Here at Savannah we fared sumptuously on oysters and fresh fish. Every
evening the negroes would come up to the city from the mouth of the
river, with their boat loads of oysters. These we purchased at the rate
of one dollar per bushel, and taking them to camp would throw them on
the fire, and let them roast, the opening of the shell indicating when
the bivalve was thoroughly cooked. Many a feast of this sort did we have
while there. But our feasting and merry making was rudely ended by the
bugle one morning sounding the call to "strike tents." Everything was
ready, and we were now to leave Savannah, and commence the march which
ended at Washington. The city of Savannah and the forts around it were
transferred to Gen. Foster, commanding the department of the south, and
on the 19th of January, 1865, all preparations were completed and the
march commenced. The weather was very bad, the January rains had
commenced to fall, swelling the Savannah river, overflowing its bottoms
and making the roads miserable. This made no difference, however, to our
general, so we marched up the river to Sisters Ferry, but owing to the
high state of the water, and the difficulty in laying the pontoons, we
did not succeed in getting everything across, until the first week in
February. And now we entered on the soil of South Carolina, and the
feelings of the men were openly expressed as they stepped off of the
pontoons, by the declaration that now they were in the state which had
caused more trouble than any other state in the union. We were behind
the rest of the army owing to the difficulties encountered in crossing
the Savannah, and so we had to march rapidly to overtake the right wing,
but at last we caught up with it. Foraging was again the order of the
day, we were compelled to subsist off of the country through which we
passed. Every morning a detail of two men from each company would be
made, making twenty men to a regiment. They were put under command of a
commissioned officer, and would leave camp about an hour before the army
moved. These men would strike off into the country around and gather up
all the provisions they could find, and towards evening would turn their
steps towards the roads on which the corps was marching. They would come
into camp in all styles of transportation. Here would be a couple of
fellows, who in their wanderings had found a fine buggy or carriage;
hunting up a mule or a horse, they would hitch him to the vehicle, and
loading it down with the proceeds of their day's search, would come
gravely riding into camp amid the laughter of all who saw them. Or some
other squad had come across a grist mill, and if there was no grist on
hand to be ground, they would soon procure some from somebody's
corn-field or granary, and starting up the machinery would grind it in
good workmanlike style, load it into an old wagon or anything they could
find and bring it into camp, burning the mill to the ground, however,
before leaving it. Others would make their appearance riding on some old
mule or horse, which they had picked up, loaded down with hams, bacon,
chickens, sweet potatoes or whatever they could find. By these means we
were provided with plenty of food and in great variety. The army
occupied four roads travelling parallel to each other, and the location
of each corps could be easily known by the cloud of smoke that hovered
over it by day, and the light of the camp fires which lit up the heavens
at night. Our march through South Carolina, often recalled to our minds
the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness when the Lord
went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar
of fire. Our line of march extended over a strip of country nearly sixty
miles in width, and with the exception of the negro huts, this land was
stripped of everything. There were undoubtedly many acts of wanton
cruelty and villainous outrage committed by some, but the mass of the
army was opposed to such actions, and loudly condemned them. Of course,
in an army the size of ours, there were all phases of humanity, and it
was plainly seen that the members of regiments, which had been made up
in some of our large cities, were oftener guilty of acts of violence
than men from regiments which had been formed in the agricultural parts
of the country. This was entirely logical, as the reader can easily
understand. The weather still continued rainy, and the roads were
terrible, often requiring the severest labor on the part of all to make
them passable for our teams, by corduroying them. At last we reached the
banks of the Congaree, on the other side of which the city of Columbia,
the capitol of the state, was situated, and on the night of February the
15th, the enemy amused themselves by shelling our camps from a battery
posted on that side of the river. And now we come to a matter, which,
although not having any particular bearing on the regiment, as we did
not come within two miles of the city, still as a part of the army then
in front of Columbia, we must suffer in common with other regiments from
the stigma the rebels sought to cast upon our arms, by the destruction
of that city by fire on the night of the 17th of February. Major General
Howard had received orders from the general commanding, to destroy
absolutely all arsenals and public property not needed for the use of
our army, as well as railroads, depots and machinery useful in war to an
enemy, but to spare all dwellings, colleges, schools, asylums, and
harmless private property. The day of the occupation of Columbia was
clear, but a tremendous wind was blowing. One brigade of our army was in
the city and properly posted. Citizens and soldiers were on the streets,
and good order prevailed. General Wade Hampton, who commanded the rebel
rear guard of cavalry, had, in anticipation of the capture of Columbia,
ordered that all cotton, public and private, should be moved into the
streets and fired. Bales were piled everywhere, the rope and bagging
cut, and tufts of cotton were blown about in the wind, lodged in the
trees and against houses, so as to resemble a snow storm. Some of these
piles of cotton were burning, especially one in the very heart of the
city, near the court-house, but the fire was partially subdued by the
labor of our soldiers. Before one single public building had been fired
by order, the smoldering fires, set by Hampton's orders, were rekindled
by the wind and communicated to the buildings around. About dark they
had began to spread and get beyond the control of the brigade on duty in
the city. A whole division was brought in, but it was found impossible
to check the flames, which by midnight, had become unmanageable and
raged until about four a. m., when the wind subsiding, they were brought
under control. Gen. Sherman in his report says:
"I was up nearly all night and saw Generals Howard, Logan and Wood and
others laboring to save houses and protect families thus suddenly
deprived of shelter, and of bedding, and wearing apparel. I disclaim, on
the part of my army, any agency in this fire, but, on the contrary,
claim that we saved what of Columbia remains unconsumed. And without
hesitation I charge General Wade Hampton with having burned his own city
of Columbia, not with a malicious intent, or as the manifestation of a
silly "Roman Stoicism," but from folly and want of sense in filling it
with lint, cotton and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well
to extinguish the flames, but others not on duty, including the officers
who had long been imprisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in
spreading the fire after it had once begun, and may have indulged in
unconcealed joy to see the ruin of the capitol of South Carolina. Thus
ends the account of the destruction of Columbia." We shall not enter
into any discussion of the matter, as we firmly believe, along with Gen.
Sherman, that it was all caused by the folly or ignorance of Gen. Wade
Hampton.