Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction throug | dG1fejNYNWR5YjNxMlk
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00:00 In 1864, during the American Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman began his famous
00:12 march to the sea. With an army of 60,000 men, he swept into the south, destroying Atlanta,
00:19 Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, and dozens of smaller towns. His troops plundered homes,
00:25 destroyed livestock, burned buildings, and left a path of destruction 60 miles wide and
00:31 700 miles long, before finally forcing a Confederate surrender in North Carolina.
00:41 Sherman's campaign marked the first time in modern history that total warfare had been
00:46 waged on a primarily civilian population, and traces of the scars he left on the South
00:51 can still be found.
01:02 Two years ago, I was about to begin shooting a documentary film on the lingering effects
01:07 of Sherman's march on the South. I'm from the South, and all through my childhood, I
01:12 heard stories about how Sherman had devastated the South. My aunt even keeps a sofa in her
01:18 attic, which is punctured by sword holes put there by Sherman's soldiers as they searched
01:23 for hidden valuables. She says she'll never allow the holes to be sewn up.
01:29 Anyway, I'd just gotten a grant to make my film, and I stopped off in New York from Boston,
01:35 where I live, to stay for a few days with the woman I'd been seeing. But when I arrived,
01:40 she told me she'd just decided to go back to her former boyfriend. We argued, and then
01:46 I left, and went to stay alone in a friend's studio loft, which happened to be vacant at
01:51 the time.
01:52 Finally, I headed south to see my family and to try to begin my journey.
02:22 The end of my film.
02:22 [sounds of a river]
02:42 [silence]