On February 16 1865, Union troops occupied the banks of the Congaree River opposite Columbia. Finding that the bridge had been burned by retreating Confederates, Union cannons began to shell the city.
The building was not destroyed during the occupation of Columbia because Sherman considered it “handsome”. On the western and southern sides, stars mark where the walls were hit by Union cannonballs.
During the Civil War, the iron spikes on top of the church were melted to make cannonballs for the Confederacy. A plaque on the wall is dedicated to the church members who died for the Confederacy.
The university was closed in 1862 and its facilities were leased to the Confederate government for use as a hospital and used by Sherman’s army for the same purpose.
Approximately 175 Confederates are interred in the cemetery, most of whom are unknown, along with Generals Maxcy Gregg and Milledge Bonham.
The fourth floor displays Civil War swords, guns, and artifacts, along with a full-size replica of the CSS Hunley and a copy of the Ordinance of Secession.
Because the church’s spire was the tallest structure in Columbia at the time, Union artillerymen used it as target practice when firing their cannons from across the Congaree River.
On February 15, 1865, Confederate troops under Gen. Matthew Butler advanced up State Road and fought Major Gen. John Logan’s XVth Corps at this site in the only major defense of Columbia.
