The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-03-18
General sherman on War claims.

OCACla oACELlhn On war OldA1fss
WAsHISGToN, March u, 1866.
Many petitions have been presented
in Congress during this session for re-
endorsement of damages done by our
army in marching through South Caro-
lima Most of them were from Column
bia, and the parties claim to have al
ways been Union men, and generally
assume that the city was burned by
Gen. Sherman's order. One of these
was presented in the Senate to-day.
The petitioner says he is 80 years old;
that his home and al1its contents was
burned on the night after our occupa-
ton of Columbia; that the loss was at
least ten thousand dollars; that he
is reduced to beggary, and that he IS
living on the charity of the Masonic
order. He further says that he was
i've years postmaster and % years q
magistrate of Columbia; has been un-
der oath since 1923 to preserve, protect
and defend the Constitution, and has
never broken that oath; that he suffered
~pecuniary loss in notification times,
because he was q Union man, and was
removed from the post-ofice for the
same This person has laid his
case before Gen Sherman, and the fol
lowing letter in reply passed through
here to-day, on its way to him
H'Do'Rs MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, March 6, 1866.
BENJAMIN Rowls, Columba, 5. c.:
DEAR SIR-I have your letter inclos.
ing a petition to the Congress of the
United States, asking to be Unidentified
for the loss by fire Of your house and
contents at the time of our occupation
in February, 1865. I assure you that l
feel deeply for you and all Others who
lost their property in that fire, but if
the United States we're 70 assume the
liability, it would be an admission that
We had done wrong. This is not true.
The rightful authority of the Ma
donal Government had been resisted
in the State of South Carolina for years,
and we were compelled at q great
cost OF life and money, to condct thither
a vast army, and our progress was re-
sisted by all the force the State could
obtain. Your own citizens resisted our
approach, not only with arms, but by
burning the bridges oYer the Edisto,
Congaree, Salada and Broad rivers.
They burned the depot in Columbia be-
fore we entered the city, because it CON
tanned corn and stores they supposed
we needed, and set FIRE TO thousands of
bales Of cotton rolled out into the
streets, and which we're burning before
we entered Columbia. | myself was in
the city as early as noOn and saw those
tires, and knew that efforts were made
to e%xtinguish them; but q high and
strong wind kept them alive.
l gave no orders for the burning of
your city, but, on the contrary, the re-
verse, and l believe the conGagration
resulted from the great imprudence of
cutting the cotton bales, whereby the
coRtenta were spread by the wind, so
that it became almost impossible to ar.
rest the fire. / saw in your Columbia
newspapers the printed order of Gen.
Wade Hampton, that on the approach
of the Yankee army all the cotton
should thus be burned, and from what
| saw myself have no hesitation in say
ing that he was the cause of the de-
structlon OF your property. Your true
remedy is against him and such Others
of your own citizens as conspired with
him and made the military occupation
of your city an absolute necessity. | |
hardly think it is fair that Congress
should tax the people of Ohio, Illinois
and Missouri to pay for such losses; but
as it is not my province to Judge in
such matters, | will send your petition
according to its address.
again assure you of my personal
sympathy by reason of your age and
inirmity, but this must not lead me to
indorse a wrong principle.
am, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
W. T. SHERMEN, Mai. Gen.