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Columbia 1865 General William T. Sherman and the Burning of

Columbia, SC

Keith Rakes

6/5/2009

History 444

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As Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and his army of 64,000 troops were

marching through Georgia, the city of Columbia, SC was getting ready for a possible attack.

Being the capital of South Carolina, many local families felt that the city would be sacked by

union forces during the war. Their fears came true in February 1865 when Gen. Sherman

marched into Columbia, freed the slaves and issue orders to burn public property in the city.

Before Sherman reached Columbia, a small army lead by Confederate General Wade Hampton,

evacuated his troops and set large bails of cotton on fire in the middle of the streets. This forced

Sherman to change his plans and contain those fires. He also, briefly, lost control of his men

when they found the large liquor storage facilities. This would lead his troops to get drunk,

pillage, and burn a majority of the city. The city officials blamed Sherman for the burning, yet it

was the retreating confederate forces that initiated it while they were in retreat. To this, should

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman hold full responsibility for the burning of Columbia,

SC in 1865?

Columbia during the civil war was a small, vibrant city in between rivers and swamp

land. The population during the war never exceeded 10,000 and was the second largest city in

South Carolina, behind Charleston. Home to South Carolina College, the city had a youthful feel

during the fall and winter months. Being in the middle of the state, it bolstered a vibrant business

district that was fairly large for a city its size. It was also the main holding facilities for cotton

plantations in the state. On the outskirts of town, many warehouses were built to handle the

cotton being brought in. With an embargo on cotton during the war due to the blockade, and

cotton still being grown during the war, the warehouses were overfull which would later be a

problem. Still, Columbia was the capital of the first state to secede from the United States and

would eventually be a target for the enemy. According to Sherman and the Burning of Columbia

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by Marion Brunson Lucas states that Columbia had a large number of military organizations in

1861 that “leading citizens, to fulfill their responsibility, organized volunteer companies such as

the Governor’s Guards, the Richland Rifles, the Carolina Blues, the Columbia Artillery, and the

Congaree Cavalry.”1 These organizations were for men in the upper classes of Columbia’s

society, any men from the lower class went into “un-named militia companies.” Even the whole

male student body at South Carolina College gave up their studies and volunteered for the army

in 1861. The Confederate government left the arming of the militias and armies to the states. For

South Carolina, the State Arsenal was located in Columbia with smaller arsenals across the state.

Columbia was ready for an attack if it ever came, and it would late in the war.

Columbia was ready for an attack, but would have to wait to hopefully try their defenses.

In 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman was leading his army of 64,000 troops through

Georgia. He attacked and burned Atlanta, and then cut across the state and captured Savannah on

Christmas day, 1864. After Sherman reached Savannah, he received permission to invade South

Carolina and capture Columbia. The March through lower South Carolina was downright awful

for the troops. Most of the land was (and still is) marsh land that made the march that more

difficult. Along the route, they had to deal with small skirmishes by Confederate militias.

According to a Captain in Sherman’s army he writes in his diary that “the enemy’s force

consisted of two or three Regiments of Wheeler’s Corps. of Cavalry.”2 These skirmishes, along

with the swamp land, slowed the march down but with Sherman’s attitude and his soldier’s

loyalty, they kept pushing forward until they reached Columbia. Sherman’s army reached

Columbia on February 16, 1865. All the Confederate forces evacuated the city and left only the

1 Marion Brunson Lucas, Sherman and the burning of Columbia (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press,

1976). p. 24 2 Unknown author, The Fiery Trail: A Union Officers Account of Sherman’s Last Campaign 1865 (Knoxville, TN: The

University of Tennessee Press, 1986) p. 124

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citizens. When they left, they burned a majority of the cotton from the warehouses by pushing it

into the middle of the streets then lighting it on fire. In Charles Royster’s The Destructive War,

Sherman’s orders were “occupy Columbia, destroy the public buildings, railroad property,

manufacturing and machine shops, but will spare libraries and asylums, and private dwellings.”3

Yet Sherman knew from his soldiers that no matter what, the city was doomed.

