Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War Shermans 1865 South Carolina Campaign 20240712

First we are going to talk about general william t. Sherman and what he did in 1865, at least the first stage of his campaign in 1865 when he left the state of georgia and began to move north into South Carolina. He built up a little bit of a base at the conclusion of that campaign and began to talk about heading north. The conclusion of the savanna campaign had a couple questions behind it, political questions, which he did not want to deal with, and a couple of military, after it was agreed he would be permitted to move to the north and go straight into South Carolina. There were repercussions for that on the confederate side and the folks on the Southern Side would begin to react to that. Of course, even as sherman was leaving atlanta, there were folks on the confederate side that reacted to what was going on. One of them, something of an alert fellow, general beauregard, reacted and saw what was on the way. And of course, technology is always a curse in here. There we go. He discusses with his boss in richmond, samuel cooper, reports of general wheeler indicate sherman is about to move. Probably heading to charleston or savannah. There are a great many variables sherman can take when he begins to head north or south from atlanta. A junction may be formed with the enemys fleet. I would advise all available forces which can be spared from north and South Carolina to be ready to move should sherman take charleston or reach the atlantic coast. Here is an interesting point. This is november 16, the day they are pulling out of southwest environs around atlanta. They are already beginning to fixate about the possibility of charleston. They realize the significance, symbolic and otherwise, of charleston. He may then reinforce grant. They are beginning to build up, even before savannah is taken, about the potential for charleston, South Carolina and what that is going to mean. Of course, sherman will make his way to savannah and do what he does. In South Carolina itself, other things are brewing. That takes us to the political side of the question in the confederacy. That brings us to this fellow, andrew g. Magrath, who has the luck of landing the governors share in South Carolina in december 1864. He is not a South Carolina hillbilly, he is a harvard educated lawyer admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1835, admitted to the South Carolina house of representatives in 1838 when he is 25, known as a unionist or cooperationist. He is in private practice there until 1856, when he is nominated by president pierce, who is something of a nonconfrontationist, to a judgeship on the u. S. District court for South Carolina. When the pressure moment comes in the winter of 1860 four the secession of South Carolina, he is still a sitting judge at that point and he is in a very awkward spot. He is in a federal judgeship and is one of multitudes of people going to be torn from office because of the secession of the state. He, like many other folks, Jefferson Davis, robert e. Lee, will be forced to make that decision. Because he is in a public setting, he will make a Public Statement about this. That Public Statement goes like this. For the last time, i have as judge of the United States administered the laws of the United States within the limits of South Carolina while acting in obedience to a sense of duty. I cannot be indifferent to the emotions it must produce. That department of government which i believe has best maintained its integrity and purity has been suspended. So far as i am concerned, that temple of justice raised under the constitution of the United States is now clueless. I thank god its doors have been closed before its altar has been desecrated by the sacrifice of tyranny. So he is kind of an ideologue. Ideologues are interesting people because they will oftentimes go their own way. That is going to put him into interesting conflicts, not only with the northerners he is leaving but also folks on the Southern Side as things get into the next four years. As the newspaper reports, the address was received with profound silence and during its delivery, many spectators were in tears. He would serve as secretary of state in South Carolina in the initial severance period. In 1962, davis appoints him as a Federal District judge. Then he would be elected governor in december of 1964. Thats the political side of the coin in South Carolina at that moment. Militarily, things continue to worm their way, as they do. Sherman will make his way to savannah. After he begins to pose a serious threat to savannah in december of 1864, there are questions about just what do we leave in front of savannah when the federals get there. A question to the military directors in richmond, samuel cooper. Beauregard will write the following. The spirit of your instructions to general hardee relative to savannah has proved the same is applicable to charleston. We must rely on your judgment to make the fullest possible defense consistent with the safety of the garrison. In other words, dont die on that pyre. Get your military forces out of there. It is ok to surrender if such becomes necessary. Beauregard takes note of that. We are going to keep that in mind if that becomes necessary for charleston. There are some things that are important to know about savannah. Basically it is a drainage field. All the large rivers and small rivers and creeks and whatnot from that corner of the world go down into that direction. Because you get the watershed in that direction, you get all sorts of things coming down there. Its a marvelous place with its overhanging trees and mosquitoes and yellow fever and all that wonderful swamp stuff the poets will write about. It is going to be an interesting piece of terrain to fight over as far as that goes. When the capture of charleston and the securing of charleston has taken place or savannah, rather, has taken place, there will be a lot of letter writing that has gone on between the end of the savannah campaign, per se, and the initiation of activities going to the north. A lot of this curiously takes place on Christmas Eve. Nobody gets to enjoy Christmas Eve. They are all flailing away with their pens at various points. One of them will be from general sherman to halleck because halleck is one of those people who writes on the 18th of december, talking about what he expects sherman to be doing. Now, should you capture charleston he is thinking in that regard as well i hope by some accident the place might be destroyed and if a little salt should be sown, it may prevent the growth of future crops of nullification and succession. Of course, savannah will fall on the 22nd, but by that time, halleck will change his mind on the subject a little bit and will write, i did think the best thing to do was to bring the greater part of your army back here and wipe out lee. I doubt whether you might not accomplish more toward that result where you are. He has begun to reconsider the possibility of letting sherman loose in that area. Sherman will write to his direct boss in the field, general grant, about what his beginning to formulate campaign might just be. I left agusta untouched on purpose