The Extent of the Devastation

Friday morning, February 18, 1865, dawned upon a smoldering, blackened Columbia. Quiet had replaced the revelry, drunkenness, and confusion of the previous night. Many citizens, driven by the flames, had sought refuge on the periphery of town, in Sidney Park, on the college green, in Columbia Theological Seminary, and in the State Insane Asylum. Others had gathered their families and what possessions they had rescued from the flames in empty lots or in the center of streets. Morning light revealed these people huddled on bundles of clothing and pieces of furniture they had saved, a sad picture indeed. “This a.m.