Mr. SHERMAN. I cannot allow the charge of this most. impndent rebel against the whole of an army to be entered upon the records of the Senate without a promptauswer, and I think it will be a very complete one. The honorable SenfromMaryland vouches for the previous good character of General Wade Hampton riorto this rebellion. Perhaps he would not be willing to vouch for it if he knew the entire history of Wade Hampton during this war. The charge made by GenlSherman was made in the course of his official duties in an official report. A citizen of Columbia, SCarolina, by the name of Benjamin Rawls, believing himself to be a grieved, sent a petition to this body, and asks me to presentit, claiming damages for property alleged to have been destroyed by our army in the burning of Columbia. In resenting that petition, I stated to the Senate the reasons, which in my judgment were sufficient, why it should not be granted; and read a statement from GenlSherman , showing that the burning of Columbia was really caused by the previous policy of Wade Ham ton. GenlSherman did not allege that Vade Ham iton set fire to the city of Co: lumbia, or thatv is rebel army set fire to the city of Columbia, or that he ordered it to be done; but simply, that his previous orders were the inducing cause of the burnin of Columbia. I asserted that citizens or inha itants of Columbia. itself did set fire to Columbia, and that the scattering of cotton in the open streets and squares spread the fire that destroyed it; and therefore Benjamin Rawls must look to his neighbors or to General Wade Hampton, who scattered this cotton, for his loss. Now, sir, this letter does not deny the real assertion made by GenlSherman . I have the papers now before me showing conclusivel! from official records that GenlSherman s assertion was true, and that he was justified in saying that General Wade Hampton was the cause of the burning of Columbia. He commanded the rear guard of the rebels, and, indeed, made but little opposition to the march of GenlSherman through the vaunted State of SCarolina, except the burning of col. ton. This was the only resistance our army met in all its march through SCarolina, unless it would be probably the skirmish at the Salkahatchie. n other States GenlSherman found an enemy, but in that pestilent State General Hampton resisted him by burnin cotton. I have here upon this very point teotheial record of GenlHoward, who certainly for veracity would stand against 1866. 2301 Wade Hampton or any of his set. 0n the 16th of February of last year GenlHoward in his official report said: “The ineunted infantry crossed ported by some infantry of the Snludaflrst, sup General Hazens division. $tl pushedon rapidly driving the enciny across the road river. The attempt was to save the bridge, but it failed. Since the bridge had been eovered with rosin and light wood in such manner as to burst instantaneously into a llamo and this occurred even before all the rebel cavalry had crossedover. The remnant dse aed northward." “ bout 10a. m. February 17. the mayor of Columbia. with a flag of truce. Met Colonel Stone and orinall surrendered the city to him. The general lit chic had instructed une to destroycertain public buildings but.to spareinstitutions of learning. asy lums and private welliuzs. "I transmitted these instructions to Major General ohn A. Logan. whosetroopswere to have chargeof “eellicty.directed Major General Woods to place suit ableguards. As soon as the bridge was completed. I crossedwith GenlSherman and rode to the town with him. adistance of about 3 miles. The ground was dr. the Wind blowing hard. so that the dust. almost lindedus. As we entered the city thenegroes and many white people collected at the corners of the strects and greeted the general With loud cheer m"s.In the main street wusa largequantity of cotton partially consumed by fire. Some men were at work 2ing to oxtiu uish the firemth avery poor engine is remarked that the loose cotton was lowu about every direction and the shade treeswereso completely covered with him of cotton as to remind me of"a grove in Mnine nlter a snowstorm. T o guards were carefully establishedin different streets and seemed to 1c" faithfully. noticed n few menunder the infiuonce ofliquor and immediately directed that they should beylacc urantdinegr guard. have been thus particular in nor these preliminary incidents. because there followed one of the most terrific scenes that I have ever witnessed and we nre chnrged by the rebels Owritdherliyts inception, Thinking everything was ver and the citggiolico in the best of hands. gclceted a.house an 0ed to get a little rest. But it was hardly dark be urea fire broke out in the vicinity of Main street and sprcad rniilidlf. I learned. moreover. that quantities of liquor u been given to the soldiers by certain pen lc, who hoped in this manner to cone into them an get their protection and it is certainly true that many of our men and some of our officers were too much under the influence of drink to allow them to properly discharge their duty. Strenuous cfiorts. however. were made O arrest the flames. General Woods sent in a fresh r“izDuudrein.gand afterward Generiil Hazen still another. the night, I met Generals