because the enemy no doubt will have doubt as to my objective point after crossing the Savannah River, whether it be augusta or charleston, and will naturally divide his forces. I will then move on either branch field or columbia and break up as much railroad as possible. So he is going to try to obscure his true intent about that at that particular moment. Somebody else flailing away with a pen on that day will be governor magrath again, because he is very concerned about this. The threat is literally on his doorstep at this point. He will say at this point, the question which naturally presents itself is why the force which penetrated georgia cannot penetrate South Carolina. This will become the 300 pound gorilla in the room at that point. One of the things i found which was very interesting, how many of you have ever had to deal with more than one boss at a single time . [laughter] this is the same sort of thing that i think sherman has to deal with, because grant is a westerner, very practical. Halleck is a little more politic, has to play to the political side of the house. When he writes a letter to halleck in that Christmas Eve, that tone will definitely be there. You will note here, the truth is the whole army is burning with insatiable desire to wreak vengeance upon South Carolina. I almost tremble at her fate but feels she deserves all in store for her. That is sherman writing to general halleck. I think before we are done, South Carolina will not be quite so tempestuous. I will bear in mind your hint about charleston and i dont think salt will be necessary. The 15th corps will be on the right wing and their position will bring them into charleston first. If you have watched the history of that corps, mostly it will be changed back to general john logan because the political season is over at that point. They generally do their work quite well. Thats whats going to be in that circumstance at that point. Many people in georgia asked me why we did not go for South Carolina. When i answered that, i was on route for that state. The reply was, if you make those people feel the severities of the world, we will pardon you for georgia. I look upon columbia as bad as charleston and i doubt we will spare the public buildings as we did at village mill. To grant, he will write something slightly different. This is also a Christmas Eve letter. Like i said, a lot of people very busy writing letters that evening. Charleston is now a mere desolated wreck, hardly worth the time it would take to starve it out. I am aware that historically and politically, much importance is attached to the place. It may be both you and the administration would prefer i give it more attention and it would be well for you to give me some general idea on that subject or i will treat it as i expressed, as a point of little importance. Its railroads leading into the interior are nearly destroyed. He is looking at that from a tactical point of view, that there is no point to charge in and put a flag on top of it if they can dissolve the importance by clipping the railroads further to the west of it. One reason why i would ignore charleston is this. I believe they will reduce the garrison to a small force with plenty of provisions and i know the back of charleston can be made almost impregnable to an assault and we will have partly time for siege operations, the same tactics he deployed in georgia. If he can smack and dodge as opposed to undergo a siege operation, he would much rather do that. He submits these thoughts to his bosses in d. C. And waits for the response. The response is this. On the seventh of january, please say to general sherman, i do not regard the capture of charleston of any military importance. He can pass it by unless he leaves a force in his rear which it will be dangerous to have there. It will be left entirely to his own discretion whether charleston should be taken now. This is stanton giving a letter from grant. In response, general grant had received your telegram and will communicate your views to general sherman. Good wishes for you. They are pretty clear in d. C. That it is not necessarily important to have sherman go to charleston merely to plant that flag. Now, perhaps thats what they are thinking in washington, the fact that sherman has not already gone gung ho for charleston conveys the wrong impression to some of those diehard folks in charleston at this point. Because of course, the newspapers are still flourishing in charleston and you get all sorts of interesting opinions from the folks in the columns there. From the daily south carolinian, a lady writes there, sherman with his victorious troops is on South Carolina soil. He has nearly reached the goal of his ambition and expects by fire and sword to glut yankee vengeance on that naughty state which dared to set a vile example of rebellion to her southern sisters. He intends she shall pay dearly for her folly. He is determined she shall suffer for the crime which in his estimation has put her beyond the pale of mercy and justly outlawed her from god and man. Neither sherman nor his men are yet at charleston, nor do i think they will get there. If he were on South Carolina soil, i believe he will get his first great repulse that will lead to his utter discomfiture. She goes on for a bit to say, as a true daughter of the south, i intend to pray for the salvation of my country as for the salvation of my soul. According to your faith, be it unto you. She goes on and on. If this woman be a true south carolinian, she had already seen some of that fire she called for. December 1861, a fairly impressive fire takes out a good bit of charleston. One of the northern newspapers who had a connection that way said, does it not look like a retribution of providence and an omen of the future destruction of the rebellion . Truth is, after the war many of the photographs of what is called the burned district will be passed over as an example of what was already done by the union army. Of course, the presence of the federals in savannah and time is ticking by already begins to very much get the awareness of many folks in South Carolina and they will go ahead and pled their cause as high up the post as they possibly can. Thus, a pleading to the secretary of war from the citizens of South Carolina. We respectfully request that at least one corps be sent from virginia to save north and South Carolina. Much of what sherman has passed through in georgia is not under military occupation. It has been burned and abandoned as shermans army has headed for savannah. There is no force here to prevent it and it is necessary to have at least one well organized corps on the coast about which the half trained citizens may rally. Otherwise, no matter how brave and determined, their efforts will amount to nothing. These furnished the army of virginia with supplies. We are sensible to the pressure upon richmond and the importance of saving the capital, but it is manifest that its defense must be made here. A just regard for the safety of those states and of the common cause we are all embarked induces us to impress this appeal with great earnestness upon your consideration. Let me ask you this. How many of you folks everything that levels of government, local, county, state, federal, jump