Editing Scorched earth (section)

===American Civil War===
[[File:Sherman railroad destroy noborder crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[William Tecumseh Sherman]]'s troops destroying a railroad near [[Atlanta]]]]

In the [[American Civil War]], Union forces under [[Philip Sheridan]] and [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] used the policy widely:{{sfn|Grant|2017}}
{{Blockquote|supplies within the reach of Confederate armies I regarded as much contraband as arms or ordnance stores. Their destruction was accomplished without bloodshed and tended to the same result as the destruction of armies. I continued this policy to the close of the war. Promiscuous pillaging, however, was discouraged and punished. Instructions were always given to take provisions and forage under the direction of commissioned officers who should give receipts to owners, if at home, and turn the property over to officers of the quartermaster or commissary departments to be issued as if furnished from our Northern depots. But much was destroyed without receipts to owners when it could not be brought within our lines and would otherwise have gone to the support of secession and rebellion. This policy I believe exercised a material influence in hastening the end.}}

General Sherman used that policy during his [[Sherman's March to the Sea|March to the Sea]].

Another event, in response to [[William Quantrill]]'s [[Lawrence massacre|raid on Lawrence, Kansas]], and the many civilian casualties, including the killing of 150 men, Brigadier General [[Thomas Ewing Jr.]], Sherman's brother-in-law, issued US Army [[General Order No. 11 (1863)]] to order the near-total evacuation of three-and-a-half counties in western [[Missouri]], south of Kansas City, which were subsequently looted and burned by [[US Army]] troops.{{sfn|Pringle|2010|pp=20-25}} Under Sherman's overall direction, General [[Philip Sheridan]] followed that policy in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] of [[Virginia]] and then in the [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] of the [[Great Plains]].

[[File:Richmond va 1865 cropped 8x5.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The ruins of [[Richmond, Virginia]], after it was burned by retreating Confederate soldiers in April 1865]]
When General [[Ulysses S. Grant|Ulysses Grant]]'s forces broke through the defenses of [[Richmond, Virginia]], Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]] ordered the destruction of Richmond's military supplies. The resulting fires quickly spread to other buildings, as well as to the Confederate warships docked on the [[James River]]. Civilians in panic were forced to escape the city as it quickly burned.