In this weekend episode VDH and Sami offer further reflections on Charlie Kirk, the role of higher education in shaping societal values, and the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones. In the middle segment, VDH considers the impressive legacy of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.
At the one-hour mark, VDH asks “where was Hillsdale” in FIRE’s free speech rankings of colleges.
FIRE gave Hillsdale a “warning” rating because of its code of conduct:
https://www.thefire.org/news/why-hillsdale-earns-warning-rating-fire
Oh well, that’s FIRE for you.
The Memoirs of General Sherman can be found in Gutenberg.org.
@Frank
That’s the beauty of freedom of speech. We’re each entitled to our opinion and to express it, no matter how foolish that opinion is.
Regarding Sherman in New York City after the war, you said “gadfly” then withdrew it as the wrong word. Were you thinking of “gadabout” instead?
There are many biographies of Sherman. The only one worth reading is John Marszalek’s, Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order.
Sherman was a complex tortured man. It is easy for someone to criticize, especially one that has not experienced war. Sherman did not burn Atlanta which is what people are taught. Sherman was not a war-criminal. He was a soldier doing his duty. I think Charlie would agree.
Hello Victor and Sami,
Greetings from Malta!! I have been a listener of your show for so many years. I read and have most of your books (they are all great), and my favorite is “The Second World Wars”.
I like WW2 history. Please could you explain how Hitler, Japan, and Mussolini financed the preparation of their rearmament and the continuation of the war? What was their national debt like? What was the world banking system’s role pre- and post-war? Did they aid them with loans, and could the trading countries use the banking system to stop rearmament and the war? (or the government tariffs them just like President Trump is doing?)
I do realize that the victor writes the history and you were born and raised and live in California . But it is obvious you admired the Union General’s to the exclusion of the Southern Generals. If you had been born and raised in The South your opinions would have been different. You are naive to think that Sherman may not have burned Atlanta. He burned every courthouse along his march to Savannah. Perhaps it was his army that burned farms, homes and fields and killed cattle and horses to starve the population and leave them homeless. The Geneva Convention of War states the military must not involve civilians . The scar left by the Union on the South will never be removed. Outside of Charleston the Union Army of New York burned the Middleton Plantation and that was after Lee had surrendered. Perhaps you should spend more time in the South. Reconstruction lasted 10 years and it only accomplished a deep and abiding disgust for the Union. The Yankees pillaged the South and the Carolina’s didn’t recover until WW2. Note how many military bases are in the South. Ever wonder why? And if only 3 % of Southerners had slaves it makes your statement of how many slaves Sherman freed impossible .
Even putting Sherman’s name in the same sentence with Charlie Kirk’s is blasphemy. And where are people moving to? Many places in the South….Nashville , North and South and Texas, not to any Northern cities, for a reason . Just think if the South had won.
You can please some of the people all of the time, all of th people some of the time. But you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Keep up the amazing work Victor!
I have to agree with the previous three comments.
If Sherman hated the South so much then why did he live and work there for three years during the antebellum period?
One statistic about the South that sticks out to me is the percentage of the population killed during the Civil War. At a little over 5% this is a staggering figure, especially when compared to the figure from World War II which is around 0.3%. And when you realize that only 3% of Southerners owned slaves it begs the question: what were they fighting for and willing to sacrifice so much to achieve?
Sherman was an effective soldier who did his duty. But I think he was less of an anti-slavery crusader and more of an aggressive oppressor of the Southern people.
You often speak of Trump, too, as being a “tragic figure”, comparing him to Themistocles or Shane. There are other examples that some might point to, both in the classical antiquity and the canon of americana, namely the Gracchi Brothers and Vito Corleone. I wonder if these comparisons have occurred to you, and if so whether you don’t mention them because you find them pejorative or because they’re not so optimistic.
I’m tempted to tease Jack Fowler for his hosting of the show but that might be a little mean. The way I see it I get two podcasts in the same genre for just one subscription. That’s not such a bad deal.
Noable about Sherman’s army marching in Washington, D.C. is that many, if not most, marched in BARE FEET; their shoes/boots having disintegrated during Sherman’s marches.
Vis-a-vis his reputation, even among Confederates, is the fact that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston died of pneumonia complications after marching in Sherman’s funeral in NYC.
Also, many wanted Sherman to run for President; resulting in his statement, “If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.”
Hello Victor,
Thanks for the great podcast, I listen every week and it is super informative. I have two requests for future episodes:
1) Since the left constantly claims that Trump is a fascist and compares him to Hitler, I thought it would be great if you could outline exactly how Hitler (and Moussolini for that matter) came to power in the 1930s. The Reichstag fire, the brownshirts etc. Also what policies the Nazis actually had on taxes, guns, etc. Define fascism! As far as I know there are far more parallels with the modern left than there is with MAGA but I am curious of your thoughts, and it would be great information for everyone to hear.
2) Regarding the Ukraine conflict, your take is quite a bit different from other sources I listen to occasionally, such as Colonel McGregor, Professor Sachs and others. I am thinking of not only the casualty rates (McGregor has mentioned Ukraine is losing ten times more than Russia) and that Russia is on the brink of winning. So I’m curious about the sources for the numbers (as we know the first casualty is the truth), and also what you think of Professor Sach’s viewpoint on why Russia started the war.
Thanks in advance and keep up the great work!
Peter
It is a huge disrespect to Charlie Kirk to mention him in the same title as that murderous war-criminal Sherman.