on your requests and get them done . [laughter] ok. Now i want to give you an example of something. Unfortunately we do not have a date for when this was first filed, when this pleading was first done. Like any other request, it goes up the pipe. And it gets endorsed. First endorsement, january 5, the secretary of war said and i love that hat. Then it goes up to jeff davis. Jeff davis, although he went to west point and never tires of admitting that the folks, the question can be presented is one of which general lee can best judge. I suggest a reference to him. More endorsements. Notice the clock is ticking by. We have gone from december to february 7, february 9 when it goes to i presume that means jonathan. I have read that for years and years and i presume jno means jonathan. I have always read it as juno withers. We go to february 9 now and ultimately it makes it to february 11, when it finally reaches the wise sage of all wise sages in the confederacy, robert e. Lee. I have sent all the troops that can be spared. The army of tennessee is ordered to South Carolina. If the citizens of georgia and South Carolina will fill up its ranks, it will be able to protect the country. Notice the tone of voice in that line. If the citizens of georgia and South Carolina will fill up its ranks, it will be able to protect the country. There is a certain edge, i suspect. We start off in december and we go into mid february. We are a week away at that point from the burning of columbia. Now, meanwhile on the federal side, sherman is busy planning. Actually we have to turn the clock back now. We are going into the tail last of december and initial january here at this point. The lower section of South Carolina here, shermans march into the invasion plan of South Carolina. The initial movements proposed by sherman and developed over his first weeks would spread the wings of his army back over savannah. The right wing, these two arrows here, and i did make these red because there is so much blue here, these would stand out, not because they are the invading force. I know in military coloration, usually red is the invader. Like on election night. But the 15th and 17th corps, coming up on the right, would move by ship up the river to the foothills held by the brigadier general. From there, Major General howard would press the confederates. Meanwhile, Major General henry slocum would move the left wing up the Savannah River, the elements crossing at a ferry, a key crossing of the Savannah River. The brigadier generals calvary would move behind the right wing. This would hopefully prompt the evacuation of beaufort, South Carolina and give sherman a Firm Foothold in the state. However, all this movement, especially on the left wing, depends on what do the ups commercials say . Logistics. And logistics is very important when you have got to move stuff up, especially foodstuffs. This is one of the things thats going to play, the left wing especially. Thats Peter Osterhaus on the top there. I couldnt find a picture of a real starving horse and i figured if i did, it would gross people out. I went to the bronze starving horse at the cavalry museum. You can count the ribs on it here. The quartermaster, i regret to trouble you, but i wish to know the exact state of things. It is reported to me by Major General osterhaus that his horses are dying of actual starvation. The private and public courses are going without forage. Must this be allowed when it is within six miles of us . Is there no expedient we can resort to to get supply . Are there no inlets where we can forage . Are there no flats and small boats where we can bring grain ashore . My officers and men are at your service to work night and day. I am held responsible to my command for these things. My only alternative is to apply to you. I do not wish to oppose you, but to assist you in every way in my power. The general he is talking about is this fellow here. He feels the heat under him and writes, quartermaster general again asking about this, trying to get the heat under him. There seems to be a slug in the supply train about all of this. This becomes a topic of discussion to some extent. One of the things that it trickles down through, and major Thomas Osborne will comment on it. For some unknown cause, the obstinacy and mental inability of general beckwith and the chief commissary, supplies were not forthcoming. Once the quartermaster of this army was freed from his supervision, every part of the business went on with greater rapidity and the army was supplied for the campaign. Of course, this will reflect badly overall and questions will begin to arise about how things are going, because especially this will affect the left wing of the army and the crossing at the ferry. Osborne again, does general slocum bear a real ghost of gettysburg here . Some of us eastern soldiers know slocum better than sherman did. I do not doubt that this delay comes more from a lack of ability and energy to cope than from any other cause. He once failed howard in a fight at gettysburg and i fear he will do so again and will go overboard. I hope not, but we will see. What this does is delay shermans advance of the left wing about two weeks. Osborne, who was something of a gossip, but i love his diary, he will point this out. Last night sherman sent word to general howard that he had heard from general slocum that he had been unable to get off from the lack of supplies. I suppose the infantry will coast tomorrow. Rather a bad record just to get in position from which to commence a great campaign. Of course, there are other causes being picked at with this. These are important as well. For those of you that recall the middle tennessee campaign, it rained and rained and rained throughout that from nashville towards chattanooga. A similar blight has befallen the federal army at this time as well. One fellow in massachusetts recalled, the weather was stormy and the water was high, flooding the roads and country for miles. One storm only seemed to give way to another. That meets the roads exceedingly sloppy, slovenly, and very difficult to move the wagons one of the other things that impeded the movement of the wagons through the area of the ferry was the fact that the confederates had taken to planting what they called infernal machines, landmines, artillery shells, percussion fuses. That inhibited the movement of the federals through that area. One of the locations the federals had centered about was a depot, a Junction Point for the right wing. Sherman in early january sent word that general howard should be at pocotaligo on the 15th and slocum on the north bank of the Savannah River the same day. General howard was on time, as osborne would note. He has a marvelous diary. Artillerists tend to write marvelous diaries. When they are trying to get into position, one of the things the federal soldiers are getting to do is find treasure where they may. General howard, a christian general, as he is noted among many of the writers at that point, is having a hard time restraining the energy of some of his men. They are on South Carolina soil, the mother of obscenity as far as secession in their minds, and they are trying to make the most of it. The general will send the following