William Tecumseh Sherman. How the West Was Won
John Wayne actually portrayed General Sherman twice, in the 1962 epic film How the West Was Won and on television’s Wagon Train in 1960. His role in the 1962 film was short, as it was for most of the cast, other than Debbie Reynolds and George Peppard, whose roles covered multiple generations. Wayne depicted Sherman being consulted by General Ulysses Grant, played by Harry Morgan, on the evening of the first day of the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. In the scene, Sherman towers over Grant, in real life they were close to the same size. His scenes are in a hospital visiting the wounded and then in conversation with Grant outside.
In the scene, Grant informs Sherman that there was talk that he (Grant) might be relieved after having been taken by surprise during the Confederate attack. He mentions that reporters were saying that he had been drunk the night before the battle and that Sherman might find himself in command, an inaccuracy since there were officers senior in rank to Sherman present at the battle and its aftermath. Sherman at the time was a Brigadier General. Sherman responds by telling Grant that in the early days of the war the same newspapers were calling him (Sherman) insane. That was much more accurate.
In the early days of the war Sherman suffered from a period of depression, which at the time was called “melancholy” and resigned his first command. He was later relieved from duty at a subsequent command by Henry Halleck, described as unfit for duty. The Cincinnati Commercial used the word insane in its reporting of Sherman’s condition and that of the troops under his command. Sherman returned to his home in Lancaster, Ohio, to recover. By December, 1861 he was feeling well enough to return to duty, under Halleck, in the west.
Following the battle of Shiloh, with its ghastly casualties, Grant was excoriated in the newspapers of the North, and many falsely accused him of being drunk. In fact, Grant was a moderate drinker, except during one phase of his career when much younger, but the rumors of his drunkenness have followed him down through history. The next day at Shiloh, not depicted in the movie, the Union troops regained all of the ground lost on the first day of the battle and drove the Confederate armies from the field. It was one of Grant’s greatest victories in the field.
There is no record of the conversation as depicted in How the West Was Won between Grant and Sherman that evening in the memoirs of either man other than Grant’s caustic reply to Sherman’s comment “Well Grant, it’s been the Devil’s own day” Grant replied, “Yes, lick ‘em tomorrow though.” Wayne portrayed Sherman in the brief role as a pugnacious fighter and loyal subordinate, as well as a loyal friend of Grant’s, all of which he was in life. The short scene provided historical accuracy whether it really occurred or not, as it was intended to, in a film which was largely fiction.