COLUMBIA, S.C.
Tuesday Morning, June 29,1875.
In another column the question ns to
the burning of Columbia is interestingly
treated by Mr. James "Wood Davidson,
who makes out a strong ease against
Gen. Sherman. The testimony which
Mr. Davidson adduces is abundantly
varied, and will repay perusal.
The next election for State officers will
take place in Kentucky on the 2d day of
August. California follows on the 1st of
September, Arkansas on the Cth, Maine
on the 13th of the same month, and Ohio
and Iowa on the 12th of October. Then
conies Pennsylvania, New York, Massa?
chusetts and several other States on the
2d of November.
Cotton States Convention.
A congress of men representing the
cotton-growing States of the Union will
assemble at Raleigh, N. C, on the 13th
of July?next month. Hon. D. E. But?
ler, of Georgia, is the President of the
body, and all agricultural societies and
State or co-operative Granges arc invited
to send delegates and tako part in the
proceedings. The leading question will
be the production and transportation of
cotton and other Southern products.
Thero will be side or auxiliary matters
brought up nnd discussed of an interest?
ing character.
The New Movement in California.
The Independent People's Convention
of California, at Sacramento, adopted a
platform which indicates that the party
it represents has entered upon a deter?
mined campaign against all manner of
monopolies in the State, and especially
against the powerful railroad corpora?
tions which now unite, it is alleged, to
control legislation and the judiciary in
the State. The objects of the party, as
declared in the platform, are as follows:
"To unite together honest and law
abiding citizens of all portions of Cali?
fornia, irrespective of class, local or
business distinctions, and regardless of
religion or previous political opinion,
for the purpose of bringing about a tho?
rough system of reform in State, County
and municipal government, and espe?
cially with a view of securing retrench?
ment in public expenditures; a conse?
quent reduction of taxation; the regula?
tion and control of all corporations
exercising franchise ot a political nature;
the reduction b> a reasonable rate of
fares and freight on railroads, as Well as
steamboats operated in conjunction with
railroads; in prevention and punishment
of -unjust discrimination by railroads
and other corporations against localities
and individuals; the securing from Hie
power or possibility of monopoly of the
natural waters of the rivers, streams and
lakes of the State, revesting them once
more in the people; the rescue of inhab?
itants of cities from the oppressive power
of water and gas corporations and other
kindred monopolies; the purification of
the administration of justice throughout
the State by reforming the grand jury
system so that powerful criminals may
be punished as well as weak, and gene?
rally to secure such improved legislation
in the interest of good government as
wisdom and an honest purpose of reform
may suggest."
It is to be hoped that Cue new parly
will do well in its enterprise, but it may
well be asked, in the light of disasters to
just such movements, hasn't the new
party undertaken to fix too many things
right at once? Hon. John Bidwell, who
has been nominated ^'or Governor, is a
wealthy farmer of Butte County, and an
"old aud ardent Republican." He was
a member of the Thirty-ninth Congress.
His wife is a daughter of J. C. G. Ken?
nedy, ol'Washington, D. C, former head
of the Census Bureau. Hon. R. Pacheco,
present Lieutenant-Govcrnor and acting
Governor, was nominated for Lieute
nant-Governor by acclamation.
Cotton planters and interior cotton
buyers have, for many years, had griev?
ous cause of complaint of the losses sus?
tained in the weight of cotton shipments
to soinu of the large markets, and each
year the losses seem to increase, not?
withstanding some efforts have occasion?
ally been made to lessen them. Cotton
bales from the time of their arrivals in a
city aro subjected to pillage by classers,
samplers, laborers and rag-pickers, which
stealage amounts in the aggregate to an
enormous amount. The "city crop" in
New Orleans is estimated at 20,001) bales,
which consists largely of loose cotton
secured in carrying and handling the
crop in that city. Included in this esti?
mate is tho quality of cotton in from near
by sections to be ginned nnd baled in
tho city, which cannot in tho nature of
thingH bo of much magnitude. In Hew
York the same state of affairs exists as to
stealago in cotton handling and samp?
ling, and in fact matters are equally bad
in all the principal cotton centres in the
country.