memo. I feel surprised after the precautions taken by yourself and officers to find that many depredations have taken place and certain things that would disgrace even in the enemys country, the robbing of valuables and the abusing of their women. Please ascertain the amount of damage wantonly committed and have it assessed on the brigade. This is commented on by general haven as well in the 15th corps. No sooner had we passed pocotaligo than the demon of destruction seized everybody. South carolina had fired the first gun and even the smallest drummer boy wanted to get even. We were not out of sight of the port royal ferry when the black columns of smoke began to descend. Here began a carnival of distraction that ended with the burning of columbia. The layout of shermans forces is displayed here. With again, the notation of the left wing and the right wing, as you see. Altogether when you break down the artillery batteries, they have only got about 70 artillery pieces, which if you think in gettysburg terms is a little less than what they had on Cemetery Ridge before they loaded up after the initial bombardment on the afternoon of the third. So they dont have a whole lot of artillery, but the idea is to march and stop as opposed to prepare for an intense battle in any particular place. As they begin to go, the confederates are beginning to sense their liabilities. And thats going to definitely catch the eye of the commanding general in the local defense. I quoted earlier from general beauregard, the head of the department. Hardee is head of the Operational Forces in the field. One of the joys of confederate arranging as they have these departments. Basically it is like being a principal in a school. You are in charge of different classrooms and there is an individual teacher or general in charge of different classrooms. The army in charge of the area here would be general william hardee. Hardee will talk about the responsibility he has here. I am holding the railroads to charleston. The principal force on this line was at pocotaligo. He was told to retire and begin to head towards the that would be in the area back over here as the federals begin to move up. You see the ferry there. Of this force, this is the only command i regard as movable. Everything else he has is going to be attached to the charleston area and charleston defenses. They are pretty paranoid about losing charleston. We will go to the chart that shows you what they have here. Shermans guys number about 60,000. When you look at what they have got to deal with, they have considerably less than that here. They have requested James Connors brigade. It is moving but it is not actually here yet, so i did not put the numbers down. As of january 6, and they will begin to get more forces accumulating, kind of like ticks coming to a dog, so they did not have a fixed number of folks at any particular time. As of january 6, there were 26 Field Artillery organizations scattered around the department. They have a collective total of 108 guns. 10 were mexican war vintage six pounders and 11 were rifles. Two 3. 5 inch blakelies. This is the department of South Carolina and georgia they are dealing with at this particular point. They will begin to take up the river defenses around the area going from savannah on the low end here, moving up toward charleston in this direction. Hardee will write, i am acting on the defensive and must continue to reinforce in case of movement upon charleston similar to that upon savannah. A movable force of 15,000 men operating outside the city defenses will be required. If this cannot be furnished, 5000 more regular forces will still be required for the present. They will begin to utilize the rivers for the scenario here. Several lines of defense have been selected from the Savannah River toward charleston. The necessary defensive works and reconnaissances to complete the system have been ordered. Should the enemy give us time, it is hope the advanced will be much retarded if not altogether prevented. Ok, from the combahee to barnwell down along here and from the river out in this direction and basically all these rivers that run more or less parallel to each other as blocks against charleston. Ultimately the ashley river, which is north of charleston, which you will see in just a minute. Because sherman will say, given the way the land is around here, if i should determine to take charleston, this is what he will do. He will come north and then around, down this way. He said, i would turn across the country, which i have hunted over many a time between the ashley and cooper rivers, coming down that way toward charleston. He does not anticipate doing that at this point because he would like to lop off the railroads here, rendering charleston useless. As far as the confederates are concerned, they better be prepared for some other alternative. We are calling the discussion between general cooper and general hardee on the earlier date, they should make silently and cautiously all necessary preparations for the evacuation of charleston should it become necessary. They are looking at this shortly after the fall of savannah. They dont want to make it obvious they are willing to concede the city, because of governor magrath. Somebody else is getting ready to evacuate as well. That somebody is beauregard. If there is something going bad, you dont want to be caught in that classroom. Let me go west, see what is going on with the army of tennessee. We can give this to general bragg. Thats his plan at that particular moment. Along the other side of the line, when everybody is finally ready to go around february 2, by this time sherman is very much like a football coach. He is very nervous, very agitated. General sherman is in a high temper and orders a halt until the leftwing comes up. General howard replied, the best thing to be done was press on until we crossed the railroad and fight the enemy if necessary. A delay would be fatal as far as giving the enemy time to guess the plan and reinforce against us. Sherman says, go ahead. I understand no one can approach him now without being snubbed. His temperament and sarcasm are now at their highest pitch and all acquainted with him keep a respectful distance. The first River Crossing area that the confederates have set up that the federals will get close to will be this river line. We all know lafayette, a south carolinian in charge of the area at this point. He has got about 1500 men at his command at this time. Because the rain has been so bad, rivers are overflowing, making it difficult for federals to move across and towards them. The river was still well over its banks, sherman will write. Nonetheless, the federals are geared to approach them and they will prepare to do that. The Three Bridges of note that the federals can go after are rivers bridge, beauforts bridge, and the salkehatchiecombahee ferry area here. What sherman will do is have the 15th and 17th make attacks here while elements of the kilpatricks elements come up around barnwell and to the left. They are going to be doing this as the right wing here, the leftwing a little further up is going to be moving on the railway in that direction. That fight will be the rivers bridge fight. They have to maneuver