During the march, slaves approached the Army continuously. For many of the Union Soldiers, they are shocked at the horrors of slavery. They see the scars on the slaves backs and hear tales of how salt was rubbed into their wounds. Many of the soldiers encourage slaves to leave their homes and join the march.
General Sherman does not display the same enthusiasm for having slaves join his Army and ignores directives from Washington to enlist slaves. Sherman writes "The negro is in a transition phase and is not the equal of the white man." However, Sherman also has a practical reason for discouraging slaves from joining; he does not want them to eat his soldiers food or slow them down. Sherman allows single blacks to join his Army, as long as they are physically capable of keeping up. He uses them in advance of his Army to prepare the roads.
Still, despite his opposition, thousands of slaves join the march.
General Sherman believes that as a general rule, blacks are inferior to whites and slavery is not necessarily as bad thing. However, when interacting with blacks he is very cordial and even shakes their hands. At the time, a white man shaking a black man's hand was not socially acceptable. Because of this, he is considered a savior by many of the slaves.
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