Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1865-03-01


the last day-in the great settlement of oil nc
counts-the GreatStcward above may deal kind
" with The contributors.
OF aud From Columbia.
AT last We havo definite and reliable news from
columbia; and sad and sickening tale it is!
Ono Corps of the Yankee army entered spur capi-
tai on Friday, the 18th of February, between II
and 12 o'clock A. NJ. The remaining corps en-
,amred around the town, but did not enter II.
Our informant, a physieiaa and gentleman Of
hieb character and intelligence, we'll known to
many of our citizens, who was in charge OF a
uospital in Columbia during the Yankee occupa-
ton, and who left two days after its evacuation
by them, says shernan's force is between sixty
1--WE and seventy y-fvc thousand strong-the finest
looking men, md the most splenddly equipped,
he has ever seen and that he has no negro SOL
diers-only negroes in his pioneer corps. Inc
Yankee army was in and around Columbia
i;om 1l,o'cl6ck on Friday until II on tho follow
ing Monday. Previous to the near approach OF
thi:-overwhelming horde of vandals, Gen. BEAU
REGARD Was in or near The city with between ten
and eleven thousand mon; he withdrew towards
winnsBero Gen. Hampton, with sorcn or eight
hundred cavalry, kept the enemy at bay on Fri
day morning. frOrr early dawn until 10 o'clock,
when he was forced to give back; he also retired
in tao direction Of Winnsboro.
Upon entering tho town, tho Yankees began
in,nodiatey to apply the torch, and before they
ceased their work Of destruction, three fourths Of
our fair capital werc smouldering ruins. All
houses of every kind frem Congarae Bridge to
Main Street, and all houses of every kind, on
either side of Main Street, in its entire length,
| were burned to the ground They hoisted the
Stars and Stripes upon tho old State House, and,
latter seeing it float. for few hours, hauled IL
down, and burned the building They threw shells
against tho new State House, and defaced IL con-
| siderably. The Arsenal, the Arnory, Evans
Corswsll's immense Printing Establishment the
Lutheran Church, the Washington St. Methodist
Church, the old Baptist Church, Christ Church
fEpiscopal.) the Roman Catholic Convent, the
Lal;es Hospital, the Waysidc Home, and all the
Hotels arc among the buildings burned. Nor
was the fire confined to Bridge Row and Main
Street very many elegant private residences, in
The blocks adjoining Msin 5treet wsrc destroyed;
among them, Chancellor Carroli's, Dr.. Gibbess,
Dr. Trcz.vants, Judge DcSaussure's, Col. CLARK
sons, Major Stark's Capt. senn's, DR.. Boat
wr:ghrs-and vast number Of others. The South
Carolina College was not burned-nor any build
ing connected with it. The Methodist Female
College was also not burned. Sherman made his
headquarters in the elegant residence Of the ate
Mrs. Hampton it was not burned. The Yankee
soldiers behaved with tho greatest brutality and
ferocity during the occupation: many ladies who
rushed from their burning houses, carrying in
their arms clothes and> valuables Of different
kinds had these snatched away from them and
tossed back into the flames. All houses not con-
sumcd by FIRE, we're entered and ruthlosslJ robbed.
Vast quantities of valuable furniture, china, glass,
Ac., wero wantonly smashed and destroyed. No
Whit. : :ys eerc displaycl-nor any trucklins to
the invader!
After rcsu OF terror Ol three days, Sherman
evacuated Columbia and marched towards Winns-
boro A considerable number Of negroes follow
cd him from the town and surrounding country;
of thoSe, all the women and children speedily re-
turned, he having refused to feed them. Many
of the men likewise returned. The train which
vas conveying off tho Yankee prisoners lately
confined in Columbia, is said to have been overta-
ken by Sherman, tho pri'oncfs recaptured, and
Capt Sem Confederate 0lieer in charge of thcm,
killed.
In Coluwbia, tho Yankee; surpassed al thsir
former barbarity andinhumanity. 'Tis thus they
slut the sectional animo:ilies, the envy, hatred
and malice Of thirty years growth. In the con-
sciousness of power, thOy goad the South to tho
fight, withsthe fell determination Of crushing its
pride and hulnbiing lis in the dust at their feet.
There is nothing left FOR tic Confederate people
but to put themselves in a condition of thorough
organization, and the whole country in an7atii-
tuic Of determined and undyiny defence. The
issue is cNtermiuation or slavery.