14.6 Special Field Order NO.15
William T. Sherman
REDISTRIBUTING THE LAND
TO BLACK REFUGEES
TIFFANY LU
DAPHINIE RIVERA
ANULIKA UGWUEZE
PERIOD 1
Who’s William T. Sherman?
•
Union Major General
•Known for his outstanding
command of military strategy
• Lead the March to the
Sea
• Sympathized with the
planter class (P.O.V)
• Felt that slavery upheld
social stability
• Treated as a savior
March to the Sea
• 300 mile march from Atlanta to Savannah
• captured Savannah on December 21, 1864
• Army demolished everything in its path
• Scorched Earth Policy
• Developed the philosophy and tactics of
“hard war”
• Did not harm civilians
•Demoralized Confederate soldiers
“We are not only fighting hostile armies, but a hostile people, and must make old and
young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.” – William T. Sherman
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Sherman’s Order
 Also known as the 40 acres and a mule
 Addressed the immediate problem of dealing with the tens of
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thousands of black refugees who had joined Sherman’s March in
search of protection and sustenance
Set aside 400,000 acres of prime rice growing land exclusively
for freedmen
About 40,000 blacks were cultivating “Sherman Lands” by June
1865
Refugees believed that the land was going to be theirs forever as
a belated payment for generations of unpaid labor
President Andrew Johnson reversed Sherman’s Policy in the fall
of 1865 after the war ended
HIPPOS
H - Wrote his special field order No. 15 in January 1865, dealt
with the challenges of displaced former slaves, wrote after the
fall of Atlanta and March to the Sea.
I - President Andrew Johnson and former slaves
P- Former slaves who followed his army were provided with the
land they were promised and “to assure the harmony of action
in the area of operation”
P-Felt that slavery upheld social stability and was against slavery
O- Grants’ war of attrition
S- Key Period 1: Indentured Servitude
Key Period 7: WWI
Reading and Discussion Questions
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Summarize the policy regarding freed slaves that Sherman
announced in January 1865. What need did he identify as pressing
for those newly liberated former slaves?
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s policy regarding freed slaves
enabled former slaves to obtain small sections of land on the Sea Islands in
Georgia in his Special Field Order No. 15. It granted freed families “a plot
[no] more than forty acres of tillable ground” and unneeded mules from the
army. He identified the former slaves need for promise land, which was the
acres of prime rice-growing land, since thousands of black refugees joined
Sherman’s March to the Sea.
To what extent do you see Sherman’s order as part of the civil
rights history of the United States? Explain.
President Andrew Johnson reversed Sherman’s order so his policy isn’t seen
as part of the civil rights history of the US today. Johnson returned the land
along the South coast to white planters who originally owned the land.
Comparative Questions
Analyze and evaluate Sherman’s policy regarding
land redistribution. How does it compare to other
resources related to the land as a meaningful part
of citizenship?
 Sherman’s policy required land redistribution to be
under military jurisdiction during the war and a brief
period after. However, during the Reconstruction era,
federal and state policy emphasized wage labor, no land
ownership for African-Americans. Several AfricanAmerican communities lost their land because almost all
land allocated during the war was restored to their prewar owners, while some families obtained new land by
homesteading.
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