The attorneys for Lewis Dent.convicted
of murder at the May term of the A iken
court, and sentenced by Judge Malier to
bo hung on tho 9th of July, roceivod, on
Friday last, from his Honor, an order to
tho.sheriff to stay tho execution until tho
appeal taken the Supreme Court has
been decided.
\l Who Burned Columbia?
t1 Bettjbw or Ges. Shebman's Version
of the Affair.?The publication of his
"Memoirs" by Gen. Sherman makes,
for the third time, an oconsion for the
country to ask, who burned Columbia?
The first occasion was the publication of
his official report just after the event; and
and the second was in September, 1073,
when he published a letter in the Wash?
ington Chronicle, apparently designed to
influence the decision of the Mixed
Claims Commission.
In his "Memoirs" just published,
Gen. Sherman uses this language con?
cerning the burning of the capital of
South Carolina: "Many of the people
think this fire was deliberately planned
and executed. This is not true. It was
accidental, and, in my judgment, began
from the cotton which Gen. Hampton's
men had set fire to on leaving the city,
(whether by his order or not is not ma?
terial,) which fire was partially subdued
early in the day; but when night came
the nigh wind fanned it again into full
blaze, carried it against the frame build?
ings, which caught like tinder, and soon
spread beyond our control."
In his letter to the Washington Chroni?
cle, in 1873, Gen. Sherman says: "I re?
iterate that, no matter what his (General
Hani])ton's) orders were, the men of his
army, either his rear guard or litR strag?
glers, did apply the fire, anil that this
was a sufficient* cause for all else that
followed." By "all else," of course,
Gen. Sherman means the destruction of
the city.
In his official report of the event itself
in 18()5, Gen. Sherman says: "Ami with?
out hesitation I charge General Wade
Hampton with having burned his own
city of Columbia, not with a malicious
intent, or as a manifestation of a Roman
stoicism, but from folly and want of
sense in filling it with lint, cotton and
tinder."
I have thus given in his own words
Gen. Sherman's three statements of his
version of the story of Columbia's burn?
ing. They show a toning down as we
come on from 1805 to 1873, and finally to
1875; but this discrepancy is not the
matter before me just now. The general
idea of the three statements is that the
burning of Columbia was an accident,
and that Gen. Hampton is responsible
for iL I propose to show that the burn?
ing' of Columbia was a crime, und that
General Sherman is responsible for it.
1st?On page 237 of volume first of the
"Supplimentul Report of the Joint Com?
mittee on the Conduct of tho War," pub?
lished officially by the Government, are
theso words, in a despatch dated Decem?
ber 18, l?(H, from Major-General H. W.
Halleck, in Washington, to General
Sherman, then in Savannah: "Should
you capture Charleston, I hope that by
.some accident the place may be destroyed;
and if a little salt should be sown upon
its site, it may preveut the growth of
future crops of nullification and seces?
sion." The italicising of the word somt
is done by Gen. Halleck. Are not tho
animus and intention of these words
perfectly clear? That they were under?
stood and cordially concurred in by tho
officer to whom they were addressed, is
apparent from Gen* Sherman's reply to
them, which, dated December 21, 18G4,
contains these words: "I will bear in
mind your hint as to Charleston, and
don't think 'salt' will be necessary.
When I move, the Fifteenth Corps will
be on the right of the right wing, and
their position will bring them naturally
into Charleston first; and if you have
watched the history of that corps, you
will have remarked* that they generally
do their work up pretty well. Tnc truth
I is, the whole army is burning with an
insatiable desire to wreak vengeance
I upon South Carolina. I almost tremble
at her fate, but feel that she deserves all
that is in ..tore for he'.. * * ' I look
upon Columbia as quite as bad as
Charleston." (F?ge 2910 It will be ob?
served here that Gen. Sherman distinctly
approves Gen. Halleck's suggestion that
Charleston should be desolated; that he
regards Columbia as equally deserving
that fate: that he foresees that if the Fif?
teenth v Howard's) Corps should get a
chance they would destroy the city; that
he promises that this Fifteenth Corps
should get the first chance at destroying
the city; that he knows that his whole
army is burning with an insatiable desire
to wreak vengeance upon the city; and
subsequent events bear out every one of
these points. Be marched the Fifteenth
Corps into Columbia on the 17th of Feb?
ruary, ami the city was destroyed that
night. Gen. Hampton evacuated the
city about 9 o'clock Friday, the 17th;
Gen. Sherman took possession before 10
o'clock; and the tires that destroyed tin
city began between 8 and 9 o'clock that
evening?more than ten hours after the
city was in Gen. Sherman's hands.
