Sherman was obviously a very intelligent man, but one prone to let his emotions get the better of him, especially when he thought himself wronged. He held grudges. He was self-aware enough to realize that military, and not political, issues were his strength. He fought the war the way it should be fought — careful of his men when possible but asking of them full effort when necessary. As long as his enemies were at war, he opposed them with all he had, but when they were no longer at war, he forgave quickly. Evidence of this is seen by the fact that one of the pallbearers at his funeral was his chief opponent during the war, Joe Johnston (who refused to wear a hat to protect himself and soon died of pneumonia. The book bogged down at times in details only interesting to serious students — especially in the inclusion of many letters that were redundant and more detailed than I was interested in. But when he was relating events in his own voice, Sherman was a good writer.