In James Loewen’s article, Sherman’s burning of Columbia is analyzed. Loewen believes that despite the belief of the union troops coming in and destroying the Capital of South Carolina, it did not happen. At least, Sherman is not the culprit.
First of all, many sites burned by Sherman’s men in the state of South Carolina have markers stating the burning. These are often buildings in certain towns. The entire towns burned by Sherman were all small towns. Although it seems like there is no other way except for Sherman to have burned down these buildings, researcher Marion Lucas, who has studied the burning of Columbia, reported that when the union was coming, the confederates that were about to flee, burned piles of very flammable cotton and two railroad stations. During this burning, the red light district of Columbia also had an accidental fire, but the union troops in the area helped extinguish the blaze. Some buildings did not escape this fire. Here, Leowen implies that no army would put out there own intentional fire, so why would Sherman have wanted Columbia to burn if he extinguished it.
Lucas also says that had any union soldiers played a role in the fire, they were not doing so on Sherman’s orders. Most fires lit by the union soldiers were made by looters who would destroy the property after rummaging through all of the owner’s belongings. This was frowned upon by Sherman because soldiers were punished for this, at least two of them were shot.
Not only was it unlikely for Sherman to have burned Columbia, but almost all of the people he ran into were slaves. They were happy to see him, and were not harmed by the union. Why would Sherman hurt the people he was trying to help? But, according to the article, they played a very small role because they fought on both sides and feared retaliation if they were re-enslaved after joining the union.
Later, the article speaks of Betty McCain’s family. McCain says that Sherman burned her ancestors’ house, but he never even went within a hundred miles of Wilmington. Furthermore, the city’s warehouses were burned by the confederates who were fleeing form the union army and did not want to leave stores behind that they could use.
The article also mentions, that although southerners like to show pride in the Civil War, many on the confederate army actually had low morale after Lincoln’s reelection and would desert as more battles were lost. The article claims that 2/3 of the confederate soldiers that opposed Sherman would desert.
In Loewen’s article, the facts of the Civil War and the burning of Columbia are clarified. Through fear of the union and a need to destroy all materials that could help them, southerners often left the area or confederacy. Sherman is proven not to have burned anywhere in Wilmington, and his looters did union burning in Columbia, but they were soon punished by Sherman. All of these facts in the article show that Sherman did not actually burn Columbia, but several misconstrued facts make everyone believe that is the case.