Logan. Woods and pther general olhecrs and they were takingcvery po“smble measure to stop the fire and prevent disorder. overt clcss.Asoinc ese aped prisoners. convicts from the penitentiary. Just broken open. aruilol lowers, and drunken soldiers. run through House uotfter house, and were doubtless guilty of all manner villainics: and it is thesemen that I presume set new fires further and further to the windward in the no"rthern part of the city. Old men. women and children. With everything they could get out were herded together in the meets. At some pfsees we found officers and kind hearted soldiersprotecting families from the insults and roughnesso the careless.Meanwhile the flames made fearful ravages and mugnificentresidence sand churches wereconsumedin a very few minutes. “After about 2/3rds of the city. all the business part of the town. including the old State House had been destroyed.the wind s ifted to the east and th"e fire was stayed. The next morning showed very little of Columbia. except a blackened surface peOpledwith numerous chimneys and an occusiunn house that had been spared as if by miracle. se “atItebreeldietvheet cotton heovreerbtehles who blew up the depot. city and set fire to it and took no rensonnble precaution to prevent the destruction of Columbia. are responsiblefor thesuf fe“nye itohfer the people o.ral imchm f. nor any of his li eu dtcennatlnytsa.ghaaivnestever sanctioned any conduct so ova the dictates of humanity. "Tho 17 theorpsfollowed the 15 thacross the Saluda and Broad and encamed outsideof the city to the northeast. The efficent corps encamped totthp eastand south. except the garrison of the c: y. such is the testimony of GenlHoward, who marched in With the advance of the army, With the geneml inchief and it shows clearly that when our army entered Columbia the rebels under Hampton had prepared the city for conflagration, and that its own inhabitants, in eluding negroes and ese aped convicts, were maddening themselves WlLll liquor, and that GenlSherman and all under him did all they could to save the city from the destruction pre ared for it by ese aping rebels. have here also a private letter, written recently, since Wade Hampton denied this charge, by GenlHoward to GenlSherman , from which I Will read a short paragraph: "01: examining my report for the SCarolina be attending to their duty i and NCarolina march. I find that I was quite QXlllltl, in my account of the burning of Columbia. hly impression then was that the fire was set originally by the enemy. At Midway I protected the Houses. ineludmp Simmss library, as Inn is we haltcil at that p1 General Blair furnised the guar s. “I did not seeWade Hamptons orders for burning cotton. but know that his forces did burn cotton in our frontoonatnnily. Wheelers lot terto inc. which {on r BlVBdand answsrod.shows that the burning ado cm!sanction." I now add to the testimony of GenlHoward the statement of General Charles R.Woods, of a recent date, and after he had seen in the papers the recent statement of Hampton. It is clear and explicit. It is from the general in immediate command, and who must have known the facts much better than Wade Hampton, then at a safe distance. Human MsO. BDILuE, nn run or Aidsnu. ALABAMA.Apr 17.1866. Dina Sin: Your favor of the 2d instant has just reachedinc and I hasten to reply tLsyou request. My otheial report of the campaign in SCarolina does state in general terms the facts as to the burning of Columbia in nearly thesame language and to the same purport as you claim. I will. however, further state in detail. that iit the time of the capture of Columbia. SCarolina, I commanded the 1st division, lillcenth Army corS, and that the 3rd brigade of that division was the 1st bodyof filederal troops that entered and took possession of O city. The place was formally surrendered to my command through the mayor. but when the troops marched in considerable skirmishing was necessary to drive out the rear guard of genernl Wade llamp tonse oiiimnnd and the numerous strugglers left from the rebel forces. I wnsamong the 1st to enter the cityafterits occu ntion and found the guardsand patrols established y the commanding officer of the advance brigade well posted, and in the earnestand Vieilantperform anceof their duty. But the streets were full of half drunken citizens and negroos and ese apedor released convicts.whocccined to me to have been intention ally turned loose for the purpose of sucking the city and thereby throwing odiumu pon the Federnl oecu pation. I was also inform and was satisfied. that many of the worst disposed of our own men were met by such citizens and negroes.furnished with in toxicatingdiguors and every effort, made to induce them to Join in the work of destruction. I am bound to assertthat every ellort was made by in o icers and myself to prevent such outrages and he love those effortswere generally successful. The streets in many portions of the cit were filled With long rows or pi csofcotton which ind beenseton fire.an prompt orders were given and earnest endeavors madeby the troops to extinguish the flames.to save as far aspossibleall private property and protect it from pillage. My belief is that the retina rebel forcesunder command.as I am informed