Georgia’s Sherman Neckties: A Burning Civil War Tactic!

Sherman’s Necktie was a way of railway-destruction that was used by General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War.

General Sherman was responsible for the “March To Sea” all the way to Savannah and the burning of Atlanta, Georgia.

To this day, you can still see Sherman Railroad Neckties in the state of Georgia.

The neckties were formed when Union Troops heated railway rails until they were able to be bent.

After the Union Troops heated the rails, they would take the rail and wrap it around a tree and bend it around into a necktie or loop if you will.

Surprising enough though, General Sherman did order destruction during the “Atlanta Campaign”.

However he did not order the destruction of the railroad ties. This is what he said.

“In case of the sounds of serious battle Major-General Mcpherson will close in on General Schofield but otherwise will keep every man of his command at work in destroying the railroad by tearing up track, burning the ties and iron, and twisting the bars when hot. Officers should be instructed that bars simply bent may be used again, but when red hot they are twisted out of line they cannot be used again. Pile the ties into shape for a bonfire, put the rails across and when red hot in the middle, let a man at each end twist the bar so that its surface becomes spiral.”

Wm. T Sherman, Special Field Orders, July 18, 1864

Three days after this letter from Sherman was sent only 1 railroad remained intact into Atlanta but there was something that the Union forgot.

The Confederates gained knowledge of what the Union was doing and returned the favor by using the same tactics against Sherman’s supply line, the Western and Atlantic Railroad from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia in the early days of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign in late 1864.

The Confederate recalled their twisted ties as “Old Mrs. Lincoln’s Hair Pins.”

So, the next time that you come across a twisted railroad tie, it could be one of Sherman’s Neckties or one of “Old Mrs. Lincoln’s Hair Pins.”