'2d ?In his cross-examination before
the Mixed Clrfims Commission, (in No?
vember or December, 1872)--that por?
tion conducted by Goo. Rivers Walker -
Gen. Sherman stated that in Columbia
soldiers not on duty ami of the Fifteenth
Corps were allowed' to disperse about the
city; that his men were thoroughly
under control, well disciplined, and that
the long roll would at any time have
summoned them to their ranks; thnt he
feared they would burn tho city, and
that he would not restrain them to their
ranks to savo every city in South Caro?
lina. I have not the text of this exami?
nation now before me, but am satisfied
as to the correctness of this summary;
and if it is incorrect it can easily be dis
proven, as it can be verified if correct.
3d?Gen. O. O. Howard, while in Co?
lumbia, in 1897, in a conversation with
Gen. Hampton, held in the office of Go?
vernor James L. Orr, soveral othor wit?
nesses being present, said that General
Sherman know perfectly well that Gen.
Hampton did not burn Columbia; that
no one waB authorized to say that "our
troops did not set fire to it, for I saw
them do it myself." Gov. Orr testified
concerning that conversation to this ef?
fect: "Gen. Howard said in substance
thnt the city was burned by United 1
Stati-s troops; that he saw them fire many
houses." There were several other wit?
nesses to this conversation between Gene?
rals Howard and Hampton.
24th?Hi his official report of the event,
quoted above, Gen. Sherman goes some?
thing beyond tho usual scope of a mili?
tary paper in specifically charging the
destruction of the city upon Gen. Hamp?
ton. This specific charge was unfortu?
nate for General Sherman, in that all the
evidence goes to prove that the charge is
rash. Colonel Stone received the sur?
render of the city from Mayor Goodwyn
as carl}' in the day as 10 o'clock, and
took immediate possession of it, the Con?
federate troop.-, having been withdrawn
before the surrender; and?note the im?
portance of the connection- the confla?
gration that destroyed the city began
after dark, say after H o'clock, (.Colonel
Stone himself says about *d o'clock.) That
is to say, the Federal troop-, bad posses?
sion of Columbia fully ten hours previ?
ous to the fires that destroyed it; and
during this time Gen. Hampton's com?
mand was marching Northward towards
or beyond Winnsboro. But further
upon this point. Colonel Kennedy, of
the Seventeenth Corps, one of the ?'skir?
mish line" that entered the city ahead of
Col. Stone's command, and one of Gen.
Sherman's pet witnesses before the
Mixed Claims Commission, says in t? sti
mony: "I cannot for my life see how
Wade Hampton and Ileauregard are so
positive that Sherman's soldiers first set
tire to the cotton, for not ono was near
it when the tire was started, and certain?
ly neither Hampton nor Bcauregard
were within gun-shot of either the cot?
ton or the State House." This was be?
fore U o'clock that morning. This ^lib
witness, in proving the distance of the
Confederates at the time the cotton was
fired, proves rather too much for his
General, who is trying to prove that
these same Confederates did fire that
cotton. Of the fire itself, that which de?
stroyed the city, Col. Stone, after stating
that the time was "about',)o'clock,"says:
"All at once fifteen or twenty names,
from as niany different places along the
river, shot up, and in ten minutes the
fate of Columbia was settled." Colonel
Stone, it will be remembered, is the
officer who, ns the official representative
of Gen. Sherman, received from Mayor
Goodwyn the surrender of Columbia.
5th?General Sherman did not submit
before the Mixed Claims Commission the
testimony of Col. Stone, who was sent
by himself into Columbia about two
hours earlier the he (Gen. Sherman) and
his main witnesses arrived there. For
not submitting this important testimony,
Gen. Sherman offers the frivolous pre?
text of not knowing Col. Stone's address.
Gth?Adjutant S. H. M. Byers, in a
pamphlet entitled "What I Saw in Dixie;
or, Sixteen Months in Bebel Prisons,"
says: "The boys, too, were spreading tin
conflagration by firing the city in a hun?
dred places." The -'boys'' seem to have
done that night exactly as Gen. Sher?
man told General Halleck they generally
did, that is, "do their work up pretty
well;" for no one should complain of a
hundred seperatc applications of the in?
cendiary torch a?, not being "pretty well"
in its way.
