The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-06-18
Sherman's Grcat March y so,.e

or Sherman's Great March," saws.
"Iherc CAN be 10 doubt OF the asscr-
uoh that the feeling among tho troops
was one OF extreme bitterness towards
the people Of South Carolina. 1t was
freely expressed AS the column hurried
over the bridge at Sisters ferry, eager
70 commence the punishment of tho
orlgihal SeccssiOnists. Threatening
words were heard from soldiers who
Pflded themselves Oh conservatism in
h0uscburning while in Georgia, and
officers openly confessed their fears
that the coming campaign would be q
3 wicked one. just or unjust as this
feeling was toward the country people
III South Carolina, it was univ ersal.
first saw its fruits at Purisburo.
where two or three piles Of blackened
bricks and
AN ACRE OR so OF DYING EMBERs
marked the site of an old revolution
airy town; and this before the column
had fairly got its hand in.' Again:
"Thc ruined homcstcads Of the Pal
metto State will long be remembered.
! The army might safely march tho
darkest night, tho cracking pine
, woods shooting up their columns Of
flame, and the burning houses along
the way would light it on.
AS for the wholesale burnings, pilagc,
devastation committed in South Caro-
lima, magnify all [ have said of Gcor-
gia some fifty fold, and then throw in
an occasional murder, .,just to bring an
old laru-tistcd cuss to his Senses and
, YOU have pretty good idea of the
! whole thing. Besides compelling the
enemy to cvacuatc Charleston, wO de-
stroycd Columbia, Oraugcburg and
several other places, also over fifty
! miles Of railroad, and thousands of
bales Of cotton" Major Nichols, of
Gen. Shcrinan's staff, in his History,
under date of January 30, 1865, save:
The actual invasion Of South Caro-
lima las begun. The well-known SIGHT
OF columns Of black smoke meets our
gaze again. This time houses arc
burning, and South Carolina has COM
mcnccd to pay an instalmcnt, long
overdue, on her debt to Justice and
humanity. With the help of God, we
will have principal and interest before
we leave her borders" This is Fed
cral testimony, And why should not
officers and mon have acted in the way
described? Gen. Sherman was in
supreme command. Had thew aurht
to fear from him? They came into
South Carolina with the determination
to make al example Of the Palmetto
State. is it credible that they drew
the line at Columbia and Shared the
Capital, when nothing else was left
unscalhcd2
GEN. SHERMAN HIMSELF SHALL ANSWER.
In the Memoirs Of Gen. WIN. T.
Sherman, BY Himself, pagc 226) we
find il dispatch of Gen. Sherman to
Gen. w. II. Ilallcck, dated Head
quarters in the Field, Savannah, De-
ccmbcr "a, 1861. 1t Is given in full,
Gen. Sherman says:
"ThiS war differs from European
wars in this particular: We are not
only fighting hostile armies, bnt q
hostile people, and must make old and
Young, rich and poor, feel the hard
hand OF war, us well rs their organized |
armies. ! know that this recent move
ment of mine through Gcor gia has
had wonderful effect in this respect.
Thousands who had been deceived bv
thclt lying newspapers to believe that |
we were being whipped all the time
now realize the truth, and have no aD-
petite for repetition of the same ex-
pcricncc. TO be sure jeff Davis has
his people under pretty good disci-
plinc, but | think faith in him is much
shaken in Georgia, ond before VIC
have done with her, South Carolina |
will not be quite SO tcmpcstuous.
81 will bear in mind your hint rs TO |
Char lesion, and do not think salt
will be necessary. When | move, the |
Fifteenth Corps will be OH the right
of the right wing, and their position
will bring them into Charleston first ;
and if you have watched the history Of
that corps, You will have remarked |
that they generally do their work !
pretty well. The TRUTHS, the whole az
my is burning with an Unsuitable desire
to wrcak vengeance upon South Caro-
lima. almost tremble at her fate; but
feel that she deserves all that seems in |
store for her"
This is susceptible of but one mean
ing: That Gen. Ilallcck had limited !
that
CHARLESTON SHOULD BE LAID IN ASHES,
and the ruins sowcd in salt. Sherman
N0ws tha! he was ready for this, and |
and that nothing was too bad for
South Carolina. But for what fol-
lows, it might have been urged that
Charleston was especially singled out
rs the scapcgoat OF the State. Iii the |
very same letter from which we have |
quoted, Sherman says: 81 look upon |
Columbia as quite as bad as Charles |
ton" Mark Shcrman's words, and the
wholesale destruction Of property in
South Carolina. Join to this the fact |
that it was the Fifteenth Corps that !
entered Columbia and occupied it. |
Can it be doubted, for moment, that
tho Corps again did its work "prcttv |
we'll" and that Sherman acted upon
the feeling, which animated him from
the moment that he crossed the State
line, that South Carolina deserved all
that was in store for her, 10y reason of
his own wishes and the Unsuitable de-
sire Of his troops for vengeance!
Gen. Sherman fOrgcts-or lie SAYS
what is untrue. We arc constrained |
to believe that he
WILFULLY MISSTATES THE FACTS.
This we believe because he has done il
before. In Memoirs (pagc 287) and
IN substance, in his Hartford speech, |
Gen. Sherman says that the fire which |
destroyed Columbia was "accidcntal." -.