26. The
1861 Colt Navy revolver was normally .36 caliber. The
1860 Colt Army revolver was normally .44 caliber.
27. Polly want a rifled cannon? Robert Parker Parrott.
28. It is generally called the Overland Campaign.
29. David B. Birney
30. This question could support a monograph. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The list of suspects includes, among others, Johnston, Beauregard, Wheeler, Hampton, Matthew Calbraith Butler, Mansfield Lovell, and Robert H. Anderson. The historical evidence is full of conflicts. For example, Foote says that Beauregard left by train on the night of February 16. Another source has him riding out of the city around 10:00 a.m. on February 17. Hampton, Butler, and Wheeler are the three best candidates with a possible exception to be mentioned. Wheeler or at least some of his men were there because one source refers to their doing some looting before they left. After sifting through the evidence I would say that Butler and Hampton were the last two generals to retire, not flee. Butler is a good choice because his name has already appeared in the contest which means that the preparer of the questions likely has some obscure source material regarding him. In support of Butler and Hampton, I am relying on two sources. The first is the following statement of Butler found at page 30 of Volume VIII of the Confeterate Veteran:
It was my fortune to command a division of calvary, composed of
Butler's and Young's Brigades which constituted the rearguard of
Beauregard's retiring army.
* * *
General Hampton retired with Young's Brigade...early that
morning...and later I moved out with the other brigade.
While perhaps not in complete accord with Butler's statement I am relying on the following regarding Hampton:
By 11:00 a.m., General Sherman, flanked by three of his
generals...crossed the Broad River...and entered the city....
Lingering behind his troops at Main Street and Elmwood
Avenue,...Hampton looked northward until he saw the mayor in
his carriage carrying the white flag of surrender....Hampton then
turned...to ride eastward to join the Confederate troops as they
rode out of Columbia.
www.ces.clemson.edu/scmaps/manual/wordmanual/chap4.doc
I think that the fact that Columbia was his home adds credence to the idea that Hampton was probably the last to leave.
The possible exception referred to supra, is General James Chestnut. In the February 23, 1865, entry in her Diary, Mrs. Chestnut writes:
Letter from my husband....He came near being taken prisoner in
Columbia, for he was asleep on the morning of the 17th, when
the Yankees blew up the RR depot. That woke him, of course,
He found everybody had left Columbia and the town surrendered
by the mayor, Col. Goodwyn. Hampton and his command had
been gone several hours....[He] overtook Hampton's command at
Meek's Mill.
As I find it impossible to believe that anyone in Columbia would oversleep with Sherman at the door, I cannot credit Mrs. Chesnut's account.
Next time why not ask a simple question like who was responsible for burning Columbia.
Bringing the