Columbia, S.C. is apparently so desperate to draw tourists that it’s willing to celebrate the anniversary of its own destruction by Northern forces to do so.
In fact, the Greater Columbia Civil War Alliance has been marking the event for five years running, with this year’s “celebration” including a reenactment of the bombardment of the city by William Tecumseh Sherman’s army in February of 1865.
Sherman’s troops destroyed Columbia after completing their infamous “March to the Sea,” a trail of blood and destruction that successfully brought the War Between The States to the people of the old Confederacy.
The march – which originated in Atlanta and ended in Savannah – was followed by an even harsher march through South Carolina, the “birthplace of secession.”
“War is hell,” Sherman said when criticized for his tactics of targeting civilian resources and infrastructure on the march, and it’s hard to argue his point.
Collateral damage is a part of the process, even when it’s not so much collateral as intentional – and it’s difficult to say that South Carolina c. 1865 didn’t have it coming.
And frankly, we wish America fought wars against its enemies these days a little more like Sherman did.
But still, is this really something we should be celebrating?
Sherman initially tried to blame the destruction of Columbia on Confederate troops, a charge he later admitted was a planned lie aimed at shaking South Carolinians’ faith in one of their military commanders.
“In my official report of this conflagration I distinctly charged it to General Wade Hampton, and confess I did so pointedly to shake the faith of his people in him, for he was in my opinion a braggart and professed to be the special champion of South Carolina,” Sherman wrote years later in his memoirs.
About 150 people attended the events marking Sherman’s destruction of Columbia this past weekend.
By Michael February 9, 2009 at 9:33 am
I recently read a “historical” account (published recently no less) that attempted to reinforce the idea that the Confederates were to blame and that things would have been much worse if it wasn’t for Sherman’s troops imposing order.
By Paul C. Graham February 9, 2009 at 11:28 am
“…the Confederates were to blame and that things would have been much worse if it wasn’t for Sherman’s troops imposing order.”
Michael,
That is complete BS and we have plenty of primary, first hand accounts (Not some College professor’s Linconian textbook defense of what was arguably the worst war crime committed on American soil)to dispel any doubts about who was responsible for what.
This PC affair about which Sic writes, i.e., Columbia’s Longest Days, is supposed to be a commemoration or remembrance, not a celebration. While I think such an event ought to be very somber and brutally honest about whom did what to whom, any mention of that affair serves a valuable (albeit unintended) purpose– that is, remembering what a government is willing to do to its citizens if they try to assert their independence or exercise their rights without permission. A lesson that we ought to be paying very careful attention to in these troubled times.
What happened on the streets of Columbia ought to make any American blush with shame.
The City of Columbia, who has kept an arm’s distance of the event, does not even acknowledge the fact that Columbia was burned on their web page. In fact, nothing apparently happened in Columbia from 1854 to 1870… (See http://www.columbiasc.net/columbia/257 ) This, of course, is outrageous.
William Gilmore Simms’ first hand account is among the best, but there are many others which I would be happy to cite if anyone was interested in the truth of the matter.
Simms account can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/BurningColumbia
If you want to understand the war, you must understand Columbia. This is the very spot where the republic, once and for all, ceased to exist. We have been pretending ever since.
V/R,
Paul C. Graham
By Gillon February 9, 2009 at 11:38 am
I think that you are confusing “celebrate” with “commemorate.” There is a profound difference. We “celebrate” the “Fourth of July” or “VE and VJ Day.”
We “commemorate” the death of JFK or the bombing of Pearl Harbor. So it is with Sherman’s March. A day of commemoration, but certainly not celebration.
By Michael February 9, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I, by no means, was implying that I believed what I read. I was simply stating that there are “scholarly” writings to be found attempting to give credence to such beliefs. I read it our of natural interest in seeing what evidence would be provided.
Simma down nah…
By Brandon February 9, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Yeah like Gov. McNair imposing order in Orangeburg. Now there’s a “commemoration” with re-enactment potential.
