The Burning of Columbia by General Sherman: A Native's Search for the
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Chapter four conspiracy to burn. If the findings are that Sherman did not order the burning of Colombia, why then did it burn? Was it just an unfortunate accident or was it by design? If the consensus is that it was by design, this points to the possibility of a conspiracy to burn the city. Sherman is not guilty of ordering the burning of Colombia. Instead, he is guilty of being unable to restrain the men beneath him from the time that he entered the state with his troops. Even he noticed the feelings of hatred towards South Carolina and the desire to make it pay for bringing on the wall as members of the 14th Corps crossed over a bridge into South Carolina, a soldier at the head of the column turned around and shouted boys. This is old South Carolina. Let's give her hail to which the troops responded with cheers. A Wisconsin officer in the 17th Corps commented in his diary in late January today commences the destruction of South Carolina and we gave her a good initiation. This was not only the hotbed of succession but also the state that fired the first shots and as an Ohioan intimated. Our army did not feel bound by the ordinary restraints of human warfare. Officers quickly found out that although the chief performed all of their duties, they would not be denied their right earned through three or four years of service to teach South Carolina a lesson. 20th Corps Commander A S Williams wrote home that the soldiers quietly took their matter into their own hands. A New Jersey lieutenant commented, it seemed almost as though there was a secret organization among the men to burn everything in the state for thus far, in spite of orders and the utmost efforts of officers houses in some way, get on fire and nearly all we have passed thus far are I think in ashes. Many diary accounts speak to support this idea that the men did not feel the need to adhere to orders whenever it came to South Carolina. Despite the greatest vigilance on the part of officers when troops wanted to fire a home, they did it one. Ohio private wrote that the houses are mostly burnt by stragglers and is against orders. But the men say that not a house shall be left standing in South Carolina and they are doing their best to carry out their threat. Elmore spoke about the common feeling that there was a conspiracy among the men to burn everything in the state chaplain George S Bradley wrote on February 2nd, an officer recently informed me that he had thought there was a regular organized party in the army for the destruction of property in South Carolina. There is a most terrible feeling on the part of our soldiers in this respect and nothing will prevent the ruin of the country. While no hard evidence supports this theory, the soldiers' actions suggest that such plots may have existed according to some accounts, even if there had not been a premeditated decision to burn the city, what they found while there would have helped them to carry out the deed harrowing stories from escaped prisoners of war, the site of camp. So the Confederate prison camp on the outskirts of the city and heavy consumption of alcohol certainly exacerbated the situation. But ***** troops would have burned Columbia regardless as they had other South Carolina towns that there were those who wanted to make South Carolina suffer is indisputable and in some ways understandable. However, this is not to say that the entire army felt this way. Not everyone supported the policy of devastation adopted by German soldiers. One Ohio major said in what way will the destruction of so much property aid us in restoring peace harmony and ***** to our distracted country? An Ohio Sergeant urged that house burners should be hung on the nearest tree. Many citizens of Colombia and the rest of the state made claims that they were warned prior to the conflagration that Colombia would be burned. Mrs Rosa meets says that it was the common talk among them at the village of Lexington that Columbia was to be burned by Sherman. The mayor testified that he was told by soldiers during the fire that it was commonly discussed around their campfires since leaving Savannah. And that it was said by numbers of the soldiers that the order had been given to burn down the city. Orders may not have been given to burn the city. But the general idea was that it would not be displeasing to Sherman for it to burn. Reverend Shand testified about a meeting he had in Charleston, in which General Howard was present. He claims that Howard apologized for the burning of the city and said though General Sherman did not order the burning of the town yet somehow or other, the men had taken up the idea that if they destroyed the capital of South Carolina, it would be peculiarly gratifying to General Sherman. One thing that the Columbia Committee who took these depositions noted was that although Howard said that Sherman did not order the city to be banned, he did not say that General Sherman gave specific orders that it should not be banned. Also, they found it interesting that if General Sherman was opposed to the burning, that his opposition should have been so disguised as to lead to the conviction on the part of his soldier that the act so far from incurring his disapprobation or censure would be a source to him. Of peculiar gratification. The warnings about the destruction were not limited to when the fires would start. There were also some who prophesized when it would end. One lady asked her guard when the chaos would stop to which he replied, you will hear the bugles at sunrise, then they will cease and not till then. At daybreak, Gibbs claims he saw two men galloping through the streets blowing horns, not a dwelling was fired after that immediately, the town became quiet. Some historians point to this as a fact that it negates any sort of defense that damage was done by a few bad apples or without explicit coordination from the top. One of the most condemning pieces of