through to get to that and it is going to be a very difficult maneuver, as you will see here. There were pine woods outside everywhere. Bordering the creeks we found cypress trees, often very close together. Occasionally wide stretches would appear to be good ground but would actually be troublesome quicksand with a deceitful surface. Even along the roads, men said the bottom falls out before wagons could pass over, so we quickly covered the surface with small pines. Thousands of men worked at this. Confederate cavalry obstructed every causeway, held us in check as long as they could, then destroyed the lagoon bridges before every column. Bridges were filled with Fallen Timber for miles, entangling the trees as the tops came together from each side of the road. Osborne also noted that on occasion the enemy had entrenched with batteries from about 800 yards firing towards the causeway. This allowed our column to advance about 200 yards in this section. They have directed the fire down the straight section of the road. The enemy have shown no scale and use of our batteries. The problem with this that he is making reference to is if you are just firing a shot down the longest section, you are only going to take out a certain element of the road. If you have been cleared at a slight angle, you can command the longer section of the road. Osborne says you are failing to take advantage of that, which i imagine as a federal he would be appreciative of. Nonetheless, it is one of those intense, slower fights. Witness to this would be the letter of captain wilson of the 10th illinois cavalry. Third brigade, First Division of the 17th corps. I was wounded at this place called rivers bridge, where we were forcing the rebels out of a position where they had taken up the opposite side of the stream. They were entrenched. To effect crossing of the stream, we were obliged to maneuver across fallen trees. My company was the first to cross. As soon as the tree was cut, i crossed and ordered the men to follow. Our whole company was safely over and they were deployed as skirmishers and we were engaging fiercely. I had got my company deployed and nicely to work when i got it in the neck and fell to my knees in water to my waist. I quickly took a hurried inventory of the damage. The blood was gushing out of my wound and running into my boots. Knowing i could not stand this loss of blood much longer, i sent word of my mishap along the lines to the orderly, requesting him to take command. On his arrival, i wished the boys godspeed and tottered back to the log which we had crossed and struck back to the short. Bullets were flying and if i had been so unfortunate as to be hit again or had fallen off the log, i was so crippled in my arms i could not swim. I found the surgeon and he stanched the flow of blood and waded back three miles to the Field Hospital kneedeep to the waist. They wanted to give me an anesthetic, but i said i could stand it. I did, but it hurt me to have that great ball cut out of my back. This is the sort of thing they are doing in very cold water. Another fellow, Lieutenant Colonel oscar jackson, related, i see the hard results of every battle. Men mutilated, groaning, begging, and gasping in death. Many wounded have to lie all night in that swamp, being impossible to find them and carry them out on the narrow footbridge. Many have had their heads propped up out of the water keep them from drowning. This is very cold, early february weather in a very cold winter time. They are not only fighting in this, they also have to navigate through all of this. You may have heard of the old indian practice of marking signs for trees. The army is having to do this as well. Here is one of the ways it was done. The 15th corps did it this way. You can see if they took the entire corps down an entire road, they would market with a cross. If the First Division was going, they would have a straight dash over the cross. Second division, under the cross. Third, like you see there. Fourth, like that. Thats the way they would indicate who was supposed to take a particular road. They are beginning to push through as they go communicating with each other and as they are making their way through the swampy section of South Carolina. The next thing they are looking for is their military target that has the attention of sherman. Sherman is always looking for railroads. The next thing they are getting to above the salkehatchie line and above the bridges will be the railroad here. February 7, they will meet a bummer. One of those folks is always riding along to find the pocket watches and jewelry to be had. We met a bummer on a horse coming to inform us the forgeries had just taken the railroad at midway and are holding it for the army. Midway is a little place of five houses and a good depot. Hurry up, general, we have got the railroad. They will claim the railroad at the center of midway. It is actually named for the fact that it is midway between augusta on the left and charleston on the right. They will stay there. Sherman will say, we remain struggling on this railroad until the ninth of february, the 17th corps on the right, the 20th on the left, and jeff daviss 14th to come up by way of barnwell on the left. They are in the middle of breaking the railroads. Give you an idea of what an elevated railway through the swamp looks like. One of the engines that sherman has in his army, and it is very interesting the discussions the men are having about what they are doing through this time. It is beginning to take on a very active term, that they are turning amphibian because they are doing so much fighting through the water. You have to have guys geared up to do this stuff. One of the fellows leading this is this fellow, joseph mauer. He is very much a get up and go sort of fellow. Mexican war experience, wounded, captured, and released. Promoted to Major General in august of 1864, the boldest soldier we have, according to sherman. He is one of the fellows leading and inspiring his men through this period. As they move up from midway, 15th and 17th corps, the right wing of the army does more of the active momentum with the left moving in its wake at this point. Coming up through this area on its way to orangeburg, and there is one of the bridges coming through the area. Coming up towards orangeburg. They are going to have a bit of a fight in orangeburg. They have to get through the edisto rivers with its two forks. They will have a fight on the 11th and 12th. General sherman notes the place is important because its occupation would sever communications between charleston and columbia. Thats important because the confederates are still not sure which target they are going after, charleston or the capital of the state of columbia. Which is the one they are really going after . The confederates are beginning to look at the Congaree Creek defense line in this area here. As they make that fight, as they move up into this direction towards orangeburg, as the fight begins to advance up through here, pushing into orangeburg. Federal soldiers being federal soldiers, they are hearing train whistles through this area as they began to close in on the depot because confederates are evacuating up through here. Curiously there is not much of a