Sherman and the Burning of Columbia

by Marion B. Lucas, Anne Sarah Rubin (Foreword by)

Overview

An investigation into who burned South Carolina's capital in 1865

Who burned South Carolina's capital city on February 17, 1865? Even before the embers had finished smoldering, Confederates and Federals accused each other of starting the blaze, igniting a controversy that has raged for more than a century. Marion B. Lucas sifts through official reports, newspapers, and eyewitness accounts, and the evidence he amasses debunks many of the myths surrounding the tragedy.

Rather than writing a melodrama with clear heroes and villains, Lucas tells a more complex and more human story that details the fear, confusion, and disorder that accompanied the end of a brutal war. Lucas traces the damage not to a single blaze but to a series of fires—preceded by an equally unfortunate series of military and civilian blunders—that included the burning of cotton bales by fleeing Confederate soldiers.

This edition includes a new foreword by Anne Sarah Rubin, professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the author of Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643362465
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	08/13/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marion B. Lucas is University Distinguished Professor of history at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 9

Foreword 11

Acknowledgments 15

Chapter 1 Prologue 19

2 The Evacuation of Columbia 51

3 The Capture of Columbia 71

4 The Burning of Columbia 83

5 The Extent of the Devastation 119

6 Who Burned Columbia? 129

7 Epilogue 163

Appendix A Inventory of Ordnance Stores Captured in Columbia, S.C., February 17, 1865 169

Appendix B Soldiers Directory of Public Officers in Columbia 173

Bibliography 175

Index 183

Editorial Reviews

For a few South Carolinians, this little book will generate more heat than anything Mother Nature can do this summer... It is doubtful Lucas' book will ever shut down the debate over the burning of Columbia. History spawns passionate debate around here, as we've heard all year. But at least those who read it carefully should benefit from a little more balanced historical background.

The State

The results of his efforts are eminently satisfying. He brings order out of contradiction and confusion by carefully weighing the evidence and presenting the results of his study in a simple, straightforward, and interesting manner.

McCormick Messenger

This splendid little volume should put to rest forever the question of who burned the capital city of South Carolina.

Civil War History

deals with one of the most difficult, most delicate issues of the Civil War and deals with it in an honest, unbiased manner.

Midlands Weekend

Well worthy of examination by all interested in the nature of war and the social, political, and economic ramifications of total warfare. Professor Lucas is to be commended for a very worthy research achievement.

Journal of Southern History