Killing Innocent Families in Siege? Is This Justified?

I don't think that using siege and total war is completely necessary. They were already cut off from the Mississippi River because of the Anaconda plan, so I don't think they needed total war to win. They were burning innocent people's houses, and taking families food! They were killing innocent people, just to make the South surrender. The Union was making children and their families eat rats because they didn't have any more food. William Tecumseh Sherman vowed to "make everything from Atlanta to Savannah an example of total war." This pretty much meant burning houses, stores, factories, and anything that they thought would help the confederates win. I don't think Sherman was a very good person, and I don't think it was justified.