The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-03-12
THE MODERN ALARjC.
Some Truths About the Vandalism Of
Sherman's March to tho Sea.

DUE WEST, February 24.-The mem
ory of Gen w. II. Sherman is clearly no
without stain. No one will question
his brute bravery, but every right-mind
ed mann must regard him as crue
monster. a large amount of the reg ion
OF country traversed by him in hi,
"march TO the sea" was at the time
berclt of all its population except the ole
men, women and children. The able.
bodied men were all in the Confederate
army, and the force by which his pro
@rcss was opposed was not adequate fol
the purpose. 1t is a fact beyond doubt
that he burned, or caused to be burned
houses Of every description and DESTROY
ed property of all kinds. BY his orders
or with his full consent all the stock was
destroyed.
In all this wholesale destruction there
was not the shadow ofnecessity, viewed
from a military point Of view. The
North may laud him as much AS it
plcascs, but the solemn truth is "Sher-
mans march to the sea" is disgrac c
TO the whole American nation and q foul
blot on the civilization of The nineteenth
century. The barbarltles pcrpetrated
by his army, and with his appreciation,
exceeded any recorded in modern histo-
~, except it be those practiced by the
Spanlards. His "march to the sea" was
st bartholomew Day repeated on a
grand scale. Gen VIM II. Sherman had
Il splcncid opportunity to display the
| cllVal"y OF conQucror, but he chose TO
play the part Of black-hcarted murder
er. 1t is to hoped that he repented of
all his sins.
1t Gen Sherman had taken the horses
and mnles OF. the country and used them
this would, by the laws of war, have
been regarded as proper, out this he did
not do. The horses and mules, IN every
section Of tho country through which he
passed, wera collected and shot. The
corn and fodder and everything on which
man or beast could live were burned up.
Everything was destroyed. Domestic
fowls and domestic animals-cvcn the
dogs and cats were killed. Houses, in
which there were none but old men and
ladies in humble circumstances, were
entered, DESTROYED. Mich COWS were
shot down i'll the yard, the crockery was
all broken up; the pals and pots were
smashed into pieces, the clothing OF the
family was violently taken cut OF the
houses and sometimes of the persons OF
old men and Old momen, Of little bows
and girls and burned before their eyes.
This was not all. Those who were
reduced to want were cursed and abused
rs if they had not the feelings Of brutes
Gen Sherman eli his ''march to the scan.
acted as if he believed that the only good
Southern man was dead Southern man,
and the only mercy that the South de-
served was to be burned up.
The probability is that in the course OF
few months some book agent will bs
tramping over the South cndsavorins to
sell to the people Of Georgia and South
Carolina the life Of Gen Sherman. It is
to be hoped that our people will have
enough of self respect neither to buy it
nor read it.
Some southern man ought to write the
historyiof Sherman's March to the sea -
that coming generations might know the
truth. All that is really necessary is to
state unvarnshcd the facts-the truth :;
nothing but the truth. We have no
desire o blacken the name Of Gen Shcr-
man. lie is dead But ii is doing the
South great injustice for The Northern
press, and especially the religious press
OF the North, to point to the march Of
Gen Sherman to the sea as the pilgrim
age of an unsellish saint.-News and
Courier