone!? No way!.

He certainly played his role; but pivotal was Grant's victory in the western campaign at Vicksburg, that ultimately split the Confederacy in two and his later victory at Petersburg!. also of inestimable worth was Sheridan's clearing out of the Shenandoah Valley!.Www@QuestionHome@Com