48 



AKMY OPERATIONS. 



north, aiming to reach Charlotte in North Car- 

 olina, At the same time Georgetown, a sea- 

 port north of Charleston, was evacuated, and 

 occupied by a naval force sent by Admiral Dahl- 

 grcn. The force of Gen. Hood's army which 

 had been sent eastward, having passed Augusta, 

 was moving toward Charlotte, where Gen. Beau- 

 regard was in command. As the danger became 

 more critical, the enemy sent Gen. Johnston to 

 take the command, and he was again in a posi- 

 tion to confront Gen. Sherman. 



Meanwhile Gen. Sherman continued his 

 march. The left wing and cavalry crossed the 

 Saluda and Broad Rivers, and broke up the rail- 

 road about Alston and as high as the bridge 

 across Broad River on the road to Spartans- 

 burg. Meanwhile the main body moved directly 

 to Winnsboro, which Gen. Slocurn reached on 

 the 21st. Here the railroad was destroyed up to 

 Blackstake's station, a distance of fifteen miles. 

 The railroad runs from Columbia to Charlotte, 

 N. C., one hundred and nine miles, thence to 

 Greensboro, and branches to Lynchburg, Va., 

 and Raleigh, N. C. The distance from Columbia 

 to Winnsboro is thirty-nine miles. Gen. Slocum 

 next turned to Rocky Mount, on the Catawba 

 River, in a northeast direction. The 20th corps 

 reached Rocky Mount on the 22d, and laid a 

 pontoon bridge over the Catawba, and crossed 

 on the 23d. The cavalry under Gen. Kilpatrick 

 followed during the night ensuing, and moved 

 up to Lancaster with instructions to keep up 

 the feint of a general march on Charlotte, N. C., 

 to which place Gen. Beauregard and the cav- 

 alry of the enemy had retreated from Columbia. 

 The real aim of Gen. Sherman was to reach 

 Cheraw and Goldsboro, N, C., where he could 

 communicate with the naval forces. As has 

 been already stated, a portion of Hood's army, 

 consisting of Cheatham's corps, was aiming to 

 make a junction with Gen. Beauregard at Char- 

 lotte, having been cut off by the rapid move- 

 ment of Sherman on Columbia and Winnsboro. 

 For three days, from the 23d to the 2Gth, the 

 rains were heavy and the rivers became quite 

 swollen, and the roads almost impassable. The 

 20th corps reached Hanging Rock on the 26th, 

 and waited there for the 14th corps to get across 

 the Catawba. The river had so swollen that 

 the pontoon bridge broke, and was with diffi- 

 culty restored by Gen. Davis. 



Meanwhile the right wing had broken up the 

 railroad to Winnsboro, and turned from thence 

 to Peay's Ferry, where it crossed the Catawba 

 before the heavy rain commenced. The 17th 

 corps moved straight on Cheraw by the way of 

 Young's bridge ; and the 15th corps by Tiller's 

 and Kelly's bridges. From the latter corps de- 

 tachments were sent to Camden, to burn the 

 bridge over the Wateree and the railroad depot, 

 stores, &c. This was successfully done. 



Several of the foragers, who, as a body, gen- 

 erally kept in advance of the troops, having 

 been very cruelly treated by the enemy, Gen. 

 Sherman wrote the following letter to Gen. W. 

 Hampton: 



HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIV'N OP THE MISSISSIPPI, J 

 IN THE FIELD, Feb. 24, 1865. I 



Lieut.-Gen Wade Hampton, Commanding Cavalry 

 Forces, C. & A. 



GENERAL : It is officially reported to me that our 

 foraging parties are murdered after capture, and la- 

 belled "Death to all* foragers." One instance of a 

 lieutenant and seven men, near Chesterfield, and an- 

 other of twenty, " near a ravine eighty rods from the 

 main road," about three miles from Feasterville. I 

 have ordered a similar number of prisoners in our 

 hands to be disposed of in like manner. 



I hold about one thousand prisoners captured in 

 various ways, and can stand it as long as you ; but I 

 hardly think these murders are committed with your 

 knowledge, and would suggest that you give notice 

 to the people at large, that every life taken by them 

 simply results in the death of one of your confed- 

 erates. 



Of course you cannot question my right to forage 

 on the country ; it is a war right as old as history. 

 The manner of exercising it varies with circum- 

 stances, and if the civil authorities will supply my 

 requisitions, I will forbid all foraging. But I find no 

 civil authorities who can respond to calls for forage 

 or provisions, and therefore must collect directly of 

 the people. I have no doubt this is the occasion of 

 mucn misbehavior on the part of our men ; but I can- 

 not permit an enemy to judge or punish with whole- 

 sale murder. 



Personally I regret the bitter feelings engendered 

 by this war; but they were to be expected, and I 

 simply allege that those who struck the first blow 

 and made war inevitable, ought not, in fairness, to re- 

 proach us for the natural consequences. I merely 

 assert our war right to forage, and my resolve to 

 protect my foragers to the extent of life for life. 



I am, with respect, your obedient servant, 



W. T. SHERMAN, Maj.-Gen. U. S. A. 



To which Gen. Hampton replied as follows : 



HEADQUARTERS L.V THE FIELD, Feb. 27, 1865. 

 Major-Gen. W. T. Sherman, U. S. Army. 



GENERAL : Your communication of the 24th instant 

 reached me to-day. In it you state that it has been 

 officially reported" that your foraging parties were 

 " murdered after capture, and you go on to say that 

 you had "ordered a similar number of prisoners in 

 your hands to be disposed of in like manner." That 

 is to say, you have ordered a number of Confederate 

 soldiers to be " murdered." 



You characterize your order in proper terms, for 

 the public voice, even in your own country, where it 

 seldom dares to express itself in vindication of truth, 

 honor, or justice, will surely agree with you in pro- 

 nouncing you guilty of murder, if your order is car- 

 ried out. 



Before dismissing this portion of your letter, I beg 

 to assure you for every soldier of mine " murdered 

 by you I shall have executed at once two of yours, 

 giving, in all cases, preference to any officers who 

 may be in my hands. 



In reference to the statement you make regarding 

 the death of your foragers, I have only to say that I 

 know nothing of it; that no orders given by me 

 authorized the killing of prisoners after capture, and 

 that I do not believe that my men killed any of yours, 

 except under circumstances in which it was perfectly 

 legitimate and proper they should kill them. 



It is a part of the system of the thieves whom you 

 designate as your foragers, to fire the dwellings of 

 those citizens" whom they have robbed. 



To chock this inhuman system, which is justly ex- 

 ecrated by every civilized nation, I have directed my 

 men to shoot down all of your men -who are caught 

 burning houses. This order shall remain in force as 

 long as you disgrace the profession of arms by allow- 

 ing your men to destroy private dwellings. 



You say that I cannot, of course, question your 

 right to forage on the country. " It is a right as old 



