Marion Brunson Lucas

This is a thorough and judicious study of a limited but perennially controversial topic in Civil War history. The author reviews and analyzes all the eyewitness evidence for the occupation of Columbia, South Carolina, by William Tecumseh Sherman's army in 1865, and the disastrous fires and riot that ensued. He also critiques the post-bellum investigations and accounts that endeavored to fix blame. He combines his scholarship with an engrossing narrative style and expresses it in crystalline prose. He concludes and demonstrates that there were multiple causes for the events, and assigns blame to both Confederate officials and Union military, as well as to natural forces. But he counters accusations that General Sherman deliberately ordered the incendiarism, and shows that far less of Columbia was destroyed than often claimed. I recommend this book to those interested in the specific subject, but think the level of detail might be tiresome for the general reader.… (mais)