The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-14
SHERMAN PUSHED ONWARD
TOWARD GOLDSBORO.
March IA, 1865.


mans army. having completed the de-
struction OF Confederate property in
Fayetteville, y. e, was crossing the
Cape Fear River on two pontoon
bridges near the city and pushing on
! toward Goldsboro, fifty miles north
east. where Sherman planned to es-
tablish a permanent base for subse-
quent operations against the Confed-
1 crates.
! The capture of Fayetteville on March
II had deprived the Confederates of
one OF their main sources of military
supplies in that quarter of the coun-
try-the one-time United States Ar
senal. which since the beginning of
the war had been materially enlarged
and improved. II contained millions of
dollars worth of machinery and ma
terials for the manufacture of guns
ammunition. gun carriages and the
| like, a large quantity of seasoned
woods and half-fnished rifles and
other weapons.
Much as he disliked to see this vast
amount of valuable material wasted.
Sherman saw no Immediate means of
transferring il to the hands of the
Federal government. 80 ordered the
structure and it's contents DESTROYED
Gen. Orlando NJ Poe. chief engineer
of the army, proceeded with the work
The FIRST Michigan engineers bat
tered down the solid walls of ma sonry,
broke to pieces the machinery and
prepared the two large magazines for
firing. The immense machine shops.
foundries and timber sheds were soon
reduced to heap of rubbish. Fifty
years ago today, at q signal from
Gen. Poe. fire was applied to the piles
of debris, the wooden buildings and
to the trains leading to the powder.
"A couple of hours sufficed to re-
duce to ashes everything that would
burn" wrote Gen. Poe in his report.
and the high wind prevailing at the
time scattered the ashes SO that only
a few piles of broken bricks remain
ed of that repossessed arsenal" Gen.
Poe noted that much of the machinery
destroyed had been brought there at
the beginning of the war from the old
United States arsenal at Harpers
Ferry. the same which John Brown
and his band captured in his famous
raid of 1859.
Great Refugee Train.
With the arsenal gone, Sherman
found himself ready to proceed with
the campaign. He ordered his men to
press forward. but himself waited to
disencumber his army of the great
train of refugees that had followed
il through the Carolinas.
This great horde OF refugees. vari-
ously estimated as high as 2J,OUp,
largely negroes, bu, mum boring fully
500 whites, had been termed the "emi-
grant train" The majority of its mem
bers came from Columbia. S. G., or its
vicinity. most of the whites being
either escaped prisoners, those who
had been burned out in the fire and
faced actual starvation, or families of
Union sympathizers who. having pub
licity made known their feelings while
the Federals were in the city. thouEhr
it best to leave lest they should suf-
fer at the hands of their Confederate
neiEhbors.
The refugees carried their posses
sions on pack horses. on their backs
and in all sorts OF odd vehicles Old
men. women and children were crowd
ed together. willing to UNDERGO al
the hardships and dangers of the
campaign in order to set away from
the South.
Through the long march this part
of the column had subsisted much af-
ter the fashion of the soldiers. 1t
was comman ded by Maj. Reynolds. an
escaped prisoner, and under his di-
ganized and the regular corps of "emi-
grant bummers" swept up the scant
gleanings after the regular bum
mers" had finished. In this way the
people were amply. though not album
dainty, supplied vita food.
When Sherman reached Fayetteville
he determined to rid himself of this
remembrance. So, sending of by boat
to Wilmington as many of the whites
as was possible. he ordered the rest
of the refugees to move thence by
land. An escort of 200 men of the 10th
Illinois Infantry. under Mai. John A.
Winston. was provided. and after an
uneventful journey the 'emigrant
train" finally pulled into Wilmington.
Most of the white people went North.
and the negroes were given regular
allotments OF land to till.
sherman Threatens the Capital.
The bulk OF the Federal Army was
already on the northeast bank Of the
Cape Fear River and the advance of
both the left and right wings. under
Gems. III. W. Slocum and o. o. How
ard. respectively, were well out on
the roads to which Sherman had as
signed them.
Slocum's command was to FIRST
march up the left bank or the river.
Raleigh, the State CAPT
tai. while Howard was TO push ahead
rapidly toward Goldsboro. which was
the real objective of the movement
Sherman hoped that q feint at Raleigh
would lead the Confederates to. con-
centrate to defend that place and
leave the way to Goldsboro open TO
him.