discussion about lewisville. It appears to be a stop on this rail line. One of the things they do seem to snag into on the way up into orangeburg is lunch. They found stockpiles of peanuts. They got the confederate soldiers out, but some of the supplies are still left there. The speed and force of the union advance had upset the evacuation out of orangeburg. The rebel Soldiers Left those rations to be enjoyed later. Morris of the 31st illinois would later write with a great deal of animation no doubt in the retelling. However, there would be different stories coming out of orangeburg. Orangeburg would be where sherman would choose to make his headquarters for the evening of the 11th. Judge glovers house is an interesting place. Judge glover is one of the signers at the Secession Convention of the state of South Carolina when it chooses to secede. He will remarry by the time his first wife dies. His second wife turns out to be from charleston. You will notice again, we have this picture of sherman and the young officer. The fellow who remarries him happens to remember him from when he was a young officer serving with the artillery in charleston. They seek out the finest place for sherman to become headquartered that night. The former miss luisa of charleston, who had just had a run in with major howard about trying to get a guard of her house, upon encountering sherman, she began to recount how she remembered him some years ago when they had known each other at that point socially. Obviously she with the experiences she has just had with howard flies into something of an upset and lets him have it. I remember you when you were a gentleman and i expect you to be a gentle man now. That is a rather interesting display. Often times when he gets ready to vacate a place, it will be on the list of structures burned, especially for someone as significant as somebody who was a high toned fellow who was one of the folks who participated in the Secession Convention. You will notice that house is still there. Because of the activities that orangeburg militarily, there is now panic in charleston. They begin to get ready. They have had all the troops hunkered about charleston, and now with the severing of the railway at that point that is not a typo, by the way, that january 11, because there has already been discussion about the priority of what charleston is going to represent if the federals make their way to a specific spot. The governor is very upset at general hardee about the possibility of abandonment. I tell you now, the retreat from charleston will be the death march to the confederation. Your army will be a funeral procession. Depend upon it. The order which evacuate charleston destroys the last hope of our success. Very respectfully, a. G. Magrath. On the 14th, they will actually begin the evacuation of charleston. There will be turmoil between the 14th and the 20th of february in charleston. Ultimately charleston will surrender. You see the headline indicating that there. When the federals do go in, there is chaos, fire, all that sort of stuff. The station you see there was one of the things that was an unanticipated disaster at that point. Fire devastates the place. The most noticeable of which killed and mutilated approximately 100 people who were in line to get rice nearby. According to numerous sources, 200 kegs of powder were stored near the burning warehouses and unattended boys delighted in throwing powder into the flames to watch them spark. Eventually a flame was built up between the warehouse and the fire and it burned over to the warehouses and blew up the wilmington street station and killed all of those folks. At the end of that, elements of the federal corps waded ashore on the southern end of the city of charleston near the battery, the area below the battery if you remember that map, and were able to take charleston. It was not shermans deliberate doing that took charleston, but it was federal forces that were extensions of those folks from elsewhere. While this is going on, there were things taking place is on the left as well of interest. Kilpatrick moves to the left to threaten the areas of aiken and augusta. He is supposed to be attached to the remainder of the federal army, but he is feinting that direction to make sure any forces based in augusta will not move over there to threaten the flank of the federals as they move up to the north. Can see the midway, edisto over there. He is pushing those folks over there. The cavalry under joe wheeler are able to embarrass kilkilpatrick. It is a fairly heavy fight. Kilpatrick loses that large hat of his in the middle of that trap. John reed says, we were within a halfmile of aiken when we discovered long lines of rebel cavalry. Kilpatrick brought up the artillery, sent shells into town. He also called up the 92nd silver coronet band to play Yankee Doodle before charging. Some interesting bits there. As the federalists continued to move to the north, coming up, they will flank the confederate defenses around their left, the right and of Congaree Creek and begin to push up this direction. Thats where they will cross the river and its going to be an interesting thing at that particular moment. Like in the right appear, a landmark, one of the fellows of the 147th pennsylvania and if youve ever seen the 140 seventh pennsylvania regimental history, the new when they have is a massive thing, it is bigger than the new york city telephone book. It is marvelous. One of the fellows wrote about seeing a large charcoal artwork along the wall where somebody or bodies had taken some time to do a drawing of a battle scene where they were depicting a battle scene with fleeing johnnies that got the attention and amusement of all that passed there. What they are doing by going past columbia on the left is trying to get to the mouth or the headwaters of the rivers because down here, the terrain gets lower and flatter and the rivers, the streams get wider. As they get to the Higher Ground to come around, they will take a little more time here. As they get in these areas to turn into columbia, on the 16th of february, general orders number 26 are given out by general sherman. He will instruct them as near as the mouth permits to occupy columbia and this is important to destroy all the public buildings, railroad property, manufacturing and machine shops but will spare libraries, asylums, and public dwellings. This is very correct on that. You are crossing streams in the middle of winter time and you are going to run across all sorts of things. One particular regiment, the 100 indiana will run across other defenders of the federal army. The 100th indiana will have its own experience out here with antiyankee forces. The snakes among you, the vipers cannot be charmed and they will bite you declares the lord. The active defender of columbia is this fellow here, wade hampton, columbias hometown defender. He will command columbias defenses in its last days. However, the decision to defend is not really in his hand. Theres much confusion going on, even with the alleged 6000, perhaps 5000 if active in his hand. General beauregard the city must be held as long as circumstances will permit to give time for our reinforcements to arrive. However, theres not going to be much