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CAPTURE, SACS and DESTRUCTION ^ * OF THE b Oity o jr CtolxiJja.T3>lgt. XVIII. , Thus surwy is very piteous tm hear; and were tho-case aa isolated one, it would probably move compassion in every heart; but where the miseries of lite and worse sort, of a whole community of twenty thousand, ere massed, as it w?;-t, together before the eyes, the sensi? bilities become obtuse, and the* universal suf? fering seems to destroy the sensibilities ia al). We shall, not seek to multiply instances like th? foregoing, which would be an ?udless'work and to little profit ; and'the mind of the reader can readily conceive them, when we kuow that Sherman jji.nnisscd his mercenaries- with, a gener-jl license to forage upon the people for thirty-sis hours. He tells (.enerr.l,Hampton that, cou!.1 he lind any civil authorities, and could they provide, bini with forage and pro? visions, he would bU?Ter no foraging upon the peopjp. His logic and memory are equally* deficient. Was there no Ma vor and Council in Columbia? Ttiej- had formally surrendered the city into his hands. They constituted the civil authority; but he made no requisition upon them for provisions for his troops. He did not say to tnt.m, "Supply me with 20,000 rations in so many hours. Had he done so, the ra? tions wouid have been forthcoming. The citi? zens would have been only too glad, by yield? ing up one-half of their stores, to have savod - the other half, aud^ to lui ve preserved their dwellings from the pollution of the enemy's lootstcpa and presence. ?Vay, did not thc >"*? diccllcra of every howe-ire v iii say ?.U?'J hontu ~-seck at his hands a special Q uar of-mf?ef, usually consisted ojLtwo nu n-and tsi re not ULK'U ? fed v?hoUy by cte families where theydodijcc during ?he xctiolc time of their stay? Hete, by I very &in.plc coviputulioit., we J?MI that tmp- thou sand soldier* acre thus voluntarily provided +?II rations; and a requisition for twenty thousaui lien min ht easily and would probably tnlvi ! .cn provjded, had any such been made; fo, ?!"t supplies in the city were abundant of ever \ sort-lim population generally having laid"1: laiiiOiV, and without stint or limit, anticipit ..ni' a periocj o? geueral scarcity from th i i ... the enemy, tfui, even had the p?o j i" :- .. tina' ?e io supply ihes? provisiaiisV ??vou . ij}>* Council failed tb r?spend to ibes T-, . , i ?i?at whose doors should the blam : . : - i. fmlure' would have been tb dire >? t- . ?ce of General Sherman's ow proc'i ' * . liad he nut ravaged and swep: .?with i .. ~i? ... lire, ali the. tracts of countr f; . .le.iple of Columbia depende fuj" ' - .SJ Had he not, himself, eulo ; ir.ee.:.a : . spoliation, in the destruetiot nc; . ; :' . /railways, but of every wagor ci?*, vi!;?..;- - u ?il nie plantations throug ? i ; ?. passen-carrying off all th ' border of any value, and ruthlcssl ?ai a> '.ne ihrottta of the remainder? Jrle cut i off the feet. nnA SXS2Z cf a pwpie, ana then demands ' that they shall bring him food and forage! But even, this pretext, if -well grounded, can avail him nothing. He was suffering j tom no sort of necessity, lt was Hie boast of every officer and soldier in his arv'iy, that he ha?fed fot upon I the country through* which - ha had passed; 'everywhere fin di pg abundance, and Lad not once felt thc necessity of lifting the cover from IiifX owif. wagens, and feeding from his own 'accumulated store?. The vxcndacitg of the man strangles his logic. But thc complaint of Hampton, and of our people at large, is not .that he fed his followers upon the country, but that he destroyed what he did not need for food, mid tore the bread from the. famishing mouths of a hundred thousand ^woacn and' ? children-feeble infancy and dearepit aj-e; and I Ulis, too, coupling with the robbery and ?ticen j diarism^leeds of the foulest violcrrce, the laest reckless debeachery. the meanest practices of thief and outlaw. * But to our narrative. ? XIX. We .have adverted to the derpor black of those, horrid outrages .which we?? perpetrated within the households of the citizen, where, unrestrained by the rebuking eyes of their own comrades, and Unresisted by their interposition, cupidity, malignity and lust, sought to glut their 8eyorel appetites. The cupidity generally tri? umphed oxer the lust. The greed for gold and silver swallowed ?p the more, animal passions, and drunkenness superveued in season for the safety of niau\\ We have Uta rd of soiii^ few outrageSyor attempts at outrage, of the worst sort, but the instances, in the ease of white females, must, have been very few. There was, perhaps, 4n wholesome dread, on the part'of Hie -ruffians, of goading to desperation th* people wiiom they, had despoiled cf" nil but hanoi They could see, iu many watchful and guardiar eyes, tlie lurking expression which threatened ?sharp vengeance should their trespasses pro ceed to those extremes windi they yet unique? tionably contemplated. The venerable Mr. ii stood ready, with his couteau dc chasse, nindi bare in his bosom, hovering around the persons of his innocent daughters -Ur. (_>., on .beliold mg some too familiar approach to ame of hi daughters by one of the ruffians, bade bin siand <>lf at the peril of his life;, saying that while he submitted to bc robbed of property he would sacrifice life, without reserve-hi own and that ol thc assailant-before Iii: child's .honor should be abused. Mr. James G Gibbes with difficulty, pistol in hand, and orb with the assistance of a Yankee officer, res cued two young wemen from the clutches of a many ruffians. Wc have been told of success ful outrages of this . unmentionable-characte being practiced upon women dwelling in th suburbs. Many are understood to have takei place in remote country settlements and tw< cases arc described where young negresses if eu brutal ly forced by the wretches and afterward murdered-one of them being thrust, whsi half dead, head clown, into a mud-puddle, and there held until she was suffocated. But this must suffice,. . The shocking detail should not . now bo made, but that, we used, for the sake?o? truth and humanity, to put on record, in the fullest types and col urn ns, the horrid deeds of these jnaraudersripon all that in ph re and pre cious---all that is sweet and innocent-all that is good, gentle, gracious, dear and ennobling- . within the regards "of ' white and Christian civilization. And yet, we should grossir err if, . white showing the forbearance of the Yankees m respect to our Wate^mtn, we should con? vey to any innocent real er the uotiotf that they exhibited a like forbearance in the case of the black. The poor negroes were terribly victim ? ized by their brutal assailants, many of them, I besides the instance mentioned, being left irt a 1 condition littl? short of death. Regiments, in 1 ?necessife relays, suhjected scores of these poor women to the torture'of tiicif embraces, and but we dare not farther pursue the eubject-it is oue of such loathing and .horror. There aret : soae horrors which the historian dare not pur? sue-which ^ie painter dare not. delineate. . Tiny both drop the cdrtain over crimes wttjch humanity bleeds to contemplate, Some incidents of gross brutality, which show how well prepared Were these demons for every crime, however monstrous, may be given. ? A lad}-, undergoing the pains of labor, bad to be borne out on a mattress into the open air, to escape the fire, lt was in vain that her situa? tion was described to the incendiaries, a's they applied the torch within-and without the houss?, after the}- had penetrated every cham I ber and robbed them of all that was either valuable or portable. The}- themselves be? held the situation of th. sufferer, and laughed to scorn the prayer for her safety. .Another case was that ol' Mrs.-, a widow. Hvr coipse, decked for thc grave, was sur? rounded'.by watchful mourners, sisters and daughters. Into ibis sacred presence'the ruf tiahs made their way, plundering as they went, makin: otfensi ve?-?imneuis, and 'exhibiting; no sort of rirgard to the solemn preparations for the grave which they beb-hi. or for. the be? reaved sufferers, aileen I m their'sad offices of ?ovo. ? Another lady, Mr-. .1-, walt*but recently confined, lier condition" was very helpless, j lier life hung upon a hair. The demons werft , apprised of ?ill*?tlie facM ht the case. They burst into the chamber-took the rings from the lady's fingers-plucked the watch from beneath her pillow-shrieked offensive fcn -gunge in her cars, and so overwhelmed her with terror, that she sunk'under the treatment -surviving their departure bbl a, day ?5?r;iwev Language fails in all adequate speech, .when it would preperly characterize the aatutfl .of these demons or their diabolical performances. In several cases, newly rnade?gra.ves Vera opeped, the coffins takemout, broken open, in search ol'Curica treasure, and the corpses left