As reported by eyewitnesses in an 1866 report by South Carolina [Link to a 1920 history book that quotes the 1866 report] , the towns and villages of Hardeeville, Grahamville, Gallisonville, McPhersonville, Barnwell, Blackville, Orangeburg, Lexington, Winnsboro, Camden, and Cheraw were burned in addition to the state capital, Columbia. From the report:
For eighty miles along the route of his army, through the most highly improved and cultivated region of the State, according to the testimony of respectable and intelligent witnesses, the habitations of but two white persons remain. ... If a single town or village or hamlet within their line of march escaped altogether the torch of the invaders, the committee have not been informed of the exception. The line of General Sherman's march, from his entering the territory of the State up to Columbia, and from Columbia to the North Carolina border, was one continuous track of fire.
Surely all of that wasn't burned by this supposed Jew that Sherman mentions. I wonder who burned all those towns along his march?
I wouldn't rely on Sherman to say the truth about what his men did in South Carolina. Consider Sherman's testimony about the burning and looting of Columbia, South Carolina, given at a hearing in 1873 [Source: New York Times, May 10, 1873]:
Q. -- I understand you to say that you saw no pillaging going on along Richardson or Main-street during the hours of daylight on the 17th.
A. -- I did not.
Q. -- Not anywhere else in Columbia during the hours of daylight?
A. -- No, Sir.
Q. -- You were not apprised of it in any way?
A. -- I was not.
Q. -- You were not aware that almost every store along Main-street was broken into by men in Federal uniform?
A. -- I was informed by the Mayor that Wade Hampton's cavalry had gone through the town and plundered their stores before we got there; The Mayor himself reported that to me.
Q.-- I asked you if you are aware of that these stores were plundered by men in Federal uniforms subsequently?
A. -- I do not know anything about the Federal uniform being used by the rebels.
Q. -- I did not ask about the rebels; I asked a very simple question and I want an answer?
A. -- I heard nothing about the plundering of stores by our men during the day of our first occupation of Columbia.
Q. -- And know nothing of it?
A. -- I know nothing of it personally or officially.
Q. -- Do you know anything of it in any way whatsoever, individually, privately, or in any way?
A. -- No, Sir; on the contrary, there was very good order in the city; I walked about the streets like everybody else that day, and saw nothing out of the way; ...
Compare that with the following published in the Columbia Phoenix newspaper a few weeks after the burning and looting of Columbia by noted author William Gilmore Simms based on Simms' own first hand observations in Columbia and those of other eyewitnesses in Columbia during that first day [Source: A City Laid Waste, The Capture, Sack, and Destruction of the City of Columbia by Simms, edited by David Aiken]. From page 61, originally from Simm's newspaper account:
Hardly had the [Union] troops reached the head of Main street, when the work of pillage was begun. Stores were broken open in the presence of thousands within the first hour of their arrival. The contents, when too cumbersome for the plunderers, were cast into the streets. Gold and silver, jewels and liquors, were eagerly sought. No attempt was made to arrest the burglars. The officers, soldiers, all, seemed to consider it a matter of course. And wo to him who carried a watch with gold chain pendant; or who wore a choice hat, or overcoat, or boots, or shoes. He was stripped by ready experts in the twinkling of an eye. It is computed that, from first to last, twelve hundred watches were transferred from the pockets of their owners to those of the robbers. Purses shared the same fate; nor was Confederate currency repudiated.
Sherman's troops had marched into town in an orderly fashion. Then when they were dismissed, wholesale robbery and plunder immediately began and lasted the rest of the day and night. From page 64:
Sherman, at the head of his cavalry, traversed the streets everywhere – so did his officers – yet they saw nothing to rebuke or restrain. Subsequently, these officers were everywhere on foot, yet beheld nothing which required the imposition of authority. Robbery was going on at every corner – in every house – yet there was no censure, no punishment.
Can we award Sherman a posthumous Baghdad Bob Award?
Putting William Gilmore Simms’ polemic aside, what was the result of the official inquiry into the burning of Colombia SC?
Did Sherman blame one for starting the fires?
Consider Sherman's testimony about the burning and looting of Columbia, South Carolina, given at a hearing in 1873...
War is hell.
Can we award Sherman a posthumous Baghdad Bob Award?
No, but there are a couple of Lost Causers around here I think would qualify for the award.
Just out of curiosity, had the rebel agents Jefferson Davis dispatched been successful in their November 1864 plot to burn New York City then how would you retain your outrage over Sherman burning towns in South Carolina?