7th?Mr. Whilelaw Beid's "Ohio in
the War"' says of this destruction of Co?
lumbia: "It was the most monstrous
barbarity of the barbarous march." This
opinion bears upon the character of the
act, not upon the question of who did it.
nth -Before tho Mixed Claims Commis?
sion, scores of witnesses testified to tho
fact that the soldiers of Sherman's army
set tire to the city in hundreds of places;
that they carried about torches, kerosene
or petroleum balls, and bucket.-, of the
inflammable fluid, lighting tires wherc
I ever the wind would not carry the
! flames fast enough; that this was done
often in the presence of their officers,
who made no attempt to cheek or to
punish them; and that, as above shown
in Sherman's letter to Halleck, Genend
Sherman selected his guards from a
corps notorious for their violent and de?
stroying habits, ami that, with opportu?
nities furnished by the commanding
General himself, these men plundered,
burned and robbed in the presence of
their officers, and all this with the pre?
vious, present and perfect knowledge of
General Sherman himself.
Ulli Mr. William Bevcrhy Nash, a
negro, then resident in Columbia, now a
State Senator of South Carolina, who was
a delegate to the Philadelphia Republi?
can Convention that nominated Presi?
dent Grant in 187*2, has made affidavit to
the effect that the Federal troops burned
Columbia and that General Hampton
had nothing to do with it. This is an
eye-witness of a race and of a party not
likely to stretch a point in Gen. Hamp?
ton's favor.
10th Dr. T. J. Goodwyn, the Mayor
of Colnmbia, who surrendered the city
to Col. Stone, in his affidavit testifies
that, with a number of leading citizens,
he called upon Gen. Sherman two days
after the tire; that, in the course of con?
versation about the burning of the city,
Gen. Sherman said that he thought his
troops burned the city, but excused them
because, as he alleged, the citi/ens had
given them liquor. Generals Howard
and Blair and other Federal officers were
present at this conversation. It is mani?
fest that Gon. Sherman afterwards forgot
about this liquor matter when he talked
before tho Claims Commission, seven
years later, about the discipline of his
soldiers and the long-roll's power to
bring every man to his ranks at any mo?
ment.
11th?Col. Stone, who received the
city in surrender, two hours before Gen.
Sherman entered it, in a letter to tho
Chicago Tribune, says:."The streets in
some instances contained bales of cotton
which bad been cut open, and these
caught tire twice or three times during
the day; but these fires had been
promptly put out by some of the firemen
of tho city, aided by a detail of soldiers
under charge of* an officer. * I
now (later in tue day) had intimation
that the Union officers released by us
from the city prisons had formed n so?
ciety to which bad been added many
members from our soldiers and the ne?
groes, the object of which society was to
burn Columbia." This movement is
mentioned, not to account for the burn?
ing, but to show the feeling in the army;
a feeling of which Gen. Sherman was
fully aware beforo he furnished that op?
portunity for its wreaking.
12th?The following towns and vil?
lages in South Carolina, in some of
which, at least, there was no cotton in
the streets, were burned either in whole
or in part during the same campaign:
Robcrtsville, Grahamvillc, MePhcrson
ville, Bnrnwell, Blackville, Ornngeburg,
Lexington, Winnsboro, Camdeji, Lan?
caster, Chesterfield, Chcraw and Darling?
ton.
13th?Gen. Beauregard, and not Gen.
Hampton, was the highest military au?
thority in Columbia at that time. Gen.
Hampton was assigned to duty at Colum?
bia on the night of the 10th, Thursday;
and the order issued about the cotton
came from Gen. Beauregard at the re?
quest of (ieu. Hampton, (.through the
latter, of course;) and that order signed
by Capt. Bawlins Lowndes, A. A. G.,
was that the cotton be not burned.
Capt. Lowndes, in his affidavit, submit?
ted in evidence before the Mixed Claims
Commission, after explaining that Gen.
