Those individuals interested in participating in the Sherman’s March bus tour, which travels through the Botanical Garden, can select the 9:30am or 2:30pm Congaree Creek tour. The three-hour tour narrated by Tom Elmore will recall first hand accounts of Union soldiers, newspaper reporters and Columbia residents.

Riverbanks has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Structural remains dating back to the early 1800s can be found throughout the park. On Riverbanks’ grounds, bus tour participants will visit the Saluda Mill ruins and view the granite abutments of the burned State Road Bridge, which was destroyed during Sherman’s March in 1865.

The Saluda Mill ruins, one of South Carolina’s oldest textile mills, are found along the Garden River Trail. This structure was also set ablaze by Sherman and his troops in 1865. In an effort to further educate the public about the historic significance of the Saluda Mills, an Interpretive Center was built adjacent to the mill site in 1999. Artifacts, descriptions and graphics are displayed in the Center, revealing the site’s history and its connection to the Civil War.

Other activities on February 15 and 16 will include a grand ball, Civil War relic show, a symposium at the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum and a re-enactment of Union cannons firing on the State House. Tickets for the bus tour are $20 and must be purchased in advance. To buy tickets, contact Liz Jenkins at 803.217.0071 or at gccwa@knappagency.com. Tickets may also be ordered from the Web site www.columbiaslongestdays.com, where more information is available about “Columbia’s Longest Days: February 1865.”