“C” is for Columbia, burning of (February 17-18, 1865)

“C” is for Columbia, burning of (February 17-18, 1865). On the morning of February 17, 1865, when the mayor surrendered Columbia to General Sherman, the city was in chaos. Drunken mobs roamed the streets. Ragged cotton bales were everywhere. Driven by a strong wind, loose cotton covered the city like a snowstorm. Fires broke out in different sections of town. Driven by wooden buildings and burning wooden shingles, the fires spread rapidly. When Union forces got control of the streets on the morning of the 18th and the winds died down, the result was: two soldiers killed and thirty wounded; 370 soldiers and civilians arrested; one-third of the town destroyed. Though traumatic for all inhabitants, the tragic events of the burning of Columbia were an accident of war. The burning of Columbia remains a controversial event in South Carolina history