Sometimes they destroyed their own cities as a defensive strategy. Hampton, virginia, arts of atlanta, and most of richmonds Business District got the torch as the confederates evacuated the cities, retreating before overwhelmingly large union army. The thought was that they would destroy their own war material before the unions inventing armies could get at it. The confederates also burned some towns and cities in the offensive maneuvers. During the 1862 and 1863 campaigns into maryland and pennsylvania, during cavalry raids on Southern Union is towns, and during guerrilla campaigns in the border region. The burning of chambersburg, pennsylvania on july 30, 1864 was one such often active disruption. It is an unusual at the mistress of this warped time practice for several reasons. First, it was a northern town in a northern and not a border state. Second, the conversations about the smoking ruins of chambersburg shifted the discussion of civilized warfare, pitting northern civilians against northern military and government officials rather than pitching Union Soldiers against confederate civilians. Third, chambersburg ruins example of id debates about retaliation as a legitimate military strategy. Fourth, they illuminate the ways that disruption commanded the assignment of responsibility in wartime. So at the time of its burning, chambersburg was celebrating its centennial. Although european immigrants, most of them irish, german, or scott iris had been living in Cumberland Valley in the colony of pennsylvania since the 1730s. The towns founder, benjamin chambers, did not lay out the streets until july 1764. Chambersburg grew slowly but steadily, held by its location, as you can see on this map on the right export military road, which connected and others. Its population burgeoned after the Cumberland Valley railroad opened its chambersburg line collecting hagerstown, maryland with the state capital at harrisburg. The city go the status of a travel hub and lyrical sensor for the construction of hotels, taverns, and a courthouse in the antebellum period. A significantly large german population also had several breweries and distilleries. Nicknamedss district the diamonds due to the shape of the towns central square, were lined with twostory to threestory rate and frame structures housing both businesses and apartments. He mentions of chambersburgs Business Leaders and adjacent streets. 1860, there were 800 buildings in chambersburg. 5255 People Living there. Of 1864, however, chambersburg had experienced more than 50 population decline due to the deployment of soldiers and the evacuation of residents during the confederate and pains of 1862 and 1863. ,t the time of the burning there were about 2500 People Living in the town. During that summer with the army of Northern VirginiaUnion General david hunter attended to subdue the shenandoah valley, confederate general robert e lee went to deal with hunter and hopefully divert some of grants troops from washington, d. C. To combat this threat. Were at my katie myers talk in a session before about early,u know and you know a lot about him and his campaigns during this period , and if you like to know more about his maneuverings, you can catch dr. Meyer in the hallway and the siege her with questions. Early men moved quickly and managed to surprise the soldiers garrison and washington, d. C. Destroying buildings as they went. Hunter had returned to these shenandoah and what early called warfare,ite mode of burning the homes of prominent confederates. As he noted in his memoir, early came to the conclusion that we had stood this mode of warfare long enough, and on july 26, he brigadesd two under charles mccausland. 100,000d mccausland in gold or 500,000 in u. S. Currency at the compensation for the destruction of the house is named, those belonging to prominent confederates, including a relative of lees, and their contents. This ransom demand, if successful, would provide muchneeded currencies to provide for confederate troops, whose own dollars were by this time almost worthless. Early had successfully rested both money and supplies from a number of towns in maryland before this. Hagerstown, fredericks, middletown, and bones grow with this strategy. Was unsuccessful, earlys orders ready with two lady town in ashes in retaliation for the burning of both houses and others in virginia as well as the town that had been burned in southern states. Mccausland and his men reached chambersburg on the morning of july 30 post up after establishing a battery on the hillside outside of town, the confederates through a few shells that were meant according j scottnia calvaryman moore, to intimidate rather than harm. I doubt the president thought that way. Meanwhile, the eighth virginia alvarez dismounted and began to pour through the streets and alleys, converging at the diamond, which moore admitted was the objective. As chambersburg residents left their homes, mccausland and his general writerlys order allowed and asked that the city council assembled to discuss the rent the money. Ollect the town citizens, moore wrote, seem to think that they were jesting. And they asked the time to consider. There are different reports of how much time they were given. Moore claims it was one hour, mccausland argues it was six hours, several residents for that they were allowed no time at all. Cities,her towns and fredericksburg, virginia most notably, this issue of notification before siege or destruction, became a matter of real controversy and a suggest that an 18 city tour, the matter of fair warning in hard war against civilians was still in dispute. But chambersburgs leaders were not asking for time in order to gather funds. At a first room or a confederates in the areas, the citys merchants and bankers had sent all of their merchandise and money northward. The city council could not have paid the ransom if they had wanted to. Rather in asking for several hours to discuss it, chambersburg leaders were stalling for time. They hoped the union forces in the area would come to their aid. Mccausland saw this tactic for what it was an almost immediately formed a detail in order to be meant to set fire to the town at different locations. The flames spread quickly despite the relatively calm day. Moore was impressed with the