Indeed it could, and Sherman famously predicted that the only reason the south continued in its fighting was that it was not properly suffering the consequences

Indeed it could, and Sherman famously predicted that the only reason the south continued in its fighting was that it was not properly suffering the consequences of the war they chose to instigate - that if he unleashed the terror of war upon them, he could break their will. "This war differs from other wars, in this particular. We are not fighting armies but a hostile people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war."