I'm doing an essay that deals with primary sources and that we can't use the internet for and my library doesn't have a whole lot on Sherman. I have his memoirs and a few biographies, but nothing else. I figure some of you might have read a book or two regarding these contemporary observations on him, so if you can answer can you leave a book title so I can cite it? Thanks in advance!
Sherman could quite possibly have been president in the 1880s. The main person stopping him was...William Tecumseh Sherman who rightly realized he would be a terrible president.But he's a beloved figure in the North especially before the southern historians get a hand on him given that he's clearly the #2 general crucial to securing the union victory.
look at his quotes about the 1884 election in his letters (including his famous "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected."
also the new york public library (and online) as a good collection of old newspapers from NYC. his 1890s eulogies could be an interesting way to get views of him (since you can't use the internet this might only be valid fi you live in nyc.
Brands' American colossus has a decent amount about him in it re: shortly after the war.