`Flame and Blame` uncovers Sherman's strategy of war on civilians

Of course, my listing is not complete, a longer list might show other towns looted or burned.
But they would not all be by Union troops, and some of the earliest (i.e., Lawrence) came at the hands of Confederates.

You've mentioned Lawrence before. That was the work of a Southern guerrilla group led by Quantrill, not by an authorized Confederate unit. As your link on Lawrence said: "Quantrill himself said his motivation for the attack was, "To plunder, and destroy the town in retaliation for Osceola."

Here is a link to the Sacking of Osceola on September 23, 1861 by Kansas Jayhawkers led by US Senator Lane. The Jayhawkers could probably also be classified a guerrilla group. The sacking of Osceola, Missouri resulted in the burning of all but three houses out of the 800 houses in town and the execution of nine citizens.

According to the book "Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865" by Jay Monaghan, "The property destroyed or appropriated [in Osceola] was reckoned to be worth a million dollars -- ample compensation for the Southerners' capture of Lexington [by General Price], according to Lane's calculations." Senator Lane took home a piano, some silk dresses and a fine carriage as his share of the booty. The sacking of Osceola apparently was the basis for the movie, "The Outlaw Josey Wales." [Link]

Here is a link to the Battle of Lexington mentioned in my quote above. It doesn't mention looting, nor does my Monaghan book I cited above. It sounds like a legitimate battle between the Union forces (including an Illinois cavalry regiment and the 23rd Illinois infantry regiment commanded by a Chicago politician) and Price's Missouri State Guard, who opposed out of state forces coming in and deposing their legitimate state government.

No doubt there were damages to various buildings caused by the battle. Some houses were flattened to permit artillery fire. Federal canon fire set houses on fire in Lexington. Lexington was largely a town of Southern supporters, so there may not have been much looting by Price's troops.

The use of hemp bales by Price's troops in the battle of Lexington mentioned in the Wikipedia link above was inventive. It reminds me of the use of cotton bales on two small bayou steamers that captured the US ship Harriet Lane and drove away the small Federal fleet that had captured Galveston, Texas.

Monaghan's book says the following about the hemp bales at Lexington: "[A] citizen volunteered a novel idea to end the siege. Why not advance to the enemy position behind a movable breastworks of hemp bales?" Price liked the idea. Bales were soaked in the river and arranged into a wall. The soaked bales did not catch fire when hot shot was fired at them by Union artillery. From Monaghan's book again, "Next morning the Federals saw a dark barrier lying like a snake across the ridges and hollows. As they watched, the line twitched and moved forward, crushing down weeds and sunflowers. It parted for trees and joined together after passing them." Well, tanks hadn't been invented yet, but the bales sufficed and brought about the Union surrender.

General Early contravened it when he burned the Caledonia Furnace, which was owned by Pennsylvania’s Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens.

From General Early as found on this Link:

As we were leaving, I caused the iron works of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens near Greenwood, consisting of a furnace, a forge, a rolling mill--with a saw mill and storehouse attached,--to be burnt by my pioneer party. The enemy had destroyed a number of similar works, as well as manufacturing establishments of different kinds, in those parts of the Southern States to which he had been able to penetrate, upon the plea that they furnished us the means of carrying on the war, besides burning many private houses and destroying a vast deal of private property which could be employed in no way in supporting the war on our part; and finding in my way these works of Mr. Stevens, who--as a member of the Federal Congress--had been advocating the most vindictive measures of confiscation and devastation, I determined to destroy them. This I did on my own responsibility, as neither General Lee nor General Ewell knew I would encounter these works. A quantity of provisions found in store at the furnace was appropriated to the use of my command, but the houses and private property of the employees were not molested.

Perhaps that was from General Early's memoirs. I read somewhere that General Lee later provisioned some of the people at the destroyed Stevens iron works out of his own commissary, but I can't document it myself.

rustbucket: ""[A] citizen volunteered a novel idea to end the siege.
Why not advance to the enemy position behind a movable breastworks of hemp bales?"
Price liked the idea."

Hmmmmmm... where did I see that idea before?...

"We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing."

Of course, those weren't movable, but didn't somebody else put some on wheels...?

We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing

I'd forgotten that [Link].

Of course, those weren't movable, but didn't somebody else put some on wheels...?

The Federals did put cotton bales on wheels in Vicksburg, but the Confederates succeeded in setting the bales on fire with incendiary bullets. See: [Link 2].