in the way of reinforcements that will be able to arrive at this point here. Theres also going to be questions about what to do. There will be accounts about the city being choked with cotton. All sorts of cotton that will become an issue because when they get into the town itself, the order that was previously issued by general beauregard, you want to be out of the hands of the federalists, so we will get it before the yankees sees it or burn it themselves. The opposite opinion will be hamptons opinion that we should not burn it, perhaps we should do Something Else with it. Wade hampton will meet with beauregard and get him to resend the order. Resend the order. All organized existence in the columbia area is gone. Theres no way to get that idea or that order promulgated, so even though the order is switched, its 7 00 on the order of the 16th and theres no real dispersal of that, its 7 00 in the morning of the 17th, actually. Theres not going to be a chance to change that order. The morning of the 17th, the federalists will close in my microphone seems to be dying in and out. The federals will strike from the west, from the north, and begin to make their presence known. They will throw a few shelves into the town and they will not shell it to death as they do in atlanta, but its going to be a different circumstance. The old statehouse and the new statehouse will bear the smites of 20 pound shells as it stands today. They have bronze stars that mark the various spots along the way. There is going to be conflicting remembrances written about what happened on the 17th of february. There are residents in the town and all about the town. They will have differing accounts of what happens out here. One of them is a professor and he will have a particular story which i want to share. Our forces evacuated the city the morning of the 17th, the yankees taking position about nine. General sherman promised complete protection in perfect security of personal property. That jives with what sherman himself actually said, that you should be as free and safe as if i were 100 miles away from here. Everything was quiet. A number of officers hinted about rockets that would signal the destruction of the city. After 10 hours of peaceable protection when there were no confederate soldiers in 15 miles, signals went up and there were fires everywhere. The seats were filled with 10,000 yelling soldiers with flaming torches and stealing trinkets from the frightened women who rushed into the streets. You get another fellow, irreverent in this case who submits a similar account. He has a federal officer boarding in his house because he figures it would give him some protection in the event of a drunken enlisted men or two coming up with a torch. He will say half past 8 00 at night, when i told general sherman, when i was told what he said and they said do you believe him go into the house and see for yourself. He was welcomed by us and went with me and saw the whole of columbia surrounded with frames. I pointed this out to the captain and he believed they were going to burn columbia. There are campfires. I told him i had been four years in the camp and knew what a campfire was and pointed out several residences on fire. The environs were blazed and fire balloons went up and ate fires broke out simultaneously across the northern streets of the city and stretched almost entirely across town. You get a fairly well coordinated fire effort. That may have been the case if it were for those areas of the towns, the machine shops, manufacturing, military areas that were the target. It is hard to say. But perception will be perception. One thing that did survive and is still here today this is an interesting clue because according to a couple of accounts, halford and major george view nichols who is the aide to camp with general sherman stands after the fire near the new statehouse. You can see it today. We would not have a color picture of it if we didnt. It is the pride and emblem of the state. Its nearly be only thing that is uninjured and will make loyal South Carolina a place of poetry. Officer nickel says the names of the fallen brave were inscribed in brass letters upon tablets. One of our stragglers while attempting to detach some of the letters was warned and not desist and was seized and severely handled by soldiers for the commission of what they regarded as a sacrilegious crime. This was for an Insurance Company that rejected it and was brought by the South Carolina General Assembly for 5,000 as a monument to the men of the South Carolina regiment who went to mexico. It is held in some esteem and was known for that by some of the military men and its interesting to think that was perhaps the reason it was treated a little better than anything else in the region during that moment. I did mention the South Carolina statehouse. You can visit where it was and visit what is left of it. The monument that arcs that at that particular point. This is the touchstone i would like to make about the burning of columbia. [laughter] notice the distance right there. When i saw that picture, there was a byline under it that said historians argue whether Major General sherman intentionally set it aflame. The reality is godzilla was a known sympathizer and carpetbagger. I looked at that for a moment and thought there is a monster in the middle of all of that and there is more truth to that then you know. Because what is the monster really . Its easy to say it is the yankees or the rebels or what have you, or the idea of secession. When you get right down to it, there will be folks who say the burning of the west of the city or remainder of the city beyond the military target was an accident. Its not an accident. How may times have we been told theres no such thing as an accident . Its an unforeseen outcome. There are no accidents. I think general sherman perhaps predicted this might happen. Remember the letter he wrote to general halleck that he quivered for the outcome. For all that South Carolina might get. I think thats one of the reasons he wrote general order 26 on the 16th of february. Officers who are predictable or who can see well or like to control things are very good about writing very well. I want to flashy back to chancellorsville for a minute. One of my other good diary writers. Chancellorsville right now, i noticed one thing i hadnt seen in any other command a Division Staff officer wrote that a certain order had been carried out. Staff officers generally do not even consider it necessary to report they delivered in order with which they had been set. Think about that. The subordinate commanders report when the order has been executed so the general cannot know with certainty how things stand. I throw that in because the day after the burning, general howard, the same guy wainwright mentions will send this out. Having been brought to the attention of the commanding general that certain people and people disposed soldiers of the command have threatened to destroy the remainder of the city with fire. It is ordered all Commanding Officers and provost use the utmost vigilance by establishing patrols to prevent at all costs, even to the taking of life of any soldier, a recurrence of the horrors of last night. They will approach a