Sherman's Neckties-150th Anniversary Quilt

Sherman's Neckties

Here's a sketch for a 98" square quilt using a variety

of blue prints with gray-blue neutrals. I drew it

in EQ7 in my Union Blues repro collection for Moda,

which will be in shops about March 1.

In November and December, 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led 60,000 Yankee soldiers on a march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.

The march covered nearly 300 miles and took about 6 weeks

from November 15, 1864 till just before Christmas.

Their major goal was to destroy the Confederate infrastructure---the bridges and railroads that connected Atlanta, a major rail terminal, with Savannah, a major seaport. Troops pried up wooden railroad ties and metal rails. To insure that the Georgians couldn't immediately rebuild the track they burned the ties.

You can see the bonfire in the background in this illustration

from about 1895.

The soldiers laid the steel rails atop the bonfires till they were red hot

in the center and twisted them around a nearby tree to cool.

The story is that the rail beds from Atlanta to Savannah

were lined with the unusable twisted metal.

In the late 19th century several histories of the war reported that the damaged rails were called Sherman's Neckties, Sherman's Bowties, or Jeff Davis's Neckties. Other names were Sherman's Hairpins or Mrs. Lincoln's Hairpins.

Sherman's March was a significant step in ending the Civil War. The Union Army shocked the Georgia civilians by confiscating their recent harvest and their livestock as they traveled through. The Yankees carried no provisions and lived by stealing the food stored in the women's larders and pens. 

Sherman's Bummers were undisciplined looters who followed the troops.

The civilians were mostly women because the men of Georgia were fighting in Virginia. Sherman's tactic was a new and effective way of war.

Another way of shading using grayish taupes and

Union blues.

Making large blocks 12" x 12" will give you a 98" quilt. You'll need two blocks, one for the center field and one for the border.

BlockBase #1376

The center requires 36 Necktie blocks, given the name in Ruth Finley's 1929 book

Old Quilts and the Women Who Made Them

BlockBase #1646a

The border is 40 blocks in a pattern given the

name Sherman's March in a 1930s Capper's Weekly magazine column.

Cutting the 12" Necktie Block:

A & B - Cut 2 light and 2 dark squares 6-1/2" for each block.

C - Cut 1 square 3-7/8". Cut in half with a diagonal cut.

You need 2 triangles.

Sewing

Cutting the 12" Sherman's March block:

A - Cut 4 squares 4-7/8". Cut each in half with a diagonal cut.

You need 8 triangles.

B - Cut 8 rectangles 4-1/2" x 2-1/2".

C - Cut 1 square 4-1/2".

Sewing: