This morning Confederate defenders flee Columbia, South Carolina, leaving many bales of cotton ablaze. As Sherman marches into the capital city about 10 a.m., he has to detour around the flames. Passing by the flaming cotton, the Union general is intent on destroying the city, and in particular the First Baptist Church meeting house, where…
In Richmond, a new Baptist church quietly begins taking shape. Late in the evening hours, a small group of local slaves slip away from their quarters. Their destination is a ramshackle shed near a trash dump on Navy Hill. There they gather and worship God, singing and offering “prayers of thanksgiving and liberation.” Should they…
While quietness masks Union maneuvering among the islands near Charleston this day, an unwelcome surprise awaits Union forces marching into Aiken. The opposition thus far to Sherman‘s advances in the state has been ineffective. Confederate General Joseph Wheeler, however, hopes to reverse the course of the war that has gone so badly awry for the…