[250]
The explosion which took place at the railway depot on the out-skirt of the town, about daylight on the morning of the evacuation, was caused by men sleeping among ammunition stored there.
The depot alone was destroyed and no fire spread from it. I visited the spot before leaving the city, which I did about nine A. M., as the enemy were entering the town.
An officer of General Sherman's staff (Major Murray), now attached to the New York Herald's editorial corps, informed me several years ago that he went to General Sherman and begged him to stop his soldiers from burning the city, and that he turned a deaf ear to him. I furnished General Hampton with the name of this officer at the time, as he authorized me to do so.
Yours, truly,
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