evidence to support the conspiracy theory of Columbia. Burning lies in the actions of Major General John Logan. Several reports have surfaced of Logan acting suspiciously and contrary to given orders, sometimes independent of orders. For instance, in regards to the shelling of Colombia, it seems that De Grasse was not the only person firing his artillery rifles on the 16th on escape P O W claimed that he saw Logan aiming cannons at Columbia and watching for where they would hit through his spy glass. When he hit his target, he would have his men chair for South Carolina. This was confirmed by one soldier from the sixth Iowa who said that General Logan told us to pitch in and fire all we wanted to and draw their fire. And if they fired one shot from their batteries, he would burn the city but they did not fire on us. And he said we would burn it anyhow. Later that same evening, several soldiers and officers claim to have heard Logan saying that Colombia would be burned tomorrow. Understanding more about Logan makes it more believable that he would be the one to want to burn Colombia to the ground. There was a rumor that Colonel Preston, the owner of a house that Logan established his headquarters in had once publicly spoken down to Logan, referencing his Indian Blood Logan wanting to make the occupation of Colombia personal entered the house and took certain pleasures in making himself comfortable in the home of Presidents. Logan was intent on burning the home the next day. Despite the orders that no other houses would be fired when the home was chosen as the temporary lodgings for Sister Baptista and the other nuns from the burned convent, Preston became irate that his plans were foiled. Logan had barrels of pitch in the cellar and was ready to ignite the house and did not believe her until she showed him the orders and the title that Sherman had issued. Logan swore mightily and ordered the combustibles removed with the evidence listed above. It is possible that Logan could have ordered the men beneath him to wreak havoc upon the city of Colombia causing the fires that would later engulf the city. However, the problem with this theory is that Lucas and others have listed several instances during the evening in which Logan was seen battling the fires attempting to put them out. Given this fact, it is unclear whether his early assertions that the city would be burned was Logan hinting at the destruction he knew would come or simply big talk from someone whose temper had been aroused. A conspiracy to burn the city does not mean that Sherman and all of his top officers were part of this plan. One way that this can be seen is in the countless reports of officers reigning in bad behavior or fighting the fires. Reverend Toomer Porter spoke of seeing Sherman in the streets that evening after a brief discussion in which Sherman blamed the governor for not destroying the alcohol in the city. He called out to an officer on horseback. He reminded him that he had ordered it to be stopped. The officer replied that he had brought in a new division but they soon got as drunk as the first regiment that had marched in. Sherman's reply was to go and bring in the second division. I hold you personally responsible for its immediate cessation. Porter says that it was no more than an hour after this, that the chaos was brought to order and that not another residence was burned after that. It seems that the fact that no other house burned after the morning of the 18th does not mean that there was a lack of desire to do so that morning, General Howard issued special orders in response to reports that some of the soldiers wanted to burn what was left of the city. Howard ordered all of his commanders to post guards, send out patrols and take any steps necessary to prevent further arson even taking the life of any refractory soldier. One piece of evidence that could contradict the claim that Sherman's top officers were not a part of the mayhem is the many charges that officers took part in the chaos of the evening. Sims insists commissioned officers of rank as high as colonel were frequently among the most active in spoil and not always the most tender or considerate in the manner or acting of their crimes. One witness claimed that officers there were in the plenty but few were apparent among the looters. Most of them stood about and complacently watched. It is possible that that there was a conspiracy to burn Colombia among some prior to entering the city or even the state as some account share. However, that Sherman and his leading generals would be part of this conspiracy seems inconclusive at best. There is no evidence to support this, save for the claims against Major General Logan. There was simply too many soldiers who wanted to see the city fall for there to have been much success in stopping it. One defense of Sherman and his men comes from Friedman's Bureau agent, Major William Stone who acknowledges that individual soldiers can and do commit acts which would grow disgrace upon a whole command in a large city like Colombia, where men must have been scattered and where unusual opportunities for a pillage were presented. It is more probable that many of them set fire to houses which might otherwise have escaped in Sherman's army of 60,000 strong. There were many of the sort who would stoop to burning Colombia as they had become so accustomed to doing along their route also against orders. Even if these men only included the 5% who were previously mentioned as being ideal for the mindset required for foraging. This would be 3000 drunken men left to wreak havoc upon the city. This is on par with the numbers that were rounded up by the Provos Brigade that was called in, in all, some 3500 soldiers and civilians were arrested mostly on drunken mischarges including officers of nearly every grade. With the hindsight of the numbers. It is fortunate that only 458 buildings or one third of Colombia was burned that evening. Given the numbers of disgruntled people in Colombia that night, it could have been far worse.