Paperback / softback
August 13, 2021
9781643362458
English
200
10 b&w halftones, 5 maps
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
.65 Pounds (US)
$21.99 USD, £17.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Sherman and the Burning of Columbia

An investigation into who burned South Carolina's capital in 1865

Who burned South Carolina's capital city on February 17, 1865? Even before the embers had finished smoldering, Confederates and Federals accused each other of starting the blaze, igniting a controversy that has raged for more than a century. Marion B. Lucas sifts through official reports, newspapers, and eyewitness accounts, and the evidence he amasses debunks many of the myths surrounding the tragedy.

Rather than writing a melodrama with clear heroes and villains, Lucas tells a more complex and more human story that details the fear, confusion, and disorder that accompanied the end of a brutal war. Lucas traces the damage not to a single blaze but to a series of fires—preceded by an equally unfortunate series of military and civilian blunders—that included the burning of cotton bales by fleeing Confederate soldiers.

This edition includes a new foreword by Anne Sarah Rubin, professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the author of Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and America.

About the Authors

Marion B. Lucas is University Distinguished Professor of history at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

Reviews

"This splendid little volume should put to rest forever the question of who burned the capital city of South Carolina."—Civil War History

"Well worthy of examination by all interested in the nature of war and the social, political, and economic ramifications of total warfare. Professor Lucas is to be commended for a very worthy research achievement."—Journal of Southern History

"For a few South Carolinians, this little book will generate more heat than anything Mother Nature can do this summer. . . It is doubtful Lucas' book will ever shut down the debate over the burning of Columbia. History spawns passionate debate around here, as we've heard all year. But at least those who read it carefully should benefit from a little more balanced historical background."—The State

"deals with one of the most difficult, most delicate issues of the Civil War and deals with it in an honest, unbiased manner."—Midlands Weekend

"The results of his efforts are eminently satisfying. He brings order out of contradiction and confusion by carefully weighing the evidence and presenting the results of his study in a simple, straightforward, and interesting manner."—McCormick Messenger

9781643362458 : sherman-and-the-burning-of-columbia-lucas-rubin
Paperback / softback
200 Pages
$21.99 USD

Other Titles by Marion B. Lucas

A History of Blacks in Kentucky

Marion B. Lucas
Dec 2021 - University Press of Kentucky
$24.95 USD - Electronic book text
$24.95 USD - Paperback / softback
$24.95 USD - Electronic book text

By the Red Glare

John Mark Sibley-Jones, foreword by Marion B. Lucas
Aug 2014 - University of South Carolina Press
$26.99 USD - Hardback

Sister States, Enemy States

edited by Kent Dollar, Larry Whiteaker, W. Calvin Dickinson, with contributions byGary R. Matthews, Thomas Mackey, Jonathan M. Atkins, Michael R. Bradley, John V. Cimprich, B. Franklin Cooling, John D. Fowler, Derek W. Frisby, Marion B....
Feb 2011 - University Press of Kentucky
$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback
$30.00 USD - Electronic book text
$30.00 USD - Electronic book text

Other Titles in HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)

Camp Nelson, Kentucky

Richard D. Sears
Dec 2025 - University Press of Kentucky
$40.00 USD - Hardback
$12.95 USD - Electronic book text

Anatomy of a Duel

Stuart W. Sanders
Nov 2023 - University Press of Kentucky
$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback
$60.00 USD - Online resource
$60.00 USD - Electronic book text

Abraham Lincoln, Abridged Edition

Michael Burlingame - edited and abridged by Jonathan W. White
Oct 2023 - Johns Hopkins University Press
$34.95 USD - Hardback
$34.95 USD - Electronic book text