The Great Lie and the Real Controversy

The following address was delivered as part of a symposium at the 150^th anniversary of the burning of Winnsboro, S.C., in February 2015, sponsored by the Winnsboro Historical Society. It is published here for the first time.

By preface, I have one common-sense comment on the manufactured controversy over who burned Columbia. An army who torches and pillages every town and hamlet from the S.C. coast to the N.C. border is not going to skip the wealthiest and most hated place on its route. It would take an imbecile to be persuaded of this, especially in light of hundreds of eyewitness accounts showing the manner and details of the intentional burning of the city and Sherman’s own final admission.

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