Mr. SHERMAN. I am renested to present the petition of Benjamin Raw s, who represents himself to be a poor old man, 93 years ofage, who has been most harshly treated by the Army of the U.S., having all the property that he had accumulated during along life of hard work destroyed in one night. He de scribes the character of property and the nature ofit.andstatesittohave been worth$10,000. He further says he has always been a true and loyal citiZen of the U.S.; that he was early educated that the Union and the Constitution were sacred landmarks set it by the fathers and not to be removed by us or this he suffered in the days of nullitication pecuniary loss. He states that ever since 1823 he has been under oath to defend the Constitution of the U.S., 1st as a magistrate, in 1836 as a postmaster, and inlSti B, in that city, in the provost inarshals Office, and that he has never violated that oath, but has been always true and faithful to the Government of the U.S. He thinks that under the peculiar circumstances of the case he should be compensated for the injury done him by the Army. His property was burned in the fire at Columbia. 110 also represents that be communicated his case to the President, and the President referred him to Congress. He also says he called upon GenlSherman , the army under whose command committed this injury, and he alsoadvised him to make the same reference; and he now respectfully makes this appeal to Congress. He incloses acorrcspondence between himself and GenlSherman , and Iwill take the now, in order to set a matter of history lirbigerlti?, so far as the statement of the general in command can do it, to read the letter of GenlSherman in reply to this application: Hasnoniinrsns ilHlLllAHT DIVISION Mississirn. Sr. Lonis, MISSOURI. March 8, 1866. Dean Silt: I haveyour letter, without date, inclos ianstk:iangpetition to the conzrcssof the U.S. to be indemnified fn rthe loss by fire of your house and contentsat the time of our occupation in February, 1865. I assureyou thntI feeldeeplyfor you and all others who lost their property in that tire, but ifthe U.S. were to assumethe liability it would be an admission that wc had donewrong. This is not true. The rightful authority of the national Government had been resistedin the State of SCarolina for years and we were compelled at great cost of life and money to conductthither a vastarmy, and our prou ress was resisted by all the force the State could obtain. Your own citizens resisted our approach not only with arms, but by burning the bridgesover the Edisto. the congarce, Saluda, and Broad rivers. They burned the depot in Columbia beforewe enteredbe cause it contained corn and storesthey supposedwe needed, and set fire to 1,000s of holes of cotton rolled out into the streets, and which were burning beforeweenteredeolumbia. I myselfwas in Columbia as early as noon and sa wthese fires and know that effortswere madeto extinguish them.but ahigh and strong wind kept them alive. I gaveno orders for the burning ofyour city. but on the contrary the reverse and believe that the continuation resulted from the great lmprudence of cuttin the cotton bales.wherebythe contentswerespreai by the wind, so that it became an impossibility to arrest the fire. I saw in your Columbiii newspapers the printed order of General Wade Hampton that on the approach of the Yankee armyall the cottonshouldthus is burned, and from what I sawmyself have no hcsitation in sayingthat hewas the causeof the destruction of your property. Your true remedy is against him and such others of your own citizens as conspired with him and made the military occupation of your city an absolutenecessity. I hardly think it is fair that the Congyere of U.S. should tax the peopleof the and 0h io.Illine ia. Missourito pay for such losses, but as it is not.my province to judge in.suchmatters, I will send your petititm according to its address. I again assure you of.in personal 5 inpnthy. by reason of your age and in rmity. but this must not lead meto indorse a wrong principle. I am. with greatrespect. our Obedient servan W. T. SHE MAN. Major Genera Brennan: Rnrns, Columbia, SCarolina. As this old gentleman is undoubtedly a true and loyal man, one of the very few, probably, in 1I although I think it ought not to be granted, will receive a respectful hearing by Congress and I therefore move that it be referred to the ComcClaims.