Briefly...
Wade Hampton III was influenced by his grandfather Wade I during his early
years. He learned how to ride a pony at age four. Wade III loved to hunt and
fish, was physically strong and especially adept with a pistol and knife. In
1832 he entered South Carolina College at age 14. When Wade I died in 1835,
he left his revolutionary sword to Wade III. After graduation from college,
Wade read law, but never practiced. His Aunt Caroline and her husband,
Colonel John Preston, returned from Virginia to reside in the Columbia
Hampton Town House. In 1838 Wade married Colonel Preston’s sister
Margaret. Wade bought three plantations in the next few years including
Wildwoods in Washington County, Mississippi. He traveled frequently to
England with the Prestons. His wife Margaret died in 1852 at age 34 of
unknown cause. Wade III was elected to the South Carolina legislature in
1855. In 1855, he purchased 14.5 acres in Cashiers Valley for $72.00 and
built a large hunting lodge. In 1858 his father Wade II died. Shortly after
settling his father’s accounts, he married Mary Singleton McDuffie. He
inherited Walnut Ridge with 2,500 acres in Mississippi. He expanded his
holdings in Mississippi owning over 10,000 acres in five plantations. Wade
was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1858 and served until 1861.
Opposed to slavery as an institution, he also opposed secession and was termed
a Union Democrat. Brother Frank Hampton was in charge of the old Woodlands
Plantation. By February of 1861 Wade had been made a colonel and formed
Hampton’s Legion of 1,000 men.
The Cashiers Historical Society
would like to acknowledge our Sponsors, Patrons and Contributors:
Cashiers Travel and Tourism Authority
Chapter Two Books
Historic Pendleton Foundation
Jackson County Travel and Tourism Authority
High Hampton Inn and Country Club
Wade Hampton Golf Club
Ann McKee Austin
Mr. Glenn Borregard
Mr. Robert F. Bryan,Jr
Mr. David Dimling
Dr. and Mrs.Ned Fox
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hagood
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Harper
Dr. and Mrs. S. Robert Lathan
Mrs. Sally Mettler
Mr. and Mrs. W. Hampton Morris
Mr. & Mrs. Tom Moss
Ms. Patti Pardee
Mr. John M. Rivers, Jr
Mr. Skip Ryan
Mr. and Mrs. Jake Shuler
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wyatt
The Symposium Papers:
The
Three Wade Hamptons
by S. Robert Lathan, M.D., Symposium Chair
Wade
Hampton I (1751-1835)
Born: Halifax
County, Virginia Died: Columbia, South Carolina
Marriages:
1.
Mrs. Martha Epps (Goodwyn) Howell
2.
Harriet Flud
3.
Mary (Polly) Cantey
Children:
Wade Hampton II (m. Ann Fitzsimons) Caroline Hampton (m. John S. Preston) Mary
Hampton (m. Thomas Player) Susan Hampton (m. John L. Manning) Frank Hampton
Harriet Hampton Louise Hampton Alfred Hampton
Family
moved to Spartanburg Co., South Carolina in 1774. In June 1776, both parents and
brother Preston were massacred by Indians and Tones. (Afterwards a great
slaughter of the Cherokees by the five Hampton brothers, Pickens and Sumter).
Wade had always loved horses and traded and raced stallions.
1777 - Wade
promoted to Captain; bought 150 acre plantation on the Broad River in Fairfield
County. Later bought three other plantations and sold grain to the Army.
Developed a lucrative trading business with brother Richard at Granby.
1780 - Joined
General Thomas Sumter. Taken prisoner by Tarleton at Fishing Creek. Later in 1781
escaped and rejoined Sumter. Promoted to Lt. Colonel.
1781 -
September, Wade led a brilliant cavalry charge at Eutaw Springs.
1782
- Married Martha Howell who had inherited a 550 acre plantation. Wade made it
his headquarters. (She died in 1784.)
1783
- Elected to state legislature. Continues to buy land.
