February 17, 2003
-
Ideal of Hell:
The Burning of Columbia
On February 17, 1865, United States troops entered Columbia, SC.
“By midnight the whole town (except the outskirts) was wrapped in one huge blaze…. My God! what a scene! …. Such a scene as this with the drunken fiendish soldiers in their dark uniforms, infuriated, cursing, screaming, exulting in their work, came nearer the material ideal of hell than anything I ever expect to see again.”
— Diary of Emma LeConte, 17, of Columbia
Happy Presidents’ Day.
