wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |"The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."

The first in a series of stories commemorating 150 years after the Civil War. 

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – 147 years have not eased the vehement hatred South Carolinians have for General William Tecumseh Sherman.

After two days of artillery bombardment, General Sherman and thousands of Union soldiers crossed the Congaree and Broad Rivers on February 17^th, 1865, and entered Columbia. It was a Friday.

Contrary to what many South Carolina natives have been led to believe, the capital city was on fire before the Union army arrived.  The Confederate government ordered the Confederate army to destroy any remaining stores of cotton so that they could not fall into Union hands.  General Wade Hampton's army pulled the cotton bales into the streets of Columbia and set them on fire before fleeing the city.

"The fires were set in Columbia before Sherman did get here," said historic tour guide Michael Mayo.

The South Carolina native leads tours of Columbia's Civil War sites through the Palmetto Outdoor Center. 

"Emily LeConte refers to several points during her diary that there were several bales of cotton that were set on fire beforehand," Mayo continued.

LeConte was the daughter of South Carolina College Professor Joseph LeConte.  Her diary is a popular resource for historians researching the Union occupation of Columbia. 

"February 17^th- The day was beginning to break murkily and the air was still heavy with smoke…we concluded that the authorities had blown up some stores before evacuating," LeConte wrote.

It did not help the people of Columbia that the fires were set on days which a strong February wind blew across the midlands. 

Upon entering the city, Sherman ordered factories and armories that could provide material support and supplies to the Confederate army destroyed.  Based on the limited firefighting services of the day, the flames quickly spread beyond the control of the brigades.

Written in a foreword to historian Marion Lucas' book "Sherman and the Burning of Columbia," Bell Wiley wrote, "The principal demons in the drama were cotton, whiskey and wind."

Although some drunken soldiers have been blamed for starting  fires, many Union soldiers helped save the private property of citizens:  some under order, some out of their own personal integrity.

Lucas wrote, "Many accounts of Columbians told of Union soldiers who acted in a civil manner, of humane treatment in the streets during the fire, of general nonviolent behavior, and of actual aid in saving goods from houses which were on fire."

"Not even Columbians claimed to know 'the person' responsible for the conflagration," wrote Lucas.  "The best analysis, with Columbia a virtual firetrap on February 17, 1865, is that the fire was an accident of war…Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the fire's origin with certainty."

For the record, Lucas is a native South Carolinian and a graduate of the University of South Carolina.

Sherman's "total war" tactics went beyond destruction.  He wanted the war over.

Sherman himself said "The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."

"It was Sherman's way of finishing the war as quick as possible so that the war wouldn't prolong itself and so that the nation could finally get back on its feet and become one nation again," said Mayo.

"Love or hate Sherman, he wanted this war over," said Mayo, "so that there would be no more bloodshed by brothers."

And Columbia was the beginning of the end of Sherman's March.

"After Columbia, Sherman no longer destroyed," said Mayo.  "Sherman's campaign of total war came to an end here in Columbia.  It was much more peaceful of a march from here up to D.C.  The Civil War had basically come to an end once Sherman marched out of Columbia.  Sherman had felt the war was now over and it was just a matter of time before the Confederacy would have to surrender."

Two months later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

Although time may not have eased the animosity some South Carolinians have toward Union General William T. Sherman, new generations are opening their eyes to the historical facts, researched and documented.  They have fulfilled Sherman's hope of healing his beloved, yet divided nation.

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