Hampton, after conference with General
Beauregard, had directed him (Captain
Lowndes) to issue an onb rthat no cotton
should be tired, adds: "This I did at once,
and v. hen I left Columbia, which I did
after the entrance' of the Federal troops,
not one bale of cotton was burned, nor
had any been fired by our troops. At
the time I was acting as Assistant A. A.
G. for Gen. Hampton." This order not
to burn the cotton is not important as
showing the origin of the fire, because it
hardly touches that question directly at
all; but it is important in its bearing
upon the veracity of Gen. Sherman, who
in his official report (lSlio) said that Gen.
Hampton "ordered that all cotton, pub?
lic and private, should be moved into
the streets and tired." The existence of
that order- not to burn the cotton?and
the testimony of Gen. Beauregard, Gen.
Hampton anil Capt. Lowndes may be
accepted as settling that one point.
14th?Gen. Sherman, in his report to
the Committee on the Conduct of the
War, (Page ('? of Fart 1 of the Supple?
mental Deport,) says: "I hereto subjoin
complete details;" but from these details,
called complete, the General has omitted
all his correspondence between the Kith
and the 21st of February ? the period
covering the destruction of Columbia.
Both before and after this event the cor?
respondence submitted is frequent anil
altogether voluminous, but in these five
days not a word is given there. Why
are these letters withhold, and where arc
they?
Such is a bri-f outline of the ea.-c Co?
lumbia has against Gen. Sherman. The
points above given are not the winde
evidence in the case, but merely illustra?
tive items, the great holy of proof lying
beyond the limits of a paper like this.
The Mixed Claims Commission has
"settled" one point- shall the United
States pay for the property destroyed in
Columbia? -in the negative. Let that re?
main settled. Columbia has another
case already in action before the great
assize of history. The Court are the
historians who are to sum up the evi
I deuce, and the jury is tin civilized
I world. Beforo that as.-dze she is prepar
I ing the evidence. H r j-?u-.s uro
sharply ih line1, oin s. ami she undo s
tlioni without indirectness or chicanery.
A local committee of citizens of Cnlnm
I bia. with Chancellor Carroll, a jurist of
j ability and purity of diameter, at its
I had, has been already several years col?
lecting testimony upon the burning of
that city in lsiS?. and the evidence thus
put in legal form will probably have
some influence in shaping tin-opinion of
I the civilized world.
Columbia expect, to make,among pro
I bably others, the following points, and
I she will rely in the strongest of them
upon General Sherman's testimony or
that of his own witnesses: That General
Sherman desired the destruction of Co?
lumbia; that General Sherman knew that
his soldiers desired the same thing: that
General Sherman believed that if the
Fifteenth Army Corps were quartered in
that city they would destroy it; that
Genend Sherman thus desiring, thus
knowing and thus believing, did quarter
the Fifteenth Corps in Columbia; that
tin- Federal forc< >, under Colonel Stone,
of the Fifteenth Corps, received the city
j in surrender from Mayor Goodwyn, and
! took military possession of it about 10
' o'clock Friday morning, the 17th of
February, 1805; that the body of the
' Fifteenth Corps entered the city an hour
or two later than the command of Col.
Stone; that the conflagration which de?
stroyed the city began about N o'clock in
the evening-ten hours subsequent to
tho occupation: that lie- conflagration
began in several places by concert, of
which notice was given with signal
rocket-;; that Federal soldiers in large
numbers aided in spreading the con
llagration by brand, match and
torch; that as to the cotton. General
Beauregard, on the 11th, ordered
Major Greene, Commandant of the
Post, to have the cotton moved out of
the warehouses to a place er places
where it could be burned, if ir should
become necessary to burn it, wUhont en?
dangering the city, and tin.; Major
Greene, having no available transporta?
tion, placed the cotton in the broadest
of the streets, as the best he could do
under tho circumstances; that on the
115th, when General Hampton was as?
signed to duty at Columbia, he urged
Gen. Beauregard, his superior officer, to
order that the cotton be not burned; that
Gen. Boauregard so ordered, and that
the order was issued by Capt. Lowndes,
A. A. G., from General Hampton's head
quarters: that all the fires that arose
-mr -*?
from the burning cotduring the day,
Friday, in "whatever way caused, were
extinguished by the local fire companies
assisted by the j citizens 'and Federal
soldiers; that several citizens of
Columbia, during the day (Friday*) were
warned by officers and soldiers of Sher?
man's army of the impending conflagra?
tion of the city to take place that night;
that the conflagration did take place that
night, announced by signals and begin?
ning at several places to the windward
of the heart of the city; that numerous
Federal officers witnessed the active
agency of the soldiers in spreading the
conflagration, without taking timely
steps to prevent the same; and that, in
fine, Gen. Sherman is morally responsi?
ble for the burning of Columbia.
