US Cities and Towns Destroyed During the Civil War

As federal forces under General Sherman arrived to take South Carolina’s capital, fleeing Confederate troops began burning supplies and cotton to keep them from falling into Union hands. Union soldiers then poured into Columbia and wreaked havoc on anything of military value. High winds then spread the flames that burned two thirds of the city.

An early leader in the secessionist movement, Charleston remained in Confederate hands until late in the war, although it was under siege beginning in July 1863. The nearly constant bombardment destroyed much of the city. A day after Federal troops took Columbia, the mayor of Charleston surrendered the city to the Union.

Near the Confederate capital, Petersburg was a crucial supply center for the rebel army. Union forces under General Grant besieged the city for nearly 300 days, causing massive damage to over 600 structures and forcing General Lee to retreat from Richmond before his eventual surrender.

Mere days before General Lee surrendered in Virginia, Federal troops marched from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa and burned much of the University of Alabama – which was in use as a military training facility – as well as several factories and stores, before heading on to destroy an arsenal in Selma.

As Confederate troops abandoned their capital at the end of the siege of Petersburg, they burned infrastructure that they didn’t want the Union to utilize, including an armory, tobacco warehouses, and bridges. The resulting blaze destroyed much of Richmond’s central business district.