conflagration, which in his view was one of surpassing range grr and terror. The columns of black smoke rose up to the skies. Writing in twisting themselves into when thousand fantastic shape. Many observers noticed how the fire created its own weather. Whirlwinds of fire lifted clothing and wood and bricks and furniture into the air and hurled them across the city. Within two hours, most of the buildings in the diamond were destroyed, as were many of the houses of prominent civilians that lined the surrounding streets. We do not have images of the fire itself. First of all, it is difficult in this period to take photographs of anything moving quickly, and also no photographers were really there, no one was expecting this to happen, no artists were on hand to the picnic, however, photographers flocked to the city over the ,ext few weeks as did tourists and the photographer is created photographic views to sell to a wider public and to National Newspapers and magazines for reproduction as illustrations. They produced to kind of ruined images. One kind, the kind pictured here in this slide, which were landscapes of ruins images. Sort of long views of entire blocks or in this case in the top image a view from a prospect , probably from a church tower, where you can see the entire city and you can see the ruins. Views,so produced street so the photographers are standing in the streets, giving you a view of the ruins. It was quite popular to stand at the corner of streets and take ruined quarter graphs and take ruins photographs. We have so many autographs of urban ruins because urban ruins are very photogenic. The reason for this is because they dont move, right, so their sharp angles become quite clear in these photographs in this point, which necessitated a longer exposure time. Also, almost all photographers took photographs of ruins from angles so that you could see the spaces, you could see the lack theoofs, you could see chart up walls, and this is a very leasing prospect and angle from which to do any kind of landscape image. We also have pictures, so here of a stunningture stereographic the northwest corner of the public square. You can see how this building no longer exists. It is just a single wall. The other effect of these images had even though the captain gives you a kind of address, they are disorienting in nature. You know where you are, but it looks so different from the town as it looked only a couple of hours before that it creates a sort of disconcerting notion of chaos in the viewer. Also quite popular or what i call ruined portraits. Individual holdings that have been destroyed, that had been significant before the destruction as a single buildings. The most popular berlin in chambersburg was the the most popular ruin in chambersburg was the ruin of the courthouse, and its most important civic building, but part of the reason that this was such a popular image also was because the columns are left standing, and they really evoke the ruins of greece and make that connection with historical empires and distraction. The bank of china resort was also a popular photograph it the bank of chambersburg was also a popular photographic subject. So these photographs began to be reduced and harpers weekly got into the game, and they purchased many of these and created illustrations out of them, and they published a group of three illustrations in their august 20 issue, so less than three weeks after the fire, depicting the ruins of timbers berg including both street views like this one of main street and also individual portrait like this at the bank and the Franklin Hotel and then the town hall. So these images really help us spread the news of chambersburg, especially across the north and help northerners really visually access the destruction. They were appealing, they were visually appealing, but they were also emotionally and intellectually shocking to those who look to these images or visited the ruins themselves mostly because of this contrast that i already mentioned about what that building was before and then when it had become. As a viewer, you are invited to sort of contemplate the process of destruction when you look at an image like this. The residents of chambersburg had a very different relationship to these ruins of course because these buildings were theirs. They were also riveted and shocked, but they acted very quickly in response to the destruction. A civilian committee was formed formed comprised of chambersburg residents who property had not been destroyed. 559 of the town was the 800 buildings had been burned. 270 residences and laces of and they produce a map of the burns district for publication, which often accounts ofprinted timbers were. It was all about the numbers in the property values. It was not just buildings that were destroyed but portraits, keepsakes. Families lying among the rubble of his home with every domestic memorial. These were not mere objects, items purchased and is laid and disconnected from those who own them, they were the domestic and social ties that bound the members of committees and their families together. Chambersburg was a ruin of revenge. It was chosen, targeted for destruction in a deliberate and focused act of military retaliation. But why chambersburg . Why would they select this town for union depredations in virginia . Atre were several theories this time. Perhaps many storehouses bent on destroying the union war machine, or maybe early had remembered that the town was a stop on the underground railroad. This is why the abolitionist john brown established a supply depot there and met with Frederick Douglass to discuss the Harpers Ferry plan in 1859. Some argued chambersburg was just one of several towns in the region that is received visits from early and threats of demand for money and surprisppls the reason chambersburg was burned with that they did not comply. Others have argued that the decision was rooted in previous insurance. After all, the confederates had been in chambersburg twice before. In october 1862, confederate albury visited confederate calvary visited town and one of their famous or circumvented of the union army. They burned buildings belonging to the warehouse and a store house containing more material. They returned this time with robert e lee. In late