The Mayor of Columbia surrendered his city on February 17, 1865. The Captain writes

on this date that “this morning, Columbia was a beautiful little city, tonight it is a “Sea of Fire”…

the scene is both terrible and grand.”4 The Union troops felt like retaliating against Columbia

because it’s the capital of the first state to secede. Sherman understood his troop’s resentment

towards the city, but ignored them as the city surrendered believing it was rhetoric. According to

a staff officer in Sherman’s army:

General Sherman and General Howard were the first to cross the bridge, and entered the city,

followed by their staffs. A scene of shameful confusion met their eyes. On every side were

evidences of disorder; bales of cotton scattered here and there; articles of household furniture

and merchandise of every description cast pell-mell in every direction by the frightened

inhabitants who had escaped from a city which was supposed was doomed to destruction.5

As Sherman was the highest ranking officer in his grand army, it was three separate

armies that made it up. Howard was Major General O. O. Howard, Commanding Officer of the

Army of the Tennessee that made up the bulk of Sherman’s army. He was also Sherman’s

second in command. When the surrender papers were signed, Sherman gave the order to bring in

3 Charles Roysters, The Destructive War (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1991). p. 16 4 Unknown Author, p. 127 5 Unknown Author, The Story of the Great March from the diary of a Staff Officer (New York, Harper and Brothers,

1865). P. 161

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12,000 soldiers to occupy the city and carry out orders. The soldiers were from Howard’s army

that wanted to make Columbia look like Atlanta. Howard also ignored the talk. Union regiments

entered the city and could not believe what they saw. In Burke Davis’s book Sherman’s March,

she says “many of these men agreed with Sherman that cotton bales were already blazing in the

streets when they entered.”6 By early evening the fires were put out, but started back up during

the night. No one for sure if they started back on their own or if someone re-lit the cotton.

Howard’s army, while foraging for supplies came upon a liquor store and proceeded to help

themselves to the new find. For the soldiers, this would fuel to their hatred of the South Carolina

Capital and when Major General Howard found out what had happened, a majority of his

soldiers were drunk and pillaging the city. It is unknown if these soldiers also set fires to the

buildings and stores they were pillaging at the time. The cotton was again in a fire which was not

being contained. Sherman, seeing a disaster, rushed in men to put out the fires and restore order.

Yet to this, there are conflicting stories on how the fires started. In the book Sack and

Destruction of the city of Columbia, SC by William Gilmore Simms, he writes that a soldier

pointed out to the Mayor and said “Alas! Alas! For your poor city! It is doomed. Those rockets

are the signal. The town is to be fired.”7 Sherman was asleep at the time leaving his soldiers with

no supervision. The soldiers, who a majority of them were drunk began to set the buildings

downtown on fire. As much as twenty districts were set ablaze by the retaliating Union soldiers.

When Sherman woke up, he found the city in a blaze and rushed to get his men to contain and

put out the fires. Sherman’s orders were to burn the public buildings of the city that could mean

that the soldier who ordered the rockets launched were from Sherman. Sherman denied this in his

report to Grant. The subsequent fire would be devastating.

6 Burk Davis, Sherman’s March (New York, Random House, 1980). P. 163 7 William Gilmore Simms, The Sack and Destruction of Columbia, SC (Columbia, SC, Power Press of Daily Phoenix,

1865). P. 32

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Sherman did not waste time in having his orders be carried out. The fires were broke on

Midnight of February 17th

and lasted all morning. The soldiers, who were still drunk or getting

their, was still pillaging for supplies and anything they could use for their own sake. Even though

Sherman only wanted public building to be burned, this would be a problem. Columbia was built

entirely out of wood. Along with a gentle wind from the north, the fires were easily spread to

other buildings. The fires continued until the next day with further orders from Sherman. More

public buildings were to be burned with one exception. The new South Carolina state Capitol

was being built at the time and Sherman, seeing it as a work of art, decided to let it stand. On the

nineteenth, an accident occurred near the Congaree River that resulted in a huge explosion.

Union soldiers mixed up black powder and ammunition causing a massive explosion, causing

adjacent ammunition to explode as well. One Union soldier stated that “the result was

mournfully disastrous, for several men were killed and twenty were wounded.”8 Sherman was

horrified at what he heard and was over heard in saying that “the life of one of his soldiers was of

more value than all the arsenals and magazines in the South- or even the city of Columbia

itself.”9 The fire itself was awful for the citizens who were still living in the city at the time.

Most store front cellars contained additional ammunition and powder that would go off when the

fires reached them. Also the soldiers, who were drunk, were continuing to pillage and terrorize

the citizens, which made the officers sick. In Jim Miles To the Sea: A History and Tour Guide of

Sherman’s March, he says that the union officers lost control of their men during the siege

“Federal soldiers raped a number of black women, and one infantryman was killed by an officer

while attempting to rape a white girl.”10

He also states that “other soldiers were shot in the act of

8 Unknown Author, p. 170 9 Unknown Author, p. 170 10 Jim Miles, To The Sea: A History and Tour Guide of Sherman’s March (Nashville, TN, Rutledge Hill Press, 1989). P.

256

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setting fires and robbing citizens.”11

Many soldiers who were still in the city began taking

burning cotton and throwing it into the homes of Columbia’s upper class. Many of these small

fires were put out but some prominent families did loose their homes. The fire would last till the

morning of the nineteenth.