point provost marshals at will call upon corps commanders for the sufficient force to prevent acts of order and military discipline. They dont want to do that again. It will also be howard on the 20th of february, three days after who will send another one of those love letters out to his corps commanders reminding about keeping their troops in line and not doing things they should not. I desire to call your attention to the fact some of our soldiers have been committing the most outrageous robberies of jewelry, watches, etc. A case has come to my notice were a watch in several articles of jewelry were stolen under the eyes of a commissioned officer in charge. Rings like that. This is not just howard. Its everybody up the ranks. Even general sherman will get into the act. As the troops again to move away from charleston columbia i keep flipping those two cities. I want them to a member to keep within reasonable bounds for the sake of discipline. They will begin to move away and head up to the north. But they have accomplished in South Carolina the major objectives. Charleston is now in federal hands and columbia has been trashed. The confederate forces, whatever they were, wherever they are are scattered, fleeing and broken. More fights will remain, but they are beginning to push to the end of it. Post columbia, we will move to winnsboro destroying that section of the railroad, causing all depots on the river to be burned and such destruction as you can find time to accomplish. You will notice that winnsboro, South Carolina gets earned. At this point, the uncontrollable element of the federal forces are leading the rest of them. They find a freshly buried confederate officer, a relative of the confederate brigade commander. He died a day before they got there but he was not a rest because his casket might have goodies in it, so they dig it up and were disappointed with only finding the generals body. It will award him a potato in his mouth as they advance before they leave. It would be acts like this that many of the fellows on this way would find it the sort of thing they would rather shed because it does not befit their image. These are the guys who would just rather get the job done. This will be stuck with them because the confederates on their end cannot mount a decent defense and they are very much aware of that. President davis will write to beauregard regarding a telegram he just got requesting larger numbers of troops to come to South Carolina. Your request will best be judge i generally and we will respond the next day i received a copy of the dispatch and wish it was in our power to carry out the plan. The idea is good but the means are lacking. They realize a regard is about played out as a defender at this point in time. Ultimately, davis has no option but to swap generals again and get rid of beauregard and put the much hated Jefferson Davis joseph e johnson, rather, back into that spot and these two have a longstanding feud of immense proportions. So something will have to be initiated to do that and they will finally come along with a way to do that. Although there has been public pressure and letter sent to try to initiate this, it will finally materialize on the 22nd and 23rd. Robert e lee to Jefferson Davis im much obliged to year excellency he cannot order it directly so he orders johnson report to lee and that way davis does not mentally have to take responsibility for this. I placed him in command of the Army Operating against sherman and directed beauregard to do duty with him. They will change chairs at that particular point. I have heard from many sources that general beauregards help was fevered and feared and he might give way before he was willing to announce it. This is one of the things that will be recognized on the federal side on a larger scope from one of the federal officers who went through this area as well. General jacob d cox and his book regarding South Carolina the conscription had exhausted itself and the population not in the ranks was paralyzed rather than stimulated to exertion by the presence of the National Army as general hardy expressed it, they knew it was only a question of time. The conscription they knew lets leave it there for a moment as we discuss ultimately what this is going to mean. Sherman has to fight battles and he will do that, but i wanted to stop here for a moment and wrap it up with thoughts because thats the image we have, but i want to stick with the trail of fire sherman leaves behind in South Carolina. And close with a discussion because only someone who leaves that kind of trail of fire behind them is somebody that you either love or hate. And of course, that is the division that we have now in popular culture. Of course, the reexamination has come as it has in studious circles. But i want to take a moment to step away from that because in 1864, starting with the time just before atlanta false, the president ial campaign, theres another general from ohio, another general and he is despairing of the hard war sherman embraces. Fearing ultimately win the war is over, we must live again as a United People and hard war is going to make it impossible to do that. Shermans views are if we are going to live together again, weve got to get the work done and find us. And behind us. Sherman shared many of the southern feelings of the people at the time. After the war is over, right at the end when he tries to offer easier terms to the people and is shunned by the administration, that shun is seen by many of the folks in the south and understood and it makes it easier during that time to ultimately be accepted by certain classes of southerners. Because he will begin to make around in the south and toward certain areas in the south. One thing will make his isolation more harsh Jefferson Daviss rise and fall of the confederate government in 1881. Ultimately, he will stand just like lbj, and at one point in his life, he will step away from the political trap and he will say, if nominated, i will not run. If elected, i will not serve. One thing sherman always protected was his popular image. He knew when not to get into politics, unlike his friend and superior, general grant. That is why this image comes to us in tact. He was willing to look down the road and figure that scars heal. It takes a long process sometimes, but if you dont do certain things, you will be rewarded. Sometimes perceptions change. Controversial, and that is up to us. And that includes my program for this afternoon. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. 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Next, on American History tv, a conversation between librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and smithsonian secretary lonnie bunch about how cultural institutions can come to the countrys aid during difficult times. The library of congress provided this video. Carla hello. Im carla hayden, the librarian of congress, and welcome to a very special edition of National Book festival presents. As many of you know and have experienced, this week, our country is facing many, many challenges, and the continuing struggle for human rights, civil rights, and freedom dates back to our founding. And cultural institutions like libraries and museums are