From the 2nd day of February to the 6th, 1865, the 55th Ohio and its brigade marched northward through Lawtonville, South Carolina, and the surrounding area. Their primary purpose was to guard the division's wagon train as they moved north. From the 8th day of February to the 13th, the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 20th Corps, spent its time wrecking six miles of railroad and burning cotton. Apparently they did not go unmolested as the 55th Ohio recorded two men wounded within this time frame.
On the 16th of February, General O.O. Howard's "right-wing" occupied Columbia, South Carolina, the state capitol. The 55th Ohio was not involved in the eventual burning of that city, as General Slocum's Army of Georgia by-passed the city to the west. One humorous incident happened this day, according to historian Charles Royster in his book The Destructive War: "...the 15th Corps marched through Columbia. General Logan, mounted, led his men; Sherman and Howard rode together behind him . . . in the middle of the street General Sherman was suddenly stopped by a soldier who stepped out from the sidewalk and moved unsteadily in front of Sherman's horse. The man wore a long figured silk dressing gown with his army gear buckled around it, a shiny plug hat, and a string of epaulets as a necklace. Carrying his musket at shoulder shift, he stepped up to Sherman, lifted his hat, and said: 'I have the honor (hic), General, to present (hic) you with (hic) the freedom of the (hic) City.' Sherman turned his head away to hide a grin. The man was quickly taken under guard, and the head of the column moved on to city hall."
On this day, the 55th Ohio, along with its brigade, camped within two miles of Columbia, still on the road they had been following since crossing the Edisto River. From then on the brigade made its way steadily northward crossing several rivers and guarding wagon trains.
Sources:
Trials And Triumphs: The Record Of The Fifty-Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry
by Captain Hartwell Osborne And Others, A.C. McClurg & Co., 1904All Brave And True: A History Of The Marches And Battles Of The 55th Ohio (Veteran) Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Dan Munson, March 1987, (2nd Edition)
The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans by Charles Royster, Vintage Books, New York, 1991. (p.p. 17 & 18).