S*1191 Concurrent Resolution, By Peeler
 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO DECLARE FEBRUARY 17, 2012, AS AN ANNUAL DAY OF
 COMMEMORATION IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO REMEMBER THE BURNING OF
 COLUMBIA BY UNION GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

   02/08/12  Senate Introduced (Senate Journal-page 6)
   02/08/12  Senate Referred to Committee on Invitations
                     (Senate Journal-page 6)
   02/15/12  Senate Polled out of committee Invitations
                     (Senate Journal-page 9)
   02/15/12  Senate Committee report: Favorable Education
                     (Senate Journal-page 9)
   02/16/12         Scrivener's error corrected
   02/16/12  Senate Adopted, sent to House (Senate Journal-page 11)
   02/21/12  House  Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence
                     (House Journal-page 17)

POLLED OUT OF COMMITTEE

MAJORITY FAVORABLE

February 15, 2012

S. 1191

S. Printed 2/15/12--S.    [SEC 2/16/12 1:50 PM]

Read the first time February 8, 2012.

To whom was referred a Concurrent Resolution (S. 1191) to declare February 17, 2012, as an Annual Day of Commemoration in the State of South Carolina to remember the burning of Columbia by Union General, etc., respectfully

Has polled the Concurrent Resolution out majority favorable.

TO DECLARE FEBRUARY 17, 2012, AS AN ANNUAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO REMEMBER THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA BY UNION GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

Whereas, on his march through the Carolinas, General William Tecumseh Sherman destroyed everything of military value along the way; and

Whereas, he was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union; and

Whereas, on February 17, 1865, General Sherman's Union troops completed the long march from Savannah and reached Columbia; and

Whereas, T.J. Goodwyn, Columbia's Mayor, surrendered the city to General Sherman. Fires began that night and by next morning most of the central city was destroyed; and

Whereas, almost 500 buildings and their contents had been destroyed including warehouses, factories, offices, hotels, schools, libraries, private residences, churches, and a Catholic convent; and

Whereas, the burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming the fires were accidental, others a deliberate act of vengeance, and still others that the retreating Confederates burned bales of cotton on their way out of town; and

Whereas, among the buildings burned were the old South Carolina State House and the interior of the incomplete new State House; and

Whereas, today we remember General Sherman's march through Columbia by the State House Monument, erected on the State House grounds in 1938, that marks the location of the original State House in Columbia burned by Sherman's troops, and by six bronze stars on our current State House that mark where the building was hit by artillery fire; and

Whereas, it is fitting and proper for the members of the General Assembly to pause in their deliberations to remember the rich heritage of our great State. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the General Assembly, by this resolution, declare February 17, 2012, as an Annual Day of Commemoration in South Carolina to remember the burning of Columbia by Union General William T. Sherman.