Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman emerged as the authentic military geniuses of the American Civil War. While the leading generals of the Confederacy still viewed warfare as an exercise in chivalric valour, these men knew that, in the modern era, war is a battle of societal wills; it is the marshalling and wielding of the sum total of a people’s manpower, infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and morale. Grant, denigrated as a bloody butcher, and Sherman, labelled a terrorist by scorned Southerners, anticipated the military thinking of the 20th century to smash the Confederacy and, in doing so, presaged the horrors of the First and Second World Wars.
You should caveat that both Sherman and Grant preferred maneuver to head-on assaults. They both regretted Kennesaw Mountain and Cold Harbor, respectively, and Sherman's campaign to Atlanta was otherwise textbook in this regard.
You should caveat that both Sherman and Grant preferred maneuver to head-on assaults. They both regretted Kennesaw Mountain and Cold Harbor, respectively, and Sherman's campaign to Atlanta was otherwise textbook in this regard.