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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - #1029

  On Thursday, February 16, 1865 William Tecumseh Sherman’s Federals arrived at the south bank of the Congaree River opposite Columbia, South Carolina.  Union artillery was directed against the handful of Confederate cavalry and civilians seen scurrying about the city’s streets.  With Federal forces virtually surrounding Coumbia, Confederate General Pierre G.T. Beauregard left only after wiring Lee that he could not stop Sherman’s taking the city.  The following day a delegation of city officials surrendered Coumbia to Sherman.  Within hours, a devastating fire ravaged the city; some blamed drunken, former prisoners of war and freed Negroes for the conflagration. Sherman blamed Wade Hampton’s Confederate cavalry who had attempted to burn war supplies at the last minute to prevent their capture for the devastating fire that ravaged the city.