1786
- Columbia became the new State Capital. Married to Harriet Flud (met at the
Jockey Club ball). Built plantation Woodlands in Richland County.
1790
- Wade had 90 slaves and began to build bridges.
1791
- Wade II born. President Washington visited Columbia. Wade became the first to
plant cotton in the Midlands.
1794
- Harriet died. Wade took sides with the Jeffersonians vs. the Federalists.
1795
- Elected to U.S. Congress. "Yazoo
Scandal". Wade bought 550,000 acres in north Mississippi.
1801
- Married Mary Cantey.
1803
- Elected again to Congress. Won Silver Cup at the Washington Jockey Club race.
1805
- Founder and Trustee of South Carolina College.
1808
- Moved to Charleston for one year to command the military districts there.
1809
- Promoted to General and sent to New Orleans. Bought two new plantations in
Mississippi and Louisiana (Houmas).
1813 - Wade
promoted to Major General (War of 1812) and put in charge efforts in Charleston
Harbor. Later ordered to Lake Champlain. Conflict with General Wilkinson. Wade
became a large contributor to Trinity Episcopal Church in 1812.
1814
- Wade went to Louisiana to establish Houmas and concentrate on sugar in
Louisiana rather than cotton in Mississippi.
1823
- Townhouse in Columbia purchased for $35,000.
1827 - Wade
and Mary to White Sulfur Springs, Virginia. General Hampton considered the
wealthiest man in the South and in U.S. at death in 1835, age 83. Owned over
1,000 slaves. John and Caroline Preston moved to the Columbia townhouse better
known as Hampton-Preston Mansion. Later moved to Houmas in 1840.
Wade
Hampton II (1791-1858)
Born: Woodlands, Richland
County, South Carolina
Died: Walnut Ridge, Issaqueena
County, Mississippi
Marriages:
Ann Fitzsimons
Children: Wade Hampton III (m. Margaret Preston, Mary
Singleton McDuffie) Christopher F. ("Kit") Hampton (m. Mary E. McCord)
Harriet Hampton Catherine P. Hampton Ann M. Hampton Caroline L. Hampton Frank
Hampton (m. Sally Baxter) Mary Fisher Hampton
Wade II lived in the antebellum period of
the Old South when great wealth created a planter aristocracy. He was a
gentleman, a superb horseman, and hunter, and a renowned agriculturist and
turfman. He learned the art of politics from his father and many of the nation's
leaders were entertained at Woodlands.
1807
- Entered sophomore class at South Carolina College at age 16.
1809 - Left college to handle some
of the plantation business with his father's factor, Christopher Fitzsimons from
Charleston.
1813
- Joined First Light Dragoons as 2nd Lieutenant in War of 1812.
1815 - Volunteered his services to
General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans vs. the British. Captain
Hampton ordered by Jackson to take the victory news to President Madison. Rode
one horse 750 miles in 10 days.
1817 - Attended horse races in
Charleston and was attracted to Ann Fitzsimons and later married that year. Wade
I gave Wade II the Mill Tract across from Woodlands and built Millwood.
1818 - Wade III born in Charleston.
1820 - Wade II bought a plantation,
Walnut Ridge, 2,500 acres in Issaqueena County, Mississippi, near the
Mississippi River.
1821-
"Kit" H. born. 1825 - LaFayette made special visit to Walnut Ridge.
Wade
II served as aide to Governor Manning and was elected to the South Carolina
senate. Promoted to Colonel.
1829 - Revived the Columbia Jockey
Club along with Colonel Richard Singleton. Wade and Ann went to the White Sulfur
Springs in Virginia with the Singletons. (Sister Caroline met John Preston there
and married him in 1830.
1833
- Ann died at age 39, one month after the birth of their eighth child.
1835 - Wade I died. Wade II took
the Carolina plantations, and mother Mary H. Cantey and sisters Caroline H.
