Part Two: South Carolina; Chapters 8 and 9 Summary

In Chapter 8, Sherman and his troops enter Columbia, the intended capital of the Confederacy, and are met with no resistance. As he talks with the city's mayor, he sees a row of cotton bales on fire and sends some troops to put out the flames. After he has set up his headquarters, Sister Ann Marie, the head of a convent school for girls, arrives to ask for his help in protecting the school and he assures her they are in no danger. Later that night, the smoldering cotton flares up again and as the wind carried bits of it, the entire city is soon in flames. Stephen Walsh, who has been assigned to guard the school, leads Sister Ann Marie and the girls out, and he saves the nun when her habit catches...