By Paul C. Graham February 9, 2009 at 9:11 pm
No problem, Michael. I’m simmered down.
I feel passionately about the truth of what happened here and there should be no glitter or gloss applied to it. Murder, rape and purposeful destruction of private property is illegal for citizens, so should it be for governments.
For those who disagree, I challenge you to look at what I have posted. If your want further source material, I’ll be glad to provide it. Of course, those who choose to be willfully ignorant of their history are cursed to relive it over and over and over again…
Human nature has not changes over the past 150 years and government nature has not either.
Patriots beware!!
By James the Foot Soldier February 9, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Mr. Graham, glad to see you feel passionately about the truth….
Please speak to the truth of the murder, rape, and purposeful destruction of an entire race of HUMAN BEINGS for CENTURIES….
Please speak the truth as to what would happen to black men if “they try to assert their independence.”
The truth is, there was NO battle for Columbia, the mayor ran to Sherman waving a white flag after a few rounds hit their mark on the statehouse…smart man that mayor…and thank God the Flag of the United States of America proudly flies there once and for all.
By Toyota Kawaski February 10, 2009 at 9:19 am
Come to Aiken County where we turned those Yankee bastards back.To bad we they waited till now to invade
By Paul C. Graham February 10, 2009 at 5:10 pm
James the Foot Soldier says:
“Please speak the truth as to what would happen to black men if “they try to assert their independence.â€
Actually some did in Columbia during the invasion. Of course, they were not trying to assert their independence from the people of Columbia, but rather from the invading Yankee army.
If you happened to be a black female who did not welcome the sexual advances of drunken Yankee solders, you may be raped and drowned in a mud puddle.(http://tinyurl.com/BurningColumbia , p.29)
Those blacks who did welcome their “liberators” were often met with a fist or the but of a gun if they were lucky, shot dead if they weren’t (Ibid., p. 50)
A good source, in fact one of the best, for details of Yankee outrages against Southerners– black and white–can be found in the Slave Narratives which are available online at http://tinyurl.com/scslaves. Spend a little time here to see what black folks, with very few exceptions, thought of the invaders…
Another excellent source is Brain Cisco’s Book War Crimes Against Southern Civilians (available at Amazon and elsewhere). He makes extensive use the Narratives and other first hand accounts from all over the South.
James the foot Soldier Says:
“The truth is, there was NO battle for Columbia, the mayor ran to Sherman waving a white flag after a few rounds hit their mark on the statehouse…smart man that mayor…and thank God the Flag of the United States of America proudly flies there once and for all.”
No, there was no battle for Columbia, the city was formally surrendered and was populated entirely by noncombatants– mostly old men, women, and servants. This makes the outrage all the more horrible. Sherman was good at fighting these kinds of battles…
If you are for invasion, war crimes, rape, murder, pillage, and a host of other monstrous things done under the United States flag, then I reckon it warms your heart seeing it fly up there. We got what we deserved, right?
I doubt the people who lived through it, especially these women (see 261ff http://tinyurl.com/Women-BurningColumbia ) thought much about the flag of the invaders– and for good reason!
If you think the North had any regard for slavery or black folks, you need to do a little research. Here’s a good place to start: http://www.slavenorth.com/.
Be sure and check their citations, you really can’t trust 2nd or 3rd hand accounts…
You are a fool, sir, if you cannot see the implications of this event.
The South was right and the North was wrong– the end of slavery was an unintended consequence of the war (albeit, a fortunate one), as anyone even remotely familiar with Lincoln’s policies regarding the matter, the original 13th amendment, and the text of the so-called Emancipation Proclamation knows.
There is no virtue in believing a falsehood. A false understanding of our history is not only unnecessary given the abundance of materials available, but (more importantly) it is dangerous! We do not want to relive the past if it is avoidable…
Respectfully,
Paul C. Graham
By Cooter Brown February 16, 2009 at 8:44 am
James, does ye return evil for gud and gud fer evil? Yer view of war crimes is unbelievable, even t’ an old feller lik me! Mista Graham is rite, jest look at th’ documentashun, son.