“Sherman’s March to the Sea”

The Civil War’s One Hit Wonder Song

In the winter of 1864-65, my Great-Great Grandfather, Reuben DeLay, was confined to the Confederate prison called Camp Asylum in Columbia, South Carolina. One of his fellow prisoners was S. H. M. Byers who had been captured at Missionary Ridge in the Battle for Chattanooga. Byers and DeLay like most of the prisoners had been confined in Georgia during the previous summer. As General Sherman took Atlanta and began his march to the sea, the prisoners were moved out of the path of his advancing army. The prisoners kept informed of Sherman’s progress from newly captured comrades and southern newspapers smuggled into the prison. The papers tried to paint Sherman as losing every battle, but the prisoners could see that the battles were moving across Georgia toward the sea. Eventually, the Confederate papers admitted that Sherman had reached the sea at Savannah.

The news of Sherman’s successful campaign hit the 1500 or so Union officers incarcerated at Columbia like a bolt of lightning. Though they didn’t know it yet, Sherman would soon turn north in his war-ending campaign through the Carolinas.

Byers was a bit of an amateur poet. He penned an inspiring poem about Sherman’s march and showed it to his comrades. It was called “Sherman’s March to the Sea.” The poem was the first time the phrase, “Sherman’s March to the Sea” had been used to describe Sherman’s march across Georgia. Prisoners made copies of the poem on any scrap of paper they could find and circulated it broadly.

Another talented officer put the poem to music. The prison Glee Club performed if for the first time to a crowd that included almost all of the prisoners, their guards and various spectators from the surrounding community. Reuben DeLay was undoubtedly in the crowd that heard the song that day.

Shortly afterward, a copy of the song was smuggled out of the prison in the wooden leg of a paroled prisoner. Once it reached Union lines, it was widely printed and distributed throughout The North. The sheet music was said to have been a million-seller.

For his achievement with the song Byers got one of the few privileges that could have been afforded to a prisoner. He got to sleep in the camp hospital building. By mid-February, 1865, Sherman’s army was threaten Columbia, Byers secreted himself in the building’s attic as the other prisoners (including my Great-Great Grandfather) were evacuated. Upon liberation, Byers wound up on Sherman’s staff for the remainder of the war. Though few remember Byers’ one hit wonder of 1865 now, there is another tune he wrote which is still sung in his home state of Iowa. “The Song of Iowa” is their state song.

Here’s a link to a youtube performance of |Sherman’s March to the Sea.” (222) 3237. Sherman’s March to the Sea (by S. H. M. Byers) – YouTube

Here are the lyrics:

LDT July 10, ’23

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