Pictured are Charleston, Atlanta and Richmond. Basically, this is Richmond in 1865, with the exception of photo 1 (Charleston) and a couple of photos with Atlanta. Isn't it all very similar to the photo with the consequences of the great Chicago fire of 1871 or to the photo of the destroyed Paris during the Paris Commune of 1871. And it is also very similar to the ruins of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, like a fire tornado swept across the planet, incinerating many cities without leaving a stone unturned. But these are just a few of the most famous examples.
A moment of ridiculous official history. “Having given the order to leave Petersburg, General Lee ordered to repulse the telegram to Richmond:“We are retreating. Our troops are not between Petersburg and Richmond. Tomorrow the enemy will be with you. Urgently evacuate the city. In the capital of the Confederation, after receiving this terrible dispatch, an alarm was sounded in all the churches, and heralds galloped through the streets, urging residents to flee immediately. Almost the entire white population rushed to collect things, prepare carts and saddle horses, neither one nor the other - rushed on foot away from the doomed city, as the only railway linking Richmond with the southern states had already been cut.
At night, a series of powerful explosions thundered in Richmond. The city arsenal, metallurgical, arms and locomotive factories, railway station and locomotive depot took off from the hastily laid landmines. The burning debris scattered hundreds of meters away caused fires that no one put out. By morning the fire engulfed the entire city. On April 3, 1865, federal troops entered the deserted, burning city. They were greeted with joy only by Negroes who saw the Yankees as their liberators. A day later, only smoky ruins remained of the once flourishing capital of the South. The most offensive for the southerners was that the self-destruction of Richmond was in vain, because a week later General Lee surrendered and that was the end of the four-year civil war. “Just like Moscow, burnt by fire, was given to the Frenchman.
Promotional video: