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Major-General Greenville Dodge recalled Sherman’s response to a woman who was criticizing him regarding the pillaging done by his troops on their march into Knoxville: “There are two armies here; one is in rebellion against the Union, the other is fighting for the Union – if either must starve to death, I propose it shall not be the army that is loyal.”<ref>Dodge,141</ref> General Sherman was acting due to war-time necessity and the preservation of his own army and the Union.

Sherman’s actions were much like those of General Phil Sheridan’s in the Shenandoah Valley. On September 15, 1864, General Grant visited Sheridan and ordered him to drive Confederate General Jubal Early out of the Shenandoah Valley and “destroy that source of supplies for Lee’s army.”<ref>Grant, 491.</ref> The Valley was an excellent source of food for soldiers and animals of both armies and was also a route through which Lee’s army had continually been reinforced. By destroying the resources and landscape of the Shenandoah Valley, Lee’s troops were no longer able to feed themselves or transport supplies via that route. Seen as pointless destruction by some, this was a strategic tact of war ordered by Grant and carried out by "Little Phil" Sheridan.