From: waynedobson51@yahoo.com
Regarding the passages I have copied below, I am appalled, sickened and saddened that an organization that is supposed to be the guardian and promoter of Georgia history is now nothing more than a base propaganda machine that dispenses lies for truth. The idea that Sherman destroyed only military objectives in Georgia is a blatant and willful lie that you all have crafted and it is not supported by countless surviving accounts of his atrocities - THESE ARE NOT MYTHS. Your maker contains the only myths.
Quite sincerely,
John Wayne Dobson
Atlanta, Ga., November 7, 2014 – The Georgia Historical society announced today that they will commemorate the beginning of General William T. Sherman's historic March to the Sea with the dedication of a Historical Marker Wednesday, November 11, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. on the grounds of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, 441 Freedom Pkwy NE, Atlanta.
"This marker is part of the GHS Civil War 150 Historical Marker Project, telling stories around the state that hadn't been told or that shed new light on familiar stories," said W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. "There are a lot of misconceptions about General Sherman and the March to the Sea that aren't based on historical evidence, and we've tried to correct some of those in this marker, to see a familiar event in a new light."
Speakers for the event will include, David Stanhope, Deputy Director for the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum; Charlie Crawford, President of the Georgia Battlefields Association, and Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. President Carter has also been invited to attend.
The Marker Reads:
The March to the Sea
On November 15, 1864, during the Civil War, U.S. forces under Gen. William T. Sherman set out from Atlanta on the March to the Sea, a military campaign designed to destroy the Confederacy's ability to wage war and break the will of its people to resist. After destroying Atlanta's industrial and business (but not residential) districts, Sherman's 62,500 men marched over 250 miles, reaching Savannah in mid-December. Contrary to popular myth, Sherman's troops primarily destroyed only property used for waging war – railroads, train depots, factories, cotton gins, and warehouses. Abandoning their supply base, they lived off the land, destroying food they could not consume. They also liberated thousands of enslaved African Americans in their path. Sherman's "hard hand of war" demoralized Confederates, hastening the end of slavery and the reunification of the nation.
Erected for the Civil War 150 commemoration by the Georgia Historical Society and the Georgia Battlefields Association
