Shermans March

Civil War recreationists would love this work. Maybe some volunteered as actors for it. People who love beards will like it too because every man here is sporting one.

I would have thought Sherman's March was just a line through part of the country. This documentary showed that he and his troops made a V-shaped pattern. In history classes, I heard little besides "Sherman's March helped to end the Civil War, now onto something different!" This work goes into detail about his strategy. He tried to traverse places that he knew would have food for his troops and their horses. He retaliated when Confederate troops tried various tactics.

Many historians have emphasized that abolitionists just opposed slavery; they wouldn't have lifted a finger to fight segregation, employment discrimination, or anti-miscegenation laws. Here, we learn that Sherman and some of his disciples did not think highly of the slaves they liberated. The works spell out that they were oppressive even as their military actions brought freedom. I'm glad this work didn't dance around this fact and didn't pretend that Sherman was loved by all or should be loved by modern citizens.

The work is made entirely of reenactments, but they are not cheesy like in most documentaries. Because of their high-quality, they recycle a lot of scenes and it gets repetitive. This documentary uses a lot of the fancy camera tricks that Vince McMahon wanted to use in his XFL program.

This is a great reenactment, presentation. It's not dull like some documentaries that just talk on and on with the same guy for an hour. This includes several different people knowledgeable in their respective fields be it civilian or military historian. Also it includes many re-en actors that will take part in the roles of Sherman and the men under his command, helping to take you back to that time in 1864 to let you experience it as if you were there.

This is definitely a must have to anyone interested in Sherman and his March.

For a brief introduction to Sherman's March, you can't go wrong with this DVD. I happened to be reading Shelby Foot's Civil War, which is a more in depth exploration of Sherman's March, but as a primer or introduction to what Sherman did in his march and why, you can't go wrong w/this dvd.