Preston and Susan Hampton inherited Houmas in Louisiana. Wade gave more
attention to the stables and bought many horses (Argyle, Monarch), especially
from Hampton Court.
1837
- Wade began renovating Millwood to the Greek Revival style.
1838 - Colonel Hampton and Colonel
Singleton introduced the Greek Revival style to White Sulfur Springs, Virginia.
The Colonnade Complex. Wade II excelled in bird and deer hunting. Also
experimented with fertilizers and crop rotation at Woodlands. The first to
diversify crops. The Millwood-Woodlands complex was a model plantation.
1839 - Invested heavily in
railroads (LC & C). Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun visited frequently at
Millwood. (Most of South Carolina's Governors were chosen at Millwood's dinner
table.)
1840
- Wade had become the most extensive breeder of thoroughbred horses in South
Carolina.
1846
-Trinity Church renovated to Gothic style. The Hamptons contributed greatly.
1847
- Senator Daniel Webster visited Columbia and dined at Millwood.
1850's - National debate on slavery
and secession. The Hamptons favored Union though, they were the largest
slaveholders in the South (3000).
Colonel Hampton's vast
expenditures were catching up with him. The plantations were heavily mortgaged,
etc. Died in 1858 in Mississippi with debts of $500,000.
Wade
Hampton III (1818-1902)
Wade
III was "born to the manor" and like his father was the epitome of the
Southern gentleman and even surpassed him as an equestrian, sportsman, and
military and political leader.
He
opposed the institution of slavery (even though he and his family owned more
slaves than anyone else in the South). He opposed secession yet he became a
great Confederate leader. He led his state out of Reconstruction as Governor,
and back into the Union as Senator. He was the most revered man in the history
of South Carolina and yet he died an old man in near poverty.
Wade
learned how to ride a pony at age four. (Doting grandfather Wade I taught him).
He became a superb rider. There was no horse he could not conquer. He was said
to be the finest rider in America.
Wade
entered the freshman class at South Carolina College at age 14. His father
taught him how to hunt and fish. He became an expert shot. When Wade I died in
1835, he left his Revolutionary sword to Wade III.
His
Aunt Caroline and her husband. Colonel John Preston returned from Virginia to
reside in the Hampton Town House in Columbia and there began a lifetime
relationship between Wade and John Preston.
1838
- Wade married Colonel Preston's sister Margaret. After graduation from college.
Wade read law, but never practiced. Wade bought three plantations in Mississippi
(Wild-wood, Bayou Place and Richland). He later bought land in Cashiers in 1845.
Wade
traveled to England with the Prestons and later invited a group of titled
Englishmen to Wildwoods for a visit. (No one could equal Wade with a gun or on a
horse.)
1852
- Wife Margaret died at age 34 of unknown cause. Wade III elected to South
Carolina legislature.
1853
- Wade expanded his holdings in Mississippi and owned 10,000 acres in five
plantations. (40-50% of the slaves died of malaria.)
1855
- Wade purchased 700 acres from Col. John Zachary in Cashiers, North Carolina,
now High
Hampton Inn. (See documentation in Jane Nardy's paper.)
1858
- Married Mary Singleton McDuffie. Father Wade II died. Wade III inherited
Walnut Ridge. Wade elected to South Carolina Senate. Opposed slavery as an
institution. Also opposed secession and was termed a Union Democrat. Wade began
building a new mansion called Diamond Hill. (Later the finest private library in
the South.)
Brother
Frank Hampton was in charge of the old Woodlands Plantation. Frank was also a
great horseman.
1860
- The Hamptons were moderates and opposed secession. South Carolina voted to
secede in December 1860 in Charleston.
1861
- Six other states seceded and the Confederacy formed in Montgomery in February.
President Jefferson Davis sent General PGT Beauregard to command the troops at
Charleston (former Governor John Manning (Col.), Colonel John S. Preston, Wade
Hampton IV and General Gonzales.) Frank Hampton's cavalry company was called to
defend the coast. On April 13th, Major Anderson was asked to evacuate
Fort Sumter and when he refused, Beauregard fired his cannon and the next day,
Anderson surrendered.