of general Wado Hampton. intended to destroyall cotton left in the city, to save it from Federal possession.but that they did not intend to burn the city. No proper precautions however were taken and we found the city actually in the hands of the tackles and irre sponsible stragglcrs.bothwhite and black. that I have before spokenof. What outrages robberies, or incendiary acts they may have commuted I cannot state. but I do know that every cfiort was madeto check them. The burning cotton, exposed to a fenrful wind blowing across the city, was not to be extinguished by human effort: As the bales burst large masses of flaming material werelifted by the wind and sent on and over roofs.in Windows iinddonrs, and against fences: and as water was very scarce no cffortsof the troops proved of my avail until the fire nearly reached the State House. I am satisfiedthat everything savedwas owing to the energy of our men and that nothing more could have been done. I was personally present in the eitgiy and am personally cognizant of the fact that my officer s and mendid theirduty faithfully and well in saving and not in destroying property, either public or private. The 3rd brigade of my division was composed entirely of Iowa troops and were nmomitlix lit st. disciplined and best disposed soldiers oft c rniy, and were commandedby Colonel George A. Stone. of the 25th Iowa. voluntccrs. an officerand a gentleman well known to mess astrict disciplina rian and an excellent soldier. About ninc oclock at night. when the fire wasat. its height, I sent in another brigade of nearly 2000 men.under commandof Brevet Brigadier General William D. Woods. with ordersto do everything in their power to extinguish the flames. These menworked hard all night and until the fire was extinguished. I repeatthat the destruction of the best business portion of Columbia was the perhaps unexpected result of the attempt of the rebel forces to prevent cotton falling into the hands of the Government of the U.S and must have sofor received the sanction or order of the commanding Officerof those forces.who I am informed and believe was General Wade lliiiiipton. I am, sir. very respectfully. your obedientservant. CHARLES ll. WOODS, Brena!illojur (lmeral. Commanding. Major General W. SHERMAN.U. S. A. Commanding Military Division of the Miasialippi.St. Louw. Museum. “20. I now present to the Senate m letter written to me by General Slocum, probably in consequence of what was said liere on a previous occasion. It may not bear upon the specific charge of the burning of Columbia, for General Slocums army did not enter that city, but it shows very clearly the conduct of the rebel army, commanded in art by this man who now annigns our army or barbarity: Sriucuss, NewYorkur. April 10.1866. MY DEAR Sin: I see that it is charged that our troops were guilty of gicat hnrbarity and cruel! on ouirllienagmtpoaaigdnm through SCarolina. While um tbntdhere were some bad men i everycorps and that isolated casesof a violation of the rules of war occurred, ct. in view of all the clr cumstances I think the be avior of the army was all goodas could have beenanticipated. My command(the left wing) crossed the Savannah river at Sisters ferry and the men. upon enterin the State of SCarolina. found their road fill with torpedoes so arranged that it was impossible to avoid them; and mensaw their comrades mangled, nndin many instances killed, in this barbarousinunner. while they were quietly inarching in column. Is it surprising 1 int. under such circumstances.Officers found it ting somde iflaclctusltintoreprnelvimeniotnt?licir men from coniinit I think not; yet I entering ouan edity aonryadliallireguelt villain gep.wreh serving arodrsdeeoruoldn be placed. On our approach to Winnsboro, SCarolina. we found the place on fire. I was informed by citizens that the fire was the work.of a negrowoman. The citizensappearedpanic stricken and Wllldoing lit tle to save the place. My soldiers cheerfully and zealously workc to extinguish the fire, and the most . perfectorder was preserve while we remainedin the town. When we left.the lendin citizens were very profusein expressions of gratitn c for the kind treatment they had received. In naming judgment upon the officers and men of fSohregromttaennsarmy on this campaign it should not be that the eventswhich led to the war were familiar to every soldier of that army. The boast madeby some of the lending citizens of SCarolina at the commencement of the war. thatthey had Inhorod 30 ycars to destroy the Union. theirin dignant denials that the people of SCarolina. were of the same race as the hated Yankees and their advocacy of “ raising the black flag."were inat ters as well understood in Shermans army as they werein the city of Charleston. This knowledge. on the part of the soldiers. togetherWith the Violation of t io rules of war by the people of the State iu planting torpedocsin places remote from any fortification or city rendered the duty devolving upon the officersa very difficult one. I claim that the conduct of my command wasnot. such as to justify the charges brought against the am)" ii. w. snocun.Wours truly. Hon. John Susana, U.S. Senate, Washington, D. C. I have also here a report from General Logan, whose