Siege, necessary or not?

I think, that in the Civil War, the siege wasn't necessary. Yes, I know that we could possibly not be the country we are today without it, but, was it really necessary to kill and suffer so many innocent people? I think that tearing apart the railroads was definitely necessary to win, because of transportation reinforcements for Richmond, but they really didn't need to burn everything in Atlanta, total war wasn't necessary. I think that these harsh tactics were used to win the war were not justified, people were starved to death! Imagine if that was you in Vicksburg, starving to death with no home, because the Union was blocking the Mississippi river, surrounding the town. I think that the siege and Total War were definitely not necessary.