Wade,
who was made Colonel by President Davis, forms Hampton's Legion of 1,000 men.
Arrived in Richmond, July 4, 1861 attached to General Joseph E. Johnston's Army.
Mississippi
(Wild-wood, Bayou Place and Richland). He later bought land in Cashiers in 1845.
Wade
traveled to England with the Prestons and later invited a group of titled
Englishmen to Wildwoods for a visit. (No one could equal Wade with a gun or on a
horse.)
1852
- Wife Margaret died at age 34 of unknown cause. Wade III elected to South
Carolina legislature.
1853
- Wade expanded his holdings in Mississippi and owned 10,000 acres in five
plantations. (40-50% of the
slaves died of malaria.)
1858
- Married Mary Singleton McDuffie. Father Wade II died. Wade III inherited
Walnut Ridge.
Wade
elected to South Carolina Senate. Opposed slavery as an institution. Also
opposed secession and was termed a Union Democrat. Wade began building a new
mansion called Diamond Hill. (Later the finest private library in the South.)
Brother
Frank Hampton was in charge of the old Woodlands Plantation. Frank was also a
great horseman.
1860
- The Hamptons were moderates and opposed secession. South Carolina voted to
secede in December 1860 in Charleston.
1861
- Six other states seceded and the Confederacy formed in Montgomery in February.
President Jefferson Davis sent General PGT Beauregard to command the troops at
Charleston (former Governor John Manning (Col.), Colonel John S. Preston, Wade
Hampton IV and General Gonzales.) Frank Hampton's cavalry company was called to
defend the coast. On April 13th, Major Anderson was asked to evacuate
Fort Sumter and when he refused, Beauregard fired his cannon and the next day,
Anderson surrendered.
Wade,
who was made Colonel by President Davis, forms Hampton's Legion of 1,000 men.
Arrived in Richmond, July 4, 1861 attached to General Joseph E. Johnston's Army.
July
21 - Battle of First Manassas. Wade wounded. Both Wade's sons, Wade IV and
Preston were privates in the Legion.
May
-Wade promoted to Brigadier General. Later wounded at Battle of Seven Pines.
June
- Seven Days Battle; Army of Northern Virginia reorganized. J.E.B. Stuart was in
command of all cavalry with Wade as his Senior Brigadier. Wade formed the 2nd
South Carolina Cavalry Brigade. (Conflict with J.E.B. Stuart.)
September
- Maryland Campaign. Cavalry raids on Chambersburg and Gettysburg.
1863
June 9 - Battle of Brandy Station. (Frank Hampton killed.)
June 19 - Mary Cantey Hampton
died.
July 1863 - Gettysburg - Wade
wounded. Later promoted to Major General.
1864
January
- Sally, Wade's daughter engaged to Colonel John Haskell, an artillery
commander.
March
- Battle of the Wilderness. Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee stopped Sheridan and
Custer. J.E.B. Stuart was killed. Wade wounded in six places.
June
- Battle of Trevilian Station. Wade stopped Sheridan's raiders.
August
- Appointed Chief of Cavalry.
September
- Lt. Wade IV to father's staff. Coggins Point, daring cattle raid.
October
- Burgess Mill. Grant attacked. Preston Hampton was killed and Wade IV was shot
in the back as he leaned over his brother, but recovered.
December
- The war in the South was a lost cause. Sherman was poised in Savannah to
strike at South Carolina.
1865
February
17 - Sherman burns Columbia. (Controversy over burning of cotton. Three Hampton
family mansions
February
24 - Wade commanded Confederate cavalry with 4,000 men. (Conflict with Sherman
over "right to forage".)
March
17 - Bentonville. Last battle in Civil War.
April
16 - General Joe Johnston met with Sherman at Durham to negotiate terms. (Wade
in attendance.)
