AKMY OPERATIONS. 



49 



as history." I do not, sir, question this right. But 

 there is a right older even than this, and one more 

 inalienable the right that every man has to defend 

 his home and to protect those who are dependent 

 upon him ; and from my heart I wish that every old 

 man and boy in my country who can fire a gun, 

 would shoot down, as he would a wild beast, the men 

 who are desolating their land, burning their houses, ' 

 and insulting their women. 



You are particular in defining and claiming " war 

 rights." May I ask if you enumerate among them 

 the right to fire upon a defenceless city without no- 

 tice ; to burn that city to the ground after it had 

 been surrendered by the authorities, who claimed, 

 though in vain, that protection which is always ac- 

 corded in civilized warfare to non-combatants; to 

 fire the dwelling houses of citizens, after robbing 

 them, and to perpetrate even darker crimes than 

 those crimes too black to be mentioned ? 



You have permitted, if you have not ordered, the 

 commission of these offences against humanity and 

 the rules of war. You fired into the city of Columbia 

 without a word of warning. After its surrender by 

 the Mayor, who demanded protection to private 

 property, you laid the whole city in ashes, leaving 

 amid its ruins thousands of old men and helpless 

 women and children, who are likely to perish of 

 starvation and exposure. Your line of march can be 

 traced by the lurid light of burning houses, and in 

 more than one household there is an agony far more 

 bitter than that of death. 



The Indian scalped his victim regardless of sex or 

 age, but with all his barbarity he always respected 

 the persons of his female captives. Your soldiers, 

 more savage than the Indian, insult those whose 

 natural protectors are absent. 



In conclusion, I have only to request, that when- 

 ever you have any of my men " disposed of," or 

 " murdered," for the terms appear to be synony- 

 mous with you, you will let me hear of it, in order 

 that I may know what action to take in the matter. 

 In the mean time I shall hold fifty-six of your men as 

 hostages for those whom you have ordered to be ex- 

 ecuted. I am, yours, &c., 



WADE HAMPTON, Lieut.-Gen. 



A small force of mounted men, under Capt. 

 Duncan, was sent by Gen. Sherman to break 

 up the railroad between Charleston and Flor- 

 ence, but were met by a division of cavalry un- 

 der Gen. Butler, and after a sharp skirmish on 

 Mount Elon, they were compelled to return 

 without success. 



Oheraw, to which Gen. Sherman was aiming, 

 is a town on the right bank of the Great Pedee 

 River, at the head of steam navigation. It had 

 been a place of importance as a depot for cot- 

 ton, and had about one thousand inhabitants. 

 It is the termination of the northern railroad 

 from Charleston through Florence, being dis- 

 tant from the latter forty miles, and from the 

 former one hundred and forty-two miles. 



On March 2d the advanced division of the 

 20th corps entered Chesterfield, a little north- 

 west of Cheraw, encountering on the way the 

 cavalry of the enemy under Gen. Butler, with 

 whom skirmishing was k$pt up. On the next 

 day, about noon, the IVth corps entered Che- 

 raw. The force of the enemy in the place re- 

 treated across .the Pedee, and burned the bridge. 

 A considerable quantity of ammunition was 

 captured in the town, and a number of guns 

 which had been brought from Charleston on 

 the evacuation of that city. These were de- 

 VOL. v. 4 A 



stroyed, and also the trestles and bridges of the 

 railroad as far down as Darlington, ten miles'. 

 An expedition of mounted infantry was sent to 

 Florence, but it encountered both cavalry and 

 infantry, and returned after doing no other 

 damage than breaking up in part the road be- 

 tween the two places. 



After a brief delay the march was resumed 

 for Fayetteville, in North Carolina. The right 

 *wing crossed the Pedee at Cheraw, and the 

 left wing at Sneedsboro. Fayetteville is the 

 capital of Cumberland County, and was a 

 flourishing. town before the war, having a pop- 

 ulation exceeding seven thousand. It is on the 

 left bank of Cape Fear River, at the head of 

 navigation, and sixty miles south of Raleigh, 

 the capital of the State, and one hundred miles 

 northwest of Wilmington. It contained an 

 arsenal, distilleries of turpentine, and cotton 

 and flour mills. The 14th corps moved by 

 Love's bridge, for the purpose of entering 

 Fayetteville in advance, but the weather and 

 road continuing bad it reached that place on 

 March llth, together with the 17th corps. 

 They approached skirmishing with Gen. Wade 

 Hampton's cavalry, which covered the rear of 

 Gen. Hardee's army, as it retreated. It crossed 

 the Cape Fear River and burned the bridge. 

 The cavalry during the march had kept well 

 on the left and exposed flank ; but on the night 

 of March 9th his three brigades were divided 

 to picket the railroad. This was discovered by 

 Gen. Hampton, who, early in the morning, 

 dashed in and gained possession of the camp of 

 Col. Spencer's brigade, and the house in which 

 Gen. Kilpatrick and Col. Spencer had their 

 quarters. The surprise was complete, but Gen. 

 Kilpatrick quickly succeeded in rallying his 

 men, on foot, in a swamp near at hand, and 

 by a prompt attack, well followed up, he re- 

 gained his artillery, horses, camp, and every 

 thing except some prisoners. The enemy re- 

 tired, leaving their dead behind. 



The army remained at Fayetteville during 

 three days, until March 15th. The United 

 States arsenal, and a vast amount of machine- 

 ry, Avhich had formerly belonged to the arsenal 

 at Harper's Ferry, were destroyed. Every build- 

 ing was knocked down and burned, and every 

 piece of machinery broken up by the 1st Michi- 

 gan engineers. The position of Gen. Sherman 

 at this time is thus described by himself: " Up 

 to this period I had perfectly succeeded in in- 

 terposing my superior army between the scat- 

 tered parts of my enemy. But I was then 

 aware that the fragments that had left Colum- 

 bia under Beauregard had been reenforced by 

 Cheatham's corps from the West, and the gar- 

 rison of Augusta, and that ample time had been 

 given to move them to *my front and flank 

 about Raleigh. Hardee had also succeeded in 

 getting across Cape Fear River ahead of me, 

 and could therefore complete t]ie junction with 

 the other armies of Johnston and Hoke in 

 North Carolina; and the whole, under the 

 command of the skilful and experienced Joe 



