TOWNS BURNED BY THE CONFEDERATE ARMY
1. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1864
TOWNS BURNED BY THE UNION ARMY (From the Official Records):
1. Osceola, Missouri, burned to the ground, September 24, 1861
(The town of 3,000 people was plundered and burned to the ground, 200 slaves were freed and nine local citizens were executed.) *
2. * Platte City, Mo – December 16, 1861 – (“Colonel W. James Morgan marches from St. Joseph to Platte City. Once there, Morgan burns the city and takes three prisoners — all furloughed or discharged Confederate soldiers. Morgan leads the prisoners to Bee Creek, where one is shot and a second is bayonetted, while the third is released.”)
3. Dayton, Missouri, burned, January 1 to 3, 1862
4. Frenchburg, Virginia (later West Virginia), burned, January 5, 1862
5. Columbus, Missouri, burned, reported on January 13, 1862
6. Bentonville, Arkansas, partly burned, February 23, 1862
(A Federal search party set fire to the town after finding a dead Union soldier, burning most of it to the ground.)*
7. Winton, North Carolina, burned, February 20, 1862
8. Bluffton, South Carolina, burned, reported June 6, 1863
(Union troops, about 1,000 strong, crossed Calibogue Sound and eased up the May River in the pre-dawn fog, surprising ineffective pickets and having their way in an unoccupied village. Rebel troops put up a bit of a fight, but gunboats blasted away as two-thirds of the town was burned in less than four hours. After the Yankees looted furniture and left, about two-thirds of the town’s 60 homes were destroyed.”) *
9. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, burned, August 5 & 21, 1862
10. Donaldsonville, Louisiana, partly burned, August 10, 1862
11. Athens, Alabama, partly burned, August 30, 1862
12. Prentiss, Mississippi, burned, September 14, 1862
13. Randolph, Tennessee, burned, September 26, 1862
14. Elm Grove and Hopefield, Arkansas, burned, October 18, 1862
15. Bledsoe’s Landing, Arkansas, burned, October 21, 1862
16. Hamblin’s, Arkansas, burned, October 21, 1862
17. Napoleon, Arkansas, partly burned, January 17, 1863
18. Mound City, Arkansas, partly burned, January 13, 1863
19. Clifton, Tennessee, burned, February 20, 1863 20. Hopefield, Arkansas, burned, February 21, 1863
(“Captain Lemon allowed residents one hour to remove personal items, and the men then burned every house in the village.”)*
21. Celina, Tennessee, burned, April 19, 1863
22. Hernando, Mississippi, partly burned, April 21, 1863
23. Greenville, Mississippi, burned, May 6, 1863
24. Jackson, Mississippi, mostly burned, May 15, 1863
25. Austin, Mississippi, burned, May 23, 1863
(“On May 24, a detachment of Union marines landed near Austin. They quickly marched to the town, ordered all of the town people out and burned down the town.)
26. Darien, Georgia, burned, June 11, 1863
27. Eunice, Arkansas, burned, June 14, 1863
28. Gaines Landing, Arkansas, burned, June 15, 1863
29. Richmond, Louisiana, burned, June 15, 1863
30. Sibley, Missouri, burned June 28, 1863
31. Donaldsonville, Louisiana, destroyed and burned, June 28, 1863
32. Columbus, Tennessee, burned, reported February 10, 1864
33. Meridian, Mississippi, destroyed, February 3 to March 6, 1864
34. Campti, Louisiana, burned, April 16, 1864
35. Washington, North Carolina, sacked and burned, April 20, 1864
36. Grand Ecore, Louisiana, burned, April 21, 1864
37. Cloutierville, Louisiana, burned, April 25, 1864
38. Bolivar, Mississippi, burned, May 5, 1864
39. Alexandria, Louisiana, burned, May 13, 1864
40. Hallowell’s Landing, Alabama, burned, reported May 14, 1864
41. Newtown, Virginia, ordered to be burned, ordered May 30, 1864
42. Ripley, Mississippi, burned, July 8, 1864
43. Harrisburg, Mississippi, burned, July 14, 1864
44. Oxford, Mississippi, burned, August 22, 1864
45. Rome, Georgia, partly burned, November 11, 1864
(“Union soldiers were told to burn buildings the Confederacy could use in its war effort: railroad depots, storehouses, mills, foundries, factories and bridges. Despite orders to respect private property, some soldiers had their own idea. They ran through the city bearing firebrands, setting fire to what George M. Battey Jr. called harmless places.”)*
46. Atlanta, Georgia, burned, November 15, 1864
47. Camden Point, Missouri, burned, July 14, 1864
48. Kendal’s Grist-Mill, Arkansas, burned, September 3, 1864
49. Shenandoah Valley, devastated, reported October 1, 1864 by Sheridan
(Washington College was sacked and burned during this campaign.
)*
50. Griswoldville, Georgia, burned, November 21, 1864
51. Guntersville, Alabama, burned January 15, 1865
52. Somerville, Alabama, burned, January 17, 1865
53. McPhersonville, South Carolina, burned, January 30, 1865
54. Lawtonville, South Carolina, burned, February 7, 1865
55. Barnwell, South Carolina, burned, reported February 9, 1865
56. Orangeburg, South Carolina, burned, February 12, 1865
57. Columbia, South Carolina, burned, reported February 17, 1865
58. Winnsborough, South Carolina, pillaged and partly burned, February 21, 1865
59. Tuscaloosa, Alabama, burned, April 4, 1865
Thanks to Jim Huffman with The Gainesville Volunteers, Picayune for the above places, dates and actions.
(*) Information taken from: https://seekingliberty.org/2018/10/01/ the-benchmark-set-by- union-army-1861-1865/
(Article courtesy of The Southern Comfort, Private Samuel A. Hughey Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1452, President Jefferson Davis Chapter Military Order of the Stars and Bars newsletter, vol. 43, issue 9, September 2019)