Columbia phoenix. (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1865, April 08, 1865, Image 2
CAPTURE, SACK and DESTRUCTION I
.'OF THE
XXX.
. The morning of Saturday, the 18th of Feb?
ruary, opened fctill with it? horrors and terrors,
though somewhat diminished Jin their intensi?
ty. A lady a?id to.? Yankee officer at her
house, somewhere about 4 that morning: "In
the name of God, sir, wben is this woik of hell
to be ended?" He replied: "Yon will-hear the
bugles at sunrise, when a gu - rd will enter the
town .and withdraw the?e troops, lt will then
ceas??, and not before v Sure enough, with the
bugle'? sound and tho entrance of fresh bodies
of troops, tin-re was an instantaneous arrest of
iiicetidiariem. Yon Could see the rioters carried
off in groups mid squads, from the several pre
c??ete ' hey tad ravaged, and thors which they
still meditated to de6troy. The tap of thc
drum,- t he sound of the signal ce.mon, could not
have been more decisive in its effect, more
prompt and complete. Ko farther fires were
aet, among,private dwellings, efter sunrise; and
tile flames only- wer*, up from a few e?lact-?.
wh? re ihe fire had been last applied; ana thfer
were' rapidly expiring. * The best nod most
beautiful portion of Columbia Ly in ruins.
Never was ruin more complete; end the sun
rose with a wr.u countenanca^pcriDg dirrjiy
through the den?e v.ipors wklsr? seemed wholly
to overspread tho, tl .-marnent. Very miserable
Ttas tlie spectacle. On overy fide, ruin?s and
?smoking rnassus of blackene d w.tlls, and tower.
of grim, ghnstly cliirentys, end between, HI
desolat? groups, recuring on maitres.-', orbed,
cr earth, were wretched women and children,
gazing Vacantly on Ile sile of a once blessed
abode of hp\r.e arid inr.oconce. Rovin^ detach
Wents of tue.enemy, passed arr und OD? among
tnerr). There w^ro those who looked and
lingered nigh, with taunt audsarcasrp. Oihets
there were, in whom humanity did not sevm
wholly extinguished; and other.-- agata, to their
credit, be it said, as wondrous exceptions from
the m uai e/iMi-aci erisi ice of their comrade.-, who
??era' truly sorrowful and sympatliifmc, who
had labored for the safety of family" and pro'
nerty, and who openly cepl- rt-d th*- dreadfu
crime, which threatened the lives and riouors ol
the one, and destroyed so ruthlessly the other.
XXXI..
But we have no time for description. The
relentles? fate was hurrying forward, and tho
destroyer had stilt, ss large a share of his
otsignod labors fo execute. This day was de?
voted to the destruction of those buildings of
a public diameter which had escaped thc
wreck of flic city proper. Th? Saluda cotton
manufactory, the property of Col. I* D. Childs,
was burned by the enemy prior td- their entry
of the city and on their approach to it, the pre
vious dsy. The several powder mills were de
stroyed on Saturday. Thc Arsenal buildings
on Sunday, and it is understood that, in the
.ttempt to haul away ammunition from the
Intt?r place, the enemy lost a large number
of men. from "an unlooked for explosion. It ia
reported in one case that no lesa than forty men,
with their officers-one entire company-were
blown to pieces in one precinct, and half as
many in another. But the facia caa never be
precisely ascertained, Unless in the report of
Yanbee orderlies. The magnificent- steam
printing establishment of Evans and Cogswell
with the house assigned to their engravers, and
another house, stored with stationery and book
stock-perhaps the most complete establish
ment of the kind in the Confederacy--was de?
stroyed on Saturday; their lithographic estab?
lishment, itself complete and singularly extern
< sive, war? burned in (he general conflagration
of Frida}- night. These were all private proper?
ty, most of it isolated in situation, and dehbe
rattly'fired. So, the tearful progress Of incen?
diarism continued throughout Safurday and
Sunday, nor did it wholly ceas-'' on Monday,
; The gas works-private property also-one of
the great? st necessities of the people, a as t.\en
deliberately destroyed;, and it was wjtb, seme
difficulty that the incendiaries wer? persuaded
to spare thc-water works. The'cotton Card
manufactory of iii* fil?t? ; th<- sword factory
a private interest; the flocking.manufactory-.
private; the buildings at i air Grounds, ad?
joining cemetery; the several railway .depots;
Alexander's f un c. ry; the S.'C. Iv. lt. foundry
and work shops-the Government armory, and
?. tiler buildings of greater or less value, partly
Government and partly private property-all
shared a common fate. .Major Ni?rnsce, the
State Architekt, wm a great IOS-M-, in his iui
pletnetits and valuable scientific and profes
sional library. The uew Capitol building, to?
ing unfinished, and not !ik ;!y to be finished in
many years-?sele??, accordingly lo ti--would
have too'greatly taxed the powder resources
of tin; cucniy'vo d.-vtrwv it. J.'tl il was spared
iiccordiii ly-??ly suffering bom some petty
assaults-of malice. Herc and lhere, a plinth
fractured; here nnd there a Corinthian capital.