JAS. WOOD DAVIDSON.
New Yoiik, June 15, 1875.
MeMurrey A Davis, one of the largest
wholesale dry goods houses of Charlotte,
have failed.
City Items.?Does this weather suit
you who, in the depth of winter, prayed
for summer?
We are still waiting for the verdict.
The voters of School District No. '.)
have levied a tax of 1\ mills.
Yesterday morning was extremely
warm, and the afternoon but little better.
Such weather as yesterday may bo
good for the crops but it is wilting on
paper shirt collars.
,T Ferry A Slawsou's cigars arc bound to
be .-.11 the go. It is a luxury to smok*>
them? especially the Havana Tips.
During the heat of hist evening, our
corps was refreshed with a treat of spark?
ling soda from our neighbor, Mrs. Hoff?
man, for which our thanks are due.
Some persons like a strawberry in it,,
others don't; some take it crooked, and
others straight; but yesterday it was
generally taken and no questions asked,
provided it was well iced.
Everybody cap': go to Heaven, but the
man who keeps a row of shade trees
along the border of his side-walk will
come as near to getting a comfortable
place by-and-by as any of us.
We have received another stalk of
cotton- from Mr. II. Dent. We only
regret that we have no good spot in
which to plant these sample stalks. It
might not bring a full bale of 100
pounds.
A policeman in front of euch of tho
churches, in the city, every Sunday
morning and evening, would have a
j salutary eiYe-:t upon tho boys who con
, gregutc thereabouts, and seem to be
attracted there for no other purpose than
I that of disturbing and annoying those
j inside.
According to previous announcement,
Rev. Elli.-on Capers, of Greenville, deli?
vered the annual address before the
I DeStael Society of the Columbia Female
College, last evening. His theme was
j ''Woman; Her Influence and Sphere of
j Work;"' and he handled bis subject in a
mast' rly manner. The address was pre
| coded with prayer by Rev. John W.
! Kelly and a hymn by the young I.ulies.
Cot.uMitiA Male Academy.--The ex
i creises of the Columbia Male Academy
' closed, yesterday, after a very successful
session. We learn that during tho
j session over duo hundred pup:'..-, have
I been in attendance. The principal an
1 nounccd the names of the following
pupils as the successful candidates for
] the four annual scholarships tendered to
jtbc Academy by Fnion College, Sehe
I nectadv, New York, viz: V. E. Stoibrand,
I George Rryan, II. T. Thompson and J.
: M. McMaster. These scholarships in
; elude board and tuition. Union College
j is one of the first institutions of learn
' ing in this country, and we congratulate
these young gentlemen upon the success
I they have already achieved.
-
i Si'xdav School Celebration.?On
Sunday afternoon, the scholars of the
! Baptist Sunday School had a celebration,
consisting of singing, speaking, award?
ing of prizes to the pupils, Ac. The ex?
ercises were under the management of
the zealous and efficient Superintendent,
Albert J. Dodamead. All the available
space was occupied by the parents nnd
j friends of the children. The altar was
tastefully decorated with evergreens and
flowers, and at the foot of the pulpit
were the words "God bless our school."
The exercises were opened with singing,
in which the children showed their vocal
powers to advantage; after which, prayer
was offered by the pastor, Rev. A. B.
Wood fin.
The first speaker was Benny Getsinger,
who delivered his piece, "Bemember
thy Creator," in a clear voice. "Stand
up for Jesus," by Johnny Ivey; "Hea?
venly Sabbath," by Ida Woodfin; "Moses
Saved by the King's Daughter," by Ida
Woodfin, and Mattic and Laura Doda?
mead; "Jesus at the Well," by Mollie
Fhysioc; "Christ and the Little Ones,"
by Annio Leaphart; "Little Flower," by
Bobby Fhysioc, about four years old.
"The Tower of Strength" was built by