The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-02-20
WORK OF VANDALS.
The Burning Of coiumti4 BY Gan
sharman S Amy
TRiR7Y.FiVE YEARS AGO

a srcry It suff-:ing, c'uslsy
and Vandalism :Oraphi.
caTy TcId by Capt
D. A .Oiekert.
The following is the slcry Of the
burning OF Columbia in February, 1865,
by Gen. Sbe,mau's army as related by
Capt. D. Augustus Dickert in his his
tory of "Kersi avs B.igade:'
When Shernsn Tut his mighty ma
chine Of vsr in mo,ion Kershaw's bri-
esdc vas hurried back 10 Charleston
and . 10 Georges Station, then 10 the
bridge en- the Edisto. Raiding parties
we're out in every direction, destroying
tr;dgs aud railroads, and as the
southern srmy lai 20 pontoou corps
ncr sny methods CT crossing tie deep,
s!usei,h streams in their rear lut by
Fr:Ggcs, it can ben seen that the cut.
sire Of enc bridge alone might be fatal
70 the army 1t vas discovered early
in ,hc march that Sherman cid rot in.
tcrd to turn to the right or to the left,
out to continue on direct line, with
Cc!uu b;s as the centre Of operations.
We were removed from the Edis'o back
to Charleston, ard up the Northwest
ern railroad to St., Stephens, on the
Sabiec. It Eas feared that raiding
party from Georgetown would come up
tire Sartee AID cut he bridge, thereby
SO atiug the army EaEdee had in Char
is on aod vicinity. slew]y Sherman
G,axecd his weary length along" On
lie 18Th OF F, bTua1y the corps Of Gen.
Blair reached Kingv;!le and drove our
Q ckets away flom the bridge over the
=, nga ee.
Un the 18th Of February tie advance
cojrma Of the Twentieth corps came in
sight If Columbia. All the bridges lead
icg thereto we're burned and the south.
en- troops withdrawn to the eastern
side. Frank Blair corps left the road
leading TO Columbia at Hopkins, and
kept a direct line for Camden. An
c,her c:rps, the Fifteenth, crossed the
Broad at Columbia, while the -Four
,ecu,h md Twentieth were to cross at
Fscs5ley's and Aston. Orders had
heep given TO evscuate Charleston, and
Il the troops under Gen. McLsWs
ct -Four Hole Swamp. aDd along the
coast vele TO rendezv: Us at s.. Steph-
ems On the Ssntee, and either make a
junction with the western army at
Chester, s. G., or if not possible, to con.
Sirue to Chesterfield OF Cheraw. The
plan Of tte campaign vas now to con-
c4nt,ate ali the forces Of Hoods State
,rcvl ard Hsrdee's at some point in
upper Seu.l Carolina or in North Car
ollna, end make one more desperate
st.ud, AID bv united action crush and
overthrow Shermans army, thereby
relieving Lee.
On Tho ncrn'Dg OF February the 18Th
lie e.emy, without any warning vEat
ever, bean sI.elliIg the city Of t'o|um
nie. 6lled With women ard children.
Now it must be re1 eDlbered tlas thi7
: as mt tor the purpose Of crossing the
river, FIR ere Of Shcrnau's corps had
ar, SOY crossed below the city AMI two
others sctve. One shsll passed through
he bolel in which G:n. Beauregard
~as at the time, Others stIutk the
S,a'e bcuse, while many fell thrt sh'
out the city Gen. Hampton wi,hdre II
his su all force Of cavalry early on the
mo, oi5g Of the 17th, and the ma; or ct
:he city met an ,mcsr Of the federal
army uuder q flag of truce and ten
dered him the surrender of the city,
and claimed protection for its inhsbi
tants. This vas promised.
All during the day thousands Of the
enemy pcu,ed into The city, Gen. Sber
az entering about midca7, Gems.
Davis and Williams corps crossed the
Ssluaa and continued up on the west
eru balk of Broad river, one crossing
10, the other 25 miles abeVe Columbia
lh, people of G, lumbia had hopes Of
, peaceful occupation Of The city, but
during the day and along towards
ajgh,fsll, the threatening attitude Of
tie soldiers, their cmi0ous words,
hrea's q vesgesrce, were too pcrten.
.,u, ter tie pccl le to misunderstood
o. 10 expect mercy. These s:gne,
threats and mutterings we're but the
prelude to that which vas to follow.
FIRE ALARM.
About 9 O'Clock the alarln OF FIRE was
Given ard the dread sound of the fire
se.ls, mingled with the f1u and rosr
of icl thousand voice. and the sread Of
as many troops buryirg to and fro en-
their cursed mission, could be heard
by the now thoroughly frightened pop.
uIsce. The people, With blanched
counteDances, set festures, looked in
uute silence into the fse Of each 9th
er. AL knew and felr, hut dared not
evtn 20 themselves to whisper, the R1,
a.is,aksble truth. Nov another alarm,
another FIRE bell mipgles its sound with
tie s. neral chorus Of discoTd, shouts
IF the soldiery, the frightened cries
of the reople-yells OF the drunken
rcors-all seething, nsddening tur-
bulerce in the crowded streets. A lurid
yiare shoots up above the house
tops, then the c;ackliDg and roaring
OF the dresd elements told but too
plainly that the beautiful city was soon
TO be wrapped in flames. The sack and
..illsgc ha: begun!
THE LOOT OF THE YANkEgo.
Few men being in the city, the wo-
neD, With rare heroism, sought to save
some little necessity Of lite, only to
see it struck to the floor or sDatched
from their hands and scattered in the
streets. Here would be lone woman
huggir an infant to her breast, with a