Tlie a&auiiful' piliiiy>oi Tennessee marble wa.
aims, injured .-><>, giv?tt piMus inkiiig, the
miserable wivfl?he* cLmbired up on ladders to
r?*acn and fff-.ee "lie. ex?uisi'.e smoii and oruii
.vici.in! w?u-K on 'ho fae? of lite building-dti
figuring the beauti.'ul chiseling which hud
^wrought out ti.e vina ?nd acorn Irueery on ilie
se7eral panels; aud tho bund) ' of fasces, on t:.e
Northern par/, were fractured or broken awn_)
inerts. The etstue ef Wushmgtca in bronze,
cast iu 1858. for.* the city of Cnarhj-toa, bom
Houdon's original, in ?he rotunda at Richnio;;
ieee,ved several bruises fmua brick ats, aa
dressed to face and breast. A shell scratched
bis back, and the eiatf which he bore lu hie
hand was broken, off ni he m d i ? Bm ldc
bronze seems to liar* defied the d ?'roviives,
and may be considered ?till p- i c*<" Hie bust
ol'Calhoun, by Powens, sss t'? i-l; ""--troyod;
so, also, was the ideal peft??i "tn ion. b tile
sculptor BrowD, of the Genius of Liberty. A
large oollectioa of complete espit?is, destinad
*?*gB""y?B*J*j>^
for the Cap?fbl. and lying io'the'open s- juure,"^
were destroyed either*by th? beiit of the con a
tiguous fire, or-by explosions of gunpowder J
introdnced among them. Hereafter, sueh'beau
tiful pieces" <Jf workmanship might be kept
more safely and certainly, by bemg boried t
deeply in" excavations of sand. The iron pal?
metto tree, * that ing?nions performance of
Werner, of Charleston, dedicated-os a anona
ment-to the Palmetto Regiment, so renowned
in the war with Mexico, suffered the loss of ?
number of its lower and larger branches; bat'
these, we think, mav be restored at compara?
tively little cost. The apartment ii) the base
was torn open, having been wrenched from its
fastenings, bot no other mischief seems to have
been done to it. It was probably spired, ?a
commemorating the deeds of those who hod ,
fought und?-r their own flag, at a season when
that flag waa still held ia some degree of honor,
and was not wholly significant of shame and
crime. . ?
XX'XIL jm
Something should be said in respect to the
manner ir. which the negroes were treated ny
the enemy while in Columbia, and aa regards
.tlie influences employed by which to beguile or
take them from their owners. We have already
adverted to thc fact that there was a vast dif?
ference between i he f eelings and performances -
of the mee from the West, and- those coming,'
or directly emanating, from the Eastern States.
Th" former were adverse to a connection with,
i hem; but. few negroes were tb be seen among?
these, and they were simply used os drudges,
?rooming horses, bvaring burdens, humble etj
demeanor and rewarded with kicks, cuffs and
curses, frequently without provocation. They
despised aud disliked the negro; openly pro?
fessed their scoi-u or haired, declared the^p
un willingness to have them as companions in
arms, or in company aft all. Several instances
have been given us ol their modes of repelling,
tho association of the negro, usually with bio*
id the Sst, hutt- of the musket, slash of the i
s?*ru tr prick of the bayonet*'' Sherman him- ?
-tif looked on these things indifferently, if """"s/^
are to ivason from a single fact afforded us by .
ilayor Goodwyn. This gentleman, while walk?
ing with the s ankee General, heard the report
of a gun. Both heard it, and immediately
proceeded to t.?e spot. There they found a.
group of soldiers, with a atalwart young negro
fellow.lying dertd before them on the street, the
m dy yet wann and bleeding.- Pushing it^with.
lu? feet, Slid tuan said; in his quick, hasty man
.ici-, "VV hai does this mean,' boys?" The reoly
?v >s sufficiently cool and careless, "Tto d-d
i ?lack rascal gav? us his impudence, and we
shot him." "Well, bury him at onoel Get him
out of sight!" Aa they passed on, one of the
party remarked, "Ia that the way, General,
you treat sich a easel" "Ohl" said he, "we
nave no time now for eoaria-uiarualaad things
of that sort!"
A latfy showed us a coverlet, with huge boles g
burned io it, which she said had a -vered^g