The Desolation ... South Carolina

Fibui the Kiuliiutaid Sentiiiel, A'arcli 22 Ooreral fèberrpnn has Hceomplished lis purpose of roakiiig Suuth Carolina a wui-iri. II i's mar"h from Savannuh to Pranohville, and t'ience to Colurabia, YVincabiio nnd Cheraw, was marked, tbrotigh a w;de belt oí country, by fire tnd rapiñe. The beautiful cit}' of Columbia no longer esists. ltis a mase of charred ru'ns - Herculaneum buried in :;hes. A fow Rtxao'güng buildings reïv.ain here and tbere to disclose where 1he city ODce titood. Tbe State House was.burned to the ground, the gas works ilown up, the main street extend.ing for more than a mile and for the Jiio'st part elosely built up, haH but oue RMfllI building left. The Court Houae w;fh its rocords, bas disappearod ; tbo the tow'n hall and markot,the banks and f'Mir churcheR, aro gono. 01' tbe squares cast of the main street, some are entirely rlnstroyed ; ' otbors in part. Eightyfour blocks in tbe ciiy were burned, and Oolumbiii is Palmyra in the desert. All provisions were seized, used es destroyed ; tbe stores were broken open, pillqged and then burned. What the poldicrs could not carry ofl' wcs given to the nogroes. Tbey lult with their bayouets diügently in the gardens, and dug up whiit was buried. All the horses and muleft were carried off and the carriages destroyed. Brutal drunken soldieis eatered every house in seareb of pilver and jewelry, and took them by violence and insult. Gen. Sberman seems emulous of the immortality which cirole., with a halo of infamy, the names of Atila and Taraour, the Tariar and the Russian Haynati, in Poland. He has achieved the distinction of being classed among the monsters of the human race. Some officers were polite and espressed sympathy j they pretend tbftt the conflagraron was accidental--tbiii it went beyond the original purpoae, and was the act of their drunken 8oldiers. The evidenc3 demonstrates that thts is a false pretenso, and that the city was deliberately given up to be sacked. When the work b,ad been accom plished, a few notes of the bugle oalled' in the rnaurauding bands, and quiet wan restored forthwilh. General Shcrman left a few starved cattle as a present to the cilizens. They were too poor aud iseble to follow tbe arEoy. Cue of the la dies said to General Franois Preston Blalr, "Is this the wáy you war ? I thought legitímate war was army against army ; but you war upon women and children, and infliet infinite injury and distress upon helpless non-combatauts." "Madam," he replied, "we come hero to produce distress. Your men fight bravely, and the war wnuld be interminable,, if to be fought out in regular eampaigns. We will adopt a more sure and apeedier courso. We will exhaust your country, cnnöüme your substance, destroy your ineans of subsistence, shut up your port?, interrupt your railroads, reader tranpportatioa difficult and the supplies to your arniies imp.oasible. Tiiis is mercy to you, fur it vviii ehorten tke war," The accumukstion of refggees bad m .du Uolumbia a populous city; with ita suburbs it had ubout 25,000 iuliabiíants. Thcso have dwindled to a íqw tnoiieand, who croep araidst the ruina 10, the ofi?ce of the Provost Marshal and gtit tiokota itlj wbioh they proceed to tUo provisión depot and get a ration - a a puuud of boef and a pint of meal. The poor receive thia allowance gratis. Such nu are able to pay give two dollars for a ration. This is a faint picture of the preeut condition of Columbia. ïhe usui.1 concornitants of a great calarnity are not wanting. The demoralization. oftlie lower classes is alarming1. AH ideas of nwum anda Uum aro lost, aa wlicn a ship is about to be wrecked, or a a plague desolates i city. Alas, for tlo bsautiful capital of the Palmetto, Stato crushed by the Modern Hun,