April
26 - Johnston surrendered to Sherman. (Wade still had futile hope to escort
Jefferson Davis and continue the war in Texas.)
June
- Returned to Columbia. Wade started building a cottage called Southern Cross
on the Diamond Hill property.
Further
controversy with Sherman over burning of cotton.
1866
- 14th Amendment passed by Congress. (Wade endorsed Negro suffrage
but advocated educational qualifications for all voters.)
1867
- Reconstruction Act passed by Congress. Divided the South into military
districts and liquidated the state governments. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers. The
Negro militia made up of former slaves, was most galling of all to whites.
Reconstruction was characterized by eight years of crime and corruption.
1868
- Wade was a delegate to the Democratic National convention in New York City.
(Grant was elected later.) Wade refused to join the Ku Klux Klan and pleaded for
conciliation between the North and the South. Wade filed for bankruptcy in
Jackson, Mississippi in December 1868 after developing a huge debt in his
Mississippi plantations.
1869
- Wade founded the Southern Life Insurance Company in Atlanta along with General
John B. Gordon and Benjamin H. Hill. Jefferson Davis became the president of the
company.
1876
- Wade was nominated to run for governor. Democratic supporters wore red shirts.
The election was the most exciting race in South Carolina history.
Aftermath 
Wade won
by 1,100 votes. The incumbent Governor
Chamberlain refused to vacate the State House. The Hunky Dory Club clashed with
the Red Shirts but Wade made a great speech, pleading for peace and to avoid
bloodshed. Finally, after four months, President Rutherford B. Hayes intervened.
Governor Chamberlain was forced to leave and Federal troops were withdrawn.
Reconstruction was over at last in April 1877 and Wade became the most revered
man in South Carolina history.
As
Governor, Wade's top aides included M.C. Butler, Johnson Hagood, and Joseph
Kerslaw. All had been Confederate generals. Wade attributed his victory to
17,000 Negro voters, and as
promised, appointed over 80 blacks to office.
1878
- November 6 - Wade won re-election easily. The next day, he went on a deer hunt
but fell and sustained a compound fracture of the ankle in two places. He
developed severe pain and high fever and was critically ill. After below knee
amputation he recovered dramatically.
December
- The legislature elected Wade U.S. Senator to take office March 1879.
Served for 12 years.
1879
- December - Wade IV died of malaria in Mississippi at age 38.
1881
- Sherman rekindled the old feud by accusing Wade of being connected with the
KKK.
1890
- Wade's niece Caroline, 39, married the noted surgeon Dr. William S. Halsted of
Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (Caroline had studied nursing in New York City and
had become head surgical nurse at Hopkins under Halsted. He designed for her the
first pair of rubber gloves worn in an operating room.) The Halsteds honeymooned
in Cashiers Valley and he liked it so much that he later bought the property
from her aunts.
1889-90
- Opposition to the Hampton regime began to rise among small farmers.
"Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, the leader of the Rednecks, was elected
governor over Wade's candidate. The "Farmer's Legislature" refused to
elect Wade to another term as Senator.
A by-product of the Tillman election was the arrival in Columbia of N.G.
Gonzales, formerly editor of the Charleston News
and Courier, to launch The
State newspapers in Columbia to fight Tillman and his policies.
1893
- Wade appointed Railroad Commissioner by President Grover Cleveland and went on
a transcontinental trip in a private railroad car. Later became a director of
two railroads.
1895
- Frank Hampton Jr., age 39, married Gertrude Gonzales, sister of The State editor
N.G. Gonzales and daughter of General Ambrosio Jose Gonzales.
Tillman
tried to deny Negro suffrage. The State commended Wade Hampton for his
moderate stand on the Negro question.
1899
- Southern Cross and the house at Millwood were burned by arsonists. Only his
Civil War swords and family silver were saved. The people of Columbia raised
funds throughout the state to build a residence for him at the corner of
Barnwell and Senate streets.
