The Washington herald., 1915-02-21

! the army and the city. and in the mSh'
brigade-Col. George 4. Stones. oil
Woods Division of the Fifteenth Corps
was to be ferried across on pontoons pre-
paratory to laying a bridge the next day
The left wing of the army. comprising
the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps. un-
der Gen. H. W. Slocum. was nearing the
town of Aston. about twenty-five miles
north of Columbia. Gen. Judson kii-
patrick's cavalry was scattered out In
front of Slocum's wing.
With Columbia in sight, the bitterness
of the Federal troops toward South Car
DINA, the State that had begun the war
by announcing her secession from the
Union and by firing upon the Stars and
Stripes over Fort Sumter. waxed strong
er. Already heavy reprisals had been
made upon the people by burning their
homes and plundering their personal
property. and now the men muttered
threats against the community before
them.
Doom OF Columbia Decided.
Capt. George W. Pepper. in his story Of
the campaign, wrote Of the intent OF the
men to burn the city when they enter
ed it
From our camp" he wrote. the whole
city was in plain view. No troops. save
a few skirmishers along the river or cit
liens. could be seen on the streets or
about the town. ] remarked to a captain
Of artillery that the Confederates could
make US scatter by opening a battery on
our camp and the columns of troops
marching on the road within musket shot
of the town.
so they could: and ! hope they will
fire at u.s. he replied. We wish for a
good excuse TO blow the Internal town
to the devil, and will do so on the first
provocation. They know better. however.
and will not disturb our sleep tonight i"
Near the Federal camps and close by
the road along which the Fifteenth army
Corps was marching were the remains OF
Camp Sorghum. a Confederate prison for
been abandoned.
This camp though occupying less space
than sufficient for 500 men. was crowded
with 1900 officers during the months of
September and October. 1864. The men
had been without huts or shelter of any
kind, but eventually had been supplied
with a few axes and shovels with which
they had dug cellars and constructed
conical earth huts.
AS stories about the starvation Of
prisoners. sick. dying for want of at
tention. in the burning sun. were related
by the escaped prisoners to the crowds
of soldiers visiting this camp. they be-
came furious with rage against Colum-
bia." wrote Capt Pepper.
The feeling OF the Army of the Ten
nessee is well illustrated by a profane
and ferocious doggerel. which was sung
by hundreds in the Fifteenth Army
Corps:
Hail Columbia. happy land.
II don't burn YOU Ill be ID
THE doom of Columbia was decided
at Camp Sorghum. and neither Gen.
Sherman nor any other man could save
il from severe treatment
FederaIs Ply the Torch.
The coming of the Federals had been
heralded several days before by dense
columns Of black smoke that arose on
the southern horizon, where many acres
of pine forest land and hundreds OF
dwellings and barns were in flames.
For miles the army had marched on
roads fisnked by furiously burning
woods. which had been set ablaze acct
or otherwise.
1T was grand and sometimes awful to
soc the flames flying over the ground
like a frightened steed' wrote Mai
George W. Nichols. of Sherman's stan.
in The Story Of the Great March" AS
we approached one OF these forests
filled with flames and pitch-black smoke
il appeared as IL We we're about to real
izc the imaginations of childhood and
see dragons and terrible beasts guarding
the entrance to some forbidden ground"
When the Fifteenth Corps marched into
the little village of Saluda. three or four
miles above Columbia. the torch was
freely used. The Columbia mills en-
ploying about 400 operatives mostly
women. said to have been the largest
factory in the South. was soon in flames.
The fire was famed by a stiT breeze
and flying sparks ignited some of the
nearby dwellings. Amidst the smoke
and flames the frightened women. their
sole means of support gone. wept and
wrung their hands
That night. when the army was in
sight of Columbia. a Federal battery
opened fire upon the city. Sherman at
once rode up and ordered the firing
stopped. He did not wish the RESPONSE
bility for the death of defenseless wom-
EN- and children. He did allow few
shells to be exploded over the railroad
depot. in the suburbs in order to fright
Pm of the negroes who were looting the
Confederate commissary stores. OF which
Sherman was much in need. and which
he hoped to capture the next day.
II was a night of feverish anxiety in
The civilians. especially the
were loath to believe that their
tity must fail. and trusted to the last that |
Beauregard and his handful of troops
would he able to stand off the Fcderals.
But with the dawn their greatest fears
were to be realized: the Confederates
were to withdraw and the monster
Sherman was to march in.