Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1922-02-16
VOL. 20
BURNING OF COLUMBIA
IS RELATED IN LETTER
Interesting Article by ]. I. BOifeuiuet
In the Macon Telegrapr-Char.
acter of War Waged.

Just now when the anniversary o
the burning of Columbia, Februar,
II, 1865, is fresh on the minds of tn
people the following, written by ]. 7
Boifeuillet in the Macon Telegraph
will be of interest:
Yesterday I was oonversing will
a prominent lady of Macon, who, will
her sister, also a well known residen
Of this city, were eye-witnesses o
the burning of Columbia and suffer
ers, too, from this terrible act. Sht
furnished me with evidence of tht
process by which the union was re-
stored, in the shape Of copy 0f {
letter which was found In the street
of Columbia Immediately after the
army Of Sherman had left the ruined
and plundered city. The lady informs
me that the original Is still preserved
and can be shown and substanliated I
anybody desires. The name signed tc
the letter was that Of lieutenant II
Sherman's army and was addressed
to his wife at Boston, Mass. an
indebted to the Macon lady for the
following copy Of the letter, which
was handed to me with the request
that it be published on the 42nd ami.
versary Of the destruction of the fair
and beautiful Columbia can ado
nothing in the way of comment or
such document. 1t speaks for itself
Camp Near Camden, S. C.
L" February 26, 1865.
My Dear Wife: l have no time
for particulars. We have had a glori.
Gus time in this State Unrestricted
license to burn and plunder was the
order of the day. The chivalry hav
been stripped of most of their valua.
bles. Gold watches, silver pitcher
cups, spoons, forks, etc, etc, are as
common in camp as blackberries. Tho
terms of plunder are as follows: The
valuables procured are estimated b
companies. Each company is required
to exhibit the result Of its operations
at any given pace-one-fifth and frs;
choice falls to the share of the corr
:mander-in-chief and staff, one-fifth
to the field officers Of the regiments
and two-ffths to the company.
Officers are not allowed to /
these expeditions without disguisinc
themselves as private5. One of our
corps commanders borrowed a suit OF
rough clothes from one Of my men
and was successful in this place. HI
got a large quantity Of silver (amone
other things an old-time silver milk
pitcher, and very fne gold watcn
from a Mr.. OeSaussure, who is one OF
the F. F. VS. of South Carolina, and
was made to fork over literally. Off
GERS over the rank Of captain are no
made 10 put their plunder IN the esti-
mate for general distribution. This
is very unfair, and for tndt reason
in order to protect themselves, sIb
ordinate officers and privates keep
back everything that they can carry
about their persons, such as rings
earrings, breast pins, ETC., Of which
If l ever get home, have about q
quart. l am not joking. have al
least a quart Of jewelry for you ar
all the girls-and some No. diamond
rings and pins among them Genera,
Sherman has silver and gold enough
to start a bank. His share In gold
watches and chains alone at Columbia
was two hundred and seventy-ive.
But l said I would not go into
particulars. All the general officers
and many besides, had valuables OF
every description down TO anbroider,
eu OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. hh'S AZ
share Of them, too. We took gold
and silver enough from the ID re-
bells to have redeemed their internal
currency twice over. This, the cur
rency, whenever we came across it we
burned, as we considered it utterly
worthless.
4 wish all the iewelry this army
has could be carried to the old Bay
State. 1t would deck her out in glori-
Gus style, but alas it will be scattered
all over the North and Middle States
The ID niggers, as a general rule
prefer to stay at home-particularly
after they found out that We only
wanted the able-bodied men (and t
tell the truth, the youngest and best
looking women). Sometimes we ter
off whole farms and plantations of mig