As a result of General Sheridan's use of the total war strategy during the Shenandoah Valley campaign, the South

Sheridan’s campaign destroyed crops, barns, mills, and other resources in the Shenandoah Valley so Confederate forces could not use them. This weakened the South’s ability to supply its army. The correct choice is “could not provide supplies for its army”; marching to the sea was Sherman’s campaign in Georgia, not a Southern retaliation.

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