Sherman was as familiar with this country as he had been with Northern Georgia, since he had often, years before, come up here on hunting excursions while he was stationed near Charleston. The march was made with great difficulty, however, as floods prevailed in the lowlands and the weather was most inclement. By the middle of February they reached Columbia, and Sherman issued the following orders for the occupation of that city: "General Howard will cross the Saluda and Broad Rivers as near their mouths as possible, occupy Columbia, destroy the public buildings, railroad property, manufacturing and machine shops, but will spare libraries, asylums, and private dwellings. He will then move to Winnsborough, destroying utterly that section of the railroad. He will also cause all bridges, trestles, water-tanks, and depots on the railroad back to the Wateree to be burned, switches broken, and such other destruction as he can find time to accomplish consistent with proper celerity." A few cannon shots were fired into Columbia to drive away the lingering rebel troops. Before abandoning the city, the rebels burned the railroad station and fired some long piles of cotton bales. When Sherman and Howard rode into the city they found the ruins of the buildings still smouldering and the cotton still burning. Howard and his troops took possession of the city, and worked vigorously to put out the fires which had been started by the rebels, and spread rapidly by a high wind. At night the wind became furious, and the air was soon filled with sparks and bits of burning cotton. The result was that, despite the utmost efforts of the Union troops, the heart of the city was burned, including several churches and schools and the old State House. Sherman was afterward accused by several writers of having himself deliberately ordered the burning of the city. The falsity of this charge has been abundantly demonstrated. Sherman himself, doubtless with entire justice, threw the responsibility upon the rebel general, Wade Hampton, and his cavalrymen, who were the last to evacuate the city. Said Sherman in his official report: "I disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this fire, but, on the contrary, claim that we saved what of Columbia remains unconsumed. And, without hesitation, I charge General Wade Hampton with having burned his own city of Columbia, not with a malicious intent, or as the manifestation of a silly 'Roman stoicism,' but from folly and want of sense, in filling it with lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well to extinguish the flames; but others not on duty, including the officers who had long been imprisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire after it had once begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed joy to see the ruin of the Capital of South Carolina."