Posted on Feb 18, 2017
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On this day in 1865, the soldiers from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army ransack Columbia, South Carolina, and leave a charred city in their wake.
Sherman is most famous for his March to the Sea in the closing months of 1864. After capturing Atlanta in September, Sherman cut away from his supply lines and cut a swath of destruction across Georgia on his way to Savannah. His army lived off the land and destroyed railroads, burned warehouses, and ruined plantations along the way. This was a calculated effort–Sherman thought that the war would end more quickly if civilians of the South felt some destruction personally, a view supported by General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Union forces, and President Abraham Lincoln.
After spending a month in Savannah, Sherman headed north to tear the Confederacy into smaller pieces. The Yankee soldiers took particular delight in carrying the war to South Carolina, the symbol of the rebellion. It was the first state to secede and the site of Fort Sumter, where South Carolinians fired on the Federal garrison to start the war in April 1861. When Confederate General Wade Hampton’s cavalry evacuated Columbia, the capital was open to Sherman’s men.
Many of the Yankees got drunk before starting the rampage. Union General Henry Slocum observed: “A drunken soldier with a musket in one hand and a match in the other is not a pleasant visitor to have about the house on a dark, windy night.” Sherman claimed that the raging fires were started by evacuating Confederates and fanned by high winds. He later wrote: “Though I never ordered it and never wished it, I have never shed any tears over the event, because I believe that it hastened what we all fought for, the end of the War.”
Belatedly, some Yankees helped fight the fires, but more than two-thirds of the city was destroyed. Already choked with refugees from the path of Sherman’s army, Columbia’s situation became even more desperate when Sherman’s army destroyed the remaining public buildings before marching out of Columbia three days later.
Sherman is most famous for his March to the Sea in the closing months of 1864. After capturing Atlanta in September, Sherman cut away from his supply lines and cut a swath of destruction across Georgia on his way to Savannah. His army lived off the land and destroyed railroads, burned warehouses, and ruined plantations along the way. This was a calculated effort–Sherman thought that the war would end more quickly if civilians of the South felt some destruction personally, a view supported by General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Union forces, and President Abraham Lincoln.
After spending a month in Savannah, Sherman headed north to tear the Confederacy into smaller pieces. The Yankee soldiers took particular delight in carrying the war to South Carolina, the symbol of the rebellion. It was the first state to secede and the site of Fort Sumter, where South Carolinians fired on the Federal garrison to start the war in April 1861. When Confederate General Wade Hampton’s cavalry evacuated Columbia, the capital was open to Sherman’s men.
Many of the Yankees got drunk before starting the rampage. Union General Henry Slocum observed: “A drunken soldier with a musket in one hand and a match in the other is not a pleasant visitor to have about the house on a dark, windy night.” Sherman claimed that the raging fires were started by evacuating Confederates and fanned by high winds. He later wrote: “Though I never ordered it and never wished it, I have never shed any tears over the event, because I believe that it hastened what we all fought for, the end of the War.”
Belatedly, some Yankees helped fight the fires, but more than two-thirds of the city was destroyed. Already choked with refugees from the path of Sherman’s army, Columbia’s situation became even more desperate when Sherman’s army destroyed the remaining public buildings before marching out of Columbia three days later.
Sherman sacks Columbia, South Carolina - Feb 17, 1865 - HISTORY.com
Posted from history.com
Civil War
American History
Military History
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 6
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Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Information about the song: Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez
TSgt Joe C., my perspective (and perhaps some other Southerners) on Sherman's March to the Sea tactics/strategy doesn't necessarily fall into the mainstream line of thought. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Confederate flag waver, and I'm no professional historian. Also, I do know exactly why the War of Northern Aggression was fought and why it needed to end with the restoration of the United States in its entirety, the ending of slavery and all the other things that came with it.
However, read the narrative you provided again. Read any article concerning Sherman's thoughts, feelings and strategy/tactics. He was absolutely ruthless and remorseless, and I find it hard to justify such behavior (against Americans in Lincoln's eyes) despite Sherman's rationale, his affinity for those of the South (but recognizing their zeal to continue), and the endorsements of Grant and Lincoln.
Sherman set back the physical reconstruction of the South (specifically Georgia and the Carolinas) by more than 50 years, and for generations thereafter, the mere mention of his name evoked feelings of hatred hard to fathom now. Had we lived contemporaneously, and been introduced, it's not likely I would have taken his hand. For many of those born in the South, William Tecumseh Sherman is not a name that evokes fond memories.
I've attached the song, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". It was written by and originally recorded by The Band, but I've always liked Joan Baez's version better. The song is not about Sherman's march specifically, but the title of the song is apropos of Sherman's behavior and "The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War and the suffering of Southerners." COL Jean (John) F. B. SGT John " Mac " McConnell CPT Gabe Snell
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ksYL26lZE
However, read the narrative you provided again. Read any article concerning Sherman's thoughts, feelings and strategy/tactics. He was absolutely ruthless and remorseless, and I find it hard to justify such behavior (against Americans in Lincoln's eyes) despite Sherman's rationale, his affinity for those of the South (but recognizing their zeal to continue), and the endorsements of Grant and Lincoln.
Sherman set back the physical reconstruction of the South (specifically Georgia and the Carolinas) by more than 50 years, and for generations thereafter, the mere mention of his name evoked feelings of hatred hard to fathom now. Had we lived contemporaneously, and been introduced, it's not likely I would have taken his hand. For many of those born in the South, William Tecumseh Sherman is not a name that evokes fond memories.
I've attached the song, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". It was written by and originally recorded by The Band, but I've always liked Joan Baez's version better. The song is not about Sherman's march specifically, but the title of the song is apropos of Sherman's behavior and "The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War and the suffering of Southerners." COL Jean (John) F. B. SGT John " Mac " McConnell CPT Gabe Snell
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ksYL26lZE
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COL Jean (John) F. B.
I totally agree with LTC Stephen C. ... Although I understand the professed "need" to break the will of the Southern states, Sherman's willful and wanton destruction of the South should be considered a war crime and not celebrated. He is no hero in my book. He was a domestic terrorist who committed war crimes and should have been stopped by the President, if not court-martialed. Had the South won the war, he would have been hung.
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Early shock n awe TSgt Joe C. Cruel yes but sometimes the only way to ultimate victory is to crush your enemy. Even if you are part of that enemy.
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