june 1863, 60,000 confederate soldiers began to leeert in chambersburg, and established his headquarters there. He town escaped largescale thisraction at point much due to lees 73. Menake war only upon armed and that no greater disgrace should befall an army and through it our people bandy perpetration of the barbarous outrages amongst the unarmed and the ones and some destruction of private property. Also, they did not have time for looting and burning. They departed within days to meet union troops at gettysburg. After such close calls in the first two years of the war, chambersburg residents did not know what to think in the summer of 1864. Some believe that the town was destined for distraction. Into a kindlapsed of apathy. Was it was geographical destiny. Became a target because it was the nearest and the most accessible place of important for us to get to. So lets go back to this map here. Chambersburg sits in the cradle of the Cumberland Valley, which extends from central pennsylvania to maryland. South of the potomac, the cumberland becomes the shenandoah, one of the major battleground of the war. Confederates had control of the e valley for the first three years, and the user of the corner from which to threaten washington, d. C. Into lunch invasions of the union from 1862 and 1863. It was a small city on a well use and familiar transportation corridor and southern Franklin County, the most exposed on the southern pennsylvania border. I am paraphrasing here to chambersburg. I did not selected as having more merit or claim than others, but because its that within the limits of the country cover by my command and was brought more immediately to my attention. So in other words, early chose chambersburg because it was there. The more controversial issue then the choice of chambersburg was the motivation for burning the city itself. Beenerners had never adverse to destroying towns and cities as long as they were northern towns and cities. Tennessee confederate andy maybe of example advocated the use hard work tactics. In a letter to her friend in may be1861, i only pray god may with us, she wrote, to give us strength to conquer them, to exterminate them, to lay waste to every northern city, town, and village, to destroy them utterly. Words of a teenage girl. Jefferson davis echoed ma mies sentiments in stevenson, alabama, vowing that we will foode for the torch carries our armies will sub union towards armies. Union forces made toward southern crops, but we can destroy what years of industry and millions of dollars to build. It was common throughout the south from the wars earliest days and it only increased as the war progressed. As the hills, valleys, and low ends of the south were trampled, cutover, and burned out during longterm and hard work campaigns on both sides, southern civilians became and callsly insistent for an invasion of the north and retaliation in kind. But what of the laws of warfare . Except the military theories provided very little guidance and a lot of wiggle room in this regard. Retaliation also referred to as were the rules frequently adopted in operations of war. The unions lieber code of 1863, for example, argued that although retaliation was the sternest feature of war, the law of war can no more wholly dispense with retaliation than can be law of the nation. Was considered a legitimate justification for military action in two ways. First, it was considered a just response to barbarous outrages on the part of the enemy. Outrages, these constituted not only destruction of property but also savaged attacks on southern white women. I had also seen delicate ladies who had been wondered and rendered desolate by the acts of our most atrocious enemies, and while they did not call for it, expressions ofd their features while narrating their misfortunes, there was a new appeal to every manly sentiment of my bosom for manly retribution. As a war measure, retaliation, which was seen as something slightly different from just pure revenge, was seen as a thoughtful and considered act of attractive retribution. This is where things really get wild. Soldiers could engage in retaliation if they believe the fromould prevent the enemy executing barbarous outrages in the future. So any officer or soldier on either side of the conflict could justify destruction as necessary and just retribution for previous asked by the enemy or as a bran preemptive strike against future possible acts. I can see how this might provoke some confusion, and also a never ending cycle of vengeance. Really very clearly saw the burning of chambersburg as justified retaliation in both of these occasions. He made sure to point out that the policy pursued on former occasions had been lenient, and he had restrained his officers and soldiers from pillaging in previous trips northward, but now hunters acts were so destructive that they demanded a response. Act, a localed the newspaper reported, but they also believed that it would open the eyes of other towns at the north to the necessity of urging the adoption of different policies. Here was a slightly different argument. In orere either exulted ignored the towns. Editors, partly from a language of all the concerns of the enemy. There was no universal feeling on the subject. The burning would jolt northerners out of apathy. , we have lit ablaze that will arrest the view of the northern people and illustrate distraction of home teds homesteads and towns. Many northerners protested against the burning and argued the distraction of an entire outlined. Ity as it was itself an excessive act of violence, a monstrosity. As henry argued in 1864, it might not be possible for egregious acts. Cases, a larger body could he held responsible. A city, army or entire community is sometimes punished for the illegal act of its rulers. Southerners looked with scorn upon the protests after the earning. How they raise this vandalism. And those who have been the most outspoken advocates of the and suffering inhabitants. Wished that they have not stooped to the level of the area, they had the areas that it before as hypocrites and cowards. Out northerners pointed that it was thought the news who are hypocrites. They noticed the ruins are evidence of the tender theifully fast mercy of rebels who boasted so loudly. Was a vengeful a