Sherman's men weren't the only ones with sticky fingers. Col. Neil Dow, while in Pensacola, seemed to develop a 'fetish' for piano's. He had his men enter homes and 'confiscated' quite a few of them. While at it, he took a nice amount of silver, china and such. He was trying to ship it all to his home in the North but the Captain of the ship wanted no 'plunder' on his vessel. He dumped it overboard in Pensacola Bay. There, it all still sits. What's left of it anyway.
The soldiers also entered the home of an elderly man who was no threat. He was feeble and ill. The only thing the man prized was his library of many fine and rare books. The soldiers tossed all of his library into a pile on the floor after ripping the volumns apart. They figured he might try to salvage that mess so they poured syrup and I believe lamp oil on it.
This happened while the majority of the citizens had left town. Those who stayed carried out commerce with the Union soldiers after the Confederate troops left. We were, after all, a town that had seen regime changes before and adapted pretty quickley to them.

Now, similar things may have been carried out by Confederate soldiers, but not with the commanders blessing. We were after all, on our own soil.
Yes, Sherman was a good soldier. He put the pressure on like few others did. He did know of the Roswell Women and authorized the order to send them North knowing full well they'd not be safe there. He may have been a decent man, but a terrorist to those in his path.

Pam