| From the Columbia (S. C.) Phoenix |
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| March 23, 1865 |
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*****
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At about 12 o'clock {February 17,
1865}, the jail {of Columbia, S. C.} was
discovered to be on fire from within. This building was immediately in
the rear of the Market, or City Hall, and in a densely built portion
of the city. It had held a large body of prisoners, who had been
seasonably removed several days before, along with others at the
Asylum -- some 1,500 of them having been gotten off from the city
successfully, by extraordinary exertions on the part of Capt. Sharp,
the chief of transportation. *****
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{The author of the Columbia Phoenix articles on
the fall and destruction of Columbia was William Gilmore Simms who was
living in the city during the events recorded and who did extensive
investigations and interviews immediately after the fire. Mr. Simms
was the greatest literary figure of his day in the South and had been
an author of many books, including books of history. Therefore, his
observations should be given considerable weight.}
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