TWHP


William Sherman, 1820-1891   

Long before the notorious Civil War general devastated the South, William Tecumseh Sherman helped build early California. Arriving during the Mexican War in 1847, he served as an aide to the military governor of the region, missing the fighting, but playing a part in confirming the reports of gold finds in the Sierra foothills. After a posting back east, he resigned his commission in 1853 to become a banker for the St. Louis-based institution of Lucas, Turner and Company. His most significant deal concerned financing the Sacramento Valley Railroad, which ended in Folsom, gateway to the gold diggings; it was the West's first line. When San Francisco's most respectable citizens reconstituted the Vigilance Committee in 1856 to combat the rampant lawlessness abroad in the City in the face of the municipal authorities' unwillingness to remedy the situation, Governor Neely Johnson appointed Sherman as the general in charge of the state militia. Sherman intended to quell what he considered mob-rule, but when the regional Army commander refused cooperation and it became evident that the generally law-abiding citizenry was determined to exercise justice as they saw fit, he resigned. A conservative banker, he found many of the local practices of the day appalling in their freewheeling approach to business, and he returned to the East in 1857. An asthmatic and hypochondriac, he suffered a nervous breakdown early in the Civil War, and only incessant lobbying by well-connected friends and family allowed him to return to service. Along with Ulysses Grant, he, more than any other Union general, won the Civil War. He returned to San Francisco in 1875, where he was widely celebrated for his service to the state and nation.


~ ~ ~