Columbia.

This is coolbert:

Thanks to the wiki, details of an event on this date, in 1865!

The burning of Columbia.

That Atlanta was burned to the ground during the American Civil War is a well-known fact. That Columbia, South Carolina was also burned to the ground, is far less known!





In both cases, the army of General Sherman laying waste? This is controversial. The exact cause generally accepted to be UNKNOWN!

"The burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming the fires were accidental, a deliberate act of vengeance, or perhaps set by retreating Confederate soldiers who lit cotton bales while leaving town."

"Sherman's forces destroyed virtually anything of military value in Columbia, including railroad depots, warehouses, arsenals, and machine shops."

Anything of MILITARY VALUE! NOT wanton destruction, the savagery of the barbarian.

Again, the fire was set in a deliberate manner or spread accidentally or what? Lots of possibilities here. But no definitive judgment can be made.

"Controversy surrounding the burning of the city started soon after the war ended. General Sherman blamed the high winds and retreating Confederate soldiers for firing bales of cotton, which had been stacked in the streets . . . Firsthand accounts by local residents, Union soldiers, and a newspaper reporter offer a tale of revenge by Union troops for Columbia's and South Carolina's pivotal role in leading Southern states to secede from the Union . . . other accounts . . . portray it as mostly the fault of the Confederacy."

The burning and destruction of Columbia was NOT an intentional act? This is clear? Was unintentional and the arson source has not one culprit but instead many? The army of Sherman run amok, released and vengeful Yankee POW, new freed slaves, even the Confederates themselves? A multiple number of suspects and the "finger of blame" cannot be pointed with any degree of certainty.

coolbert.