When the soldiers woke up on the morning of the nineteenth, a majority of the fires were

out or still smoldering. One captain wrote in his diary that “the people were scattered about the

streets, stupefied by the terror of last night and their present destitution.”12

Sherman ordered an

investigation to see how much damage was caused. In the end, about three fourths of the city was

destroyed. From the business district to the Northeast section of town, anything that was

combustible was destroyed. The only objects left standing was the unfinished state Capitol, the

stone buildings of the South Carolina College (that Sherman was using as a hospital) and a statue

to the South Carolina veterans of the Mexican War. All total 458 buildings, both public and

private, were lost including eight homes of prominent Columbian families. Lucas writes that

“while residences in the center of town were hard hit, the business community was virtually

wiped- out.” The number of deaths is unknown but to the Union officers, it was Atlanta all over

again.

As soon as the fires were put out and clean up began, questions started to rise between the

city officials and General Sherman with one main question: who caused the fire? For the city, it

was Sherman’s soldiers, who were left unsupervised by their superior officers, allowed to get

drunk off and set subsequent fires to the city. A committee was set up to investigate the burnings,

talk to witnesses, took in evidence, and charges against Sherman and his staff. After conducting

11 Jim Miles, p. 256 12 Unknown Author, p. 134

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an investigation, the committee in 1873, charged Sherman with barbarism. The federal court

dismissed the charge. Also in 1873, The South Carolina government appointed a mixed

committee to find more evidence against the Union army and Sherman. They concluded that the

only charge they could come up with, according to Lucas was “that he desired the destruction of

Columbia and entered the state solely for that purpose, a thought which only belatedly entered

the minds of the military men defending South Carolina. To this date, this has been the only

major charged brought up against Sherman. South Carolina proceeded to bring up new

committees to bring up charges against the Union in 1929 and 1930, but all failed. Even though

Columbia wanted answers from Sherman, he would do just that, but would not take the blame.

Sherman left Columbia on February 20, 1865 and headed north towards North Carolina.

He would not have an official response to the fires of Columbia until April 4. Sherman denied

that he ordered the destruction of Columbia, at least the private property. His only orders were to

burn the public property and anything that the rebels could use to defend themselves. To make

his point, he talks that the rebel army that were supposed to be protecting the city failed to do so.

That they were the ones that caused the fires of the cotton bales in the streets. Also, the rebel

army left tons of weaponry at the state arsenal that triggered the large explosions. To answer for

his soldiers terrorizing behavior, he points that the alcohol should have been properly disposed of

before the city surrendered. Sherman does say in his report that a majority of the residential

sections, the unfinished state capitol building, and the College was spared from the fire, and

those that were lost (primarily homes in the central business district) were deemed losses of war.

Another thing was that the city was built out of wood when most cities were changing to stone or

other materials. With this, and buildings being built so close together, that even with the fire

being contained, there was little that could be done to protect the private dwellings. Sherman did

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not reprimand his officers or send his troops to court marshal; to him what happened in

Columbia was the Confederacy’s fault. The Confederacy let Columbia down, and they paid the

price.

After the war, the soldiers came home and started to rebuild the city. Instead of wood,

they used stone and other materials to rebuild downtown. The state capitol was completed and

opened in the 1870’s. The people who lived through it struggled to move forward. The city was

modernized with paved streets of brick and cobblestone, and sidewalks lined with trees. The city

along with the state government has yet to receive an apology from the federal government for

the destruction of the city. For the people of Columbia, the war was over and even they had to

rebuild and move on with their lives.

For Sherman, the Confederate army that abandoned Columbia and her citizens were a

heavy blow to the people. Along with them abandoning the large amounts of ammunition, along

with setting bales of cotton on fire in the streets of a wooden city, was a disaster waiting to

happen. Sherman did all that he could to put out the fires and was hoping that his staff would

carry out his orders. As they did, they lost control of their men as well. By them finding the

alcohol storage, causing them to get drunk, they unleashed their own version of terror on the

citizens forcing the officers to use deadly force to regain control. Sherman did everything he

could to save the city. Yet for him it was too late. Sherman viewed it as a loss of war and it was

not his fault.

Should Union General William Tecumseh Sherman hold full responsibility for the

burning of Columbia, SC in 1865? As Commanding officer of his army, he is supposed to. Yet,

the situation was bad with his soldiers disliking of the city, adding large amounts of alcohol to

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the situation made it that much worse. Along with Sherman, the Confederacy should also take

responsibility for abandoning the city and leaving bales of cotton burning in the middle of the

streets. To this, General Sherman must accept partial responsibilities of the burning of Columbia

and partial responsibility of his soldier’s actions. For Sherman, the destruction of Columbia, SC

was a result of collateral damage, not of his direct orders.