report in almost ever particular conliims thnt of GenlHoward. {EIEVG also the report of General Stone, the gentleman who was met 3 miles from the city by the mayor and the authorities of the city. It seems that General Stone got into a carrito lltlC in with those authorities, and on the way they saw a portion of Wade Hamptons cavalry driving our advanced guards back; and Colonel, new General Stone, left the carriage and went at the head of a small force of a certain regiment of Iowa troops and drove Wade Hamptons cavalry into the city, and followed them into the city; and he states that while he was on the road to the mayors office to receive the formal surrender of the city, and there to raise the national flag. whisky and liquors of various kinds were freely distributed to and by the negroes and citizens of Columbia before a single American soldier arrived there, and that then the cotton was scattered all over the city; and I have no doubt that probabl these ese aped convicts, or the negroes m dened by liquor, rejoicing at their liberation, might by accident or perhaps for reason, for eniniiy, have set reto the city and caused the subsequent destruction; but when Wade Hampton, who had taken care to retreat before this occurred, charges our soldiers with thisinfamy of burnin private houses he makes a charge that cannot e sustained. He says that"About 8 oclockthe city wasfired in a number of placesby someof our escaped prisoners and citizens. (I am satisfied I can prove this.) and as some of the fire originated in basements stored full of colton it " was impossible to extinguish it. The fire engineswere orderedout.but the flame: could not bes topped.the buildings were old. nearly all woodenones and the wind blowing almost O gale. eo “aficiiZvreH $53.? fiiiiariieivegiieiiffing ii}, and I sent the rizade to camp about one mile out of town, but remainedin the city myself working all night to assistin extinguishing the fire.” such, Mr. President, is the evidence I pre sent to the Senate to show that the statements made by GenlSherman were justified by the facts and sir, I could add the express order of General Wheeler, under which Wade Hamp ton acted, requiring all cotton in the line of GenlSherman s march to be burnt, and that it in fact was burnt. In the light of these facts what shall be said of this letter? He is an unpardoned rebel, living only by the mercy of this Government which he strngled to overthrow, cursed with treason, and resonsible for the lives of 1,000s of the people of his own State. a fit sample of an army which converted bones of human bein s into wearing ornaments, and which starve 1,000s and tens of 1,000s of brave men whose misfortune it. was to fall prisonersinto their hands. Examine his letter. He says he did not order this cotton to be set on fire, but he ordered or allowed cotton bales to be cut in the public square, and thus scattered the cotton all over the city, and made it so combustible that a negro, or a citizen, or an ese aped convict, or any accident might set fire to the city of Columbia and thus destroy the city. I then reeat that Wade Hampton and his associates did), in their insane desire to destro cotton to prevent it from falling into our and s, cause the burning of the city of Columbia. But he says he did not order it to be burnt in Columbia. In this letter, which is written rather like apol itician than a candid man, as I supposed W ade Hampton was, he says he did not order the burning of the cotton in Columbia. He does not den that he ordered it to beburnt every where e se. In Columbia probably it was not set fire to by his order, but he scattered it in such way that the accident which followed de stroyed the capital of the State of SCarolina. I must confess that I do not shed many tears over the result, but in fixing the guilt of this charge I wish to fix it on the men who were themselves the cause of it. It seems to me the impudence of this whole proceedings passes all imagination. He writes ere to the Senate of the U.S. that the State of SCarolina is excluded from representation. Why? Because the authorities of the State of SCarolina violated their oaths; their people violated their duty of allegiance to support this Government. They had, for years, been trying to get out of this Government, and now they whine like whipped curs because they cannot come back here the moment they are whipped. It is decrading for a man occupying the position of3 Wade Hampton and all those leaing rebels to be and whine because they fora time are exclude for their crimes from representation here. They struggled for years to destroy their hateful association with Yankees. Why are they so anxious to resume these relations? The whole letter, not only the facts, but the omissions of fact and the impudence which dictated it, surpass all belief. Is it not strange that men like Wade Hampton, who were the oriinalcause of this war, whose foolish brava o excited their people to resist the national Government, when they have felt the power of the national Government, come whining here with such a letter as this. When it is held up and read in the American Senate. it exhibits airamount of impudence that I did not conceive even a SCarolina rebel possessed.