Because Sherman wrote prolifically, producing thirty to fifty letters on some days, many of which have survived, it is not surprising that numerous libraries and archives possess at least a few of his epistles. The great bulk of Sherman correspondence, however, and fortunately for scholars, is preserved in a few major depositories. They are: the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the National Archives, also in Washington; the University of Notre Dame Archives, Notre Dame, Indiana; the Ohio History Connection, Columbus; and the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
These collections vary considerably in the areas that they cover. Approximately half of the Sherman papers in the Library of Congress concern his life after the Civil War, while the National Archives collection mainly involves the Civil War era. The Notre Dame holdings relate basically to the Sherman family and are particularly valuable for the extensive correspondence between Sherman and his wife. Sherman’s letters to Ellen usually run from three to eight pages in length. Her letters to him are often also lengthy. Notable too are the many letters between Willian Tecumseh and his brother John. The Ohio History Connection has a wealth of Sherman letters and Sherman-related materials. I found the OHC especially helpful because of Sherman’s sizable correspondence with several members of the Ewing family, as well as the letters between Sherman and his close friend Henry S. Turner, a correspondence extending over many years. The OHC also has copies of many Sherman materials that are in the Library of Congress, as well as copies of numerous Sherman family papers in the Notre Dame Archives. The Huntington Library holds important correspondence between Ellen Sherman and her mother, which proved to be very useful in understanding Ellen, as well as her parents.
While much less important than the above, I have benefited from a number of other manuscript collections, as well as the memoirs of key players in Sherman’s life. Five edited books of selected Sherman correspondence and Sherman-related materials, have also been helpful.
One other primary source should be emphasized: War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Many of these volumes are absolutely indispensable for any serious study of Sherman’s Civil War service. I am particularly grateful to Timothy D. Johnson for making his copy of the 129 volumes of the OR, as it is generally known, available to me whenever, and for as long as, I needed them. Many secondary sources were also consulted, and I profited from some of them, but fundamentally, as I think is obvious from the source notes, this biography is grounded in primary sources.