Rivers Bridge State Historic Site
( Left side )
The Legacy of Total War
From January to March in 1865 more than
60,000 Union soldiers led by General
William Tecumseh Sherman marched
across South Carolina. They brought
total war to the state, destroying
railroads, factories and farms and
attacking civilian morale.
( Right side )
Sherman's march through South Carolina
helped bring the Civil War to an end. For
many Union soldiers, the march was an
opportunity to punish South Carolina,
widely viewed as the state that started
the war.
For many white Carolinians, it left burned
houses and farms and bred lingering
bitterness. For the thousands of black
slaves who followed Sherman's army, the
march brought freedom an an uncertain
future.
Marker is on Rivers Bridge State Park near SC-S-5-8.
Courtesy hmdb.org