1901-2
- Wade became more ill and Dr. Watt Taylor diagnosed a "heart condition
complicated by old age". The children and sisters gathered at his bedside
and he spoke his final words "God bless all my people, black and
white".
1902
- Wade died on April 11, 1902 exactly 25 years to the day after he became
governor. Over 20,000 people lined the streets at his funeral, said to be the
largest in South Carolina.
Wade
left all of his real estate in South Carolina to his daughter Daisy, who had
been his caretaker. Son McDuffie received three silver racing cups and the
remainder of his silver was divided among the three children.
Parks,
schools, buildings, roads, (and children especially) have been named in honor of
Wade III. He is the subject of numerous biographies and his statue in the U.S.
Capitol occupies one of two niches allotted to South Carolina. (The other is
John C. Calhoun.) His equestrian statue is on the State House grounds in
Columbia.
1903
- N.G. Gonzales, editor of The State, was shot down in the street by Lt.
Governor James Tillman, gubernatorial candidate and nephew of Senator Ben
Tillman. (Tillman was later acquitted.)
1916
- Miss Kate Hampton died in 1916 at age 92. She left the Millwood homestead to
her great nephew Frank Hampton III and to her niece Caroline Hampton Halsted.
Also, she left 150 acres adjoining Millwood to the Episcopal Church of the Good
Shepherd in Cashiers, North Carolina.
The
controlling interest in The State was acquired during the years by the
Hampton family.
The
Hampton-Preston mansion was restored in the 1960's by Historic Columbia
Foundation. Houmas House in Louisiana is now a museum.
Five
columns still stand at Millwood. Now crumbled and covered with vines, they serve
as a ghostly reminder of those towering figures in South Carolina history, the
three Wade Hamptons.
Medical
History of Wade Hampton III
1.
Old scars from having killed bears with a knife.
2.
Battle of First Manassas, July 1861. Bullet grazed his scalp resulting in
a slight wound, but he had the wound bandaged and resumed command.
3. Battle of the Seven Pines, May 1862. Severely
wounded but refused to leave the field. While Hampton sat on his horse during
heavy fire, a surgeon extracted a ball from his foot. His boot was put on his
wounded foot and he returned to battle. The next day the boot had to be cut away
as the foot had become very swollen and inflamed. He was sent home to Columbia
on crutches but returned in less than a month.
4. Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. A bullet grazed his
chest but he received a saber wound in the scalp. The gash was plastered shut
and he remained on duty. The next day he received two saber cuts on his head,
which opened the prior wound and left a long gaping wound. A plaster was put on
the head wound and he continued in battle until a piece of shrapnel penetrated
his right hip so that he was unable to ride. It took him several months to
recuperate before he returned to duty in November.
5.
November 1878. Fall while hunting resulted in compound fracture of the
right leg. Developed infection and an amputation was required one month later.
Jane Gibson Nardy; Wade
Hampton III in Cashiers, Wade Hampton Symposium
back to the top
What
You May Not Know About Wade Hampton by Walter Brian Cisco
In
the course of my research on Wade Hampton, I discovered some facts that
challenge our conventional view of the man, as well as facets of his character
that 
had simply been neglected. Today I would like to point out a few of
these discoveries - things that you may not know about Wade Hampton.
The
first is that he was a secessionist in 1860. This will not come as a
surprise to those familiar with the political climate in South Carolina in that
critical year. The legend was that Hampton opposed secession, but
stood loyally by his state. That describes Robert E. Lee, and a tiny
minority of South Carolinians, but certainly not Hampton. It is true that,
for at least a decade, Hampton had been known as a conservative, opposing what
he called the “ultra party,” those pioneer proponents of disunionism.
He took a strong stand against secession at mid-century, when his state first
considered that course. Yet even then Hampton, along with virtually all
South Carolinians, believed in the right of a state to secede - that
having entered the Union of her own free will, South Carolina should be able to
leave in the same manner.
Hampton
spoke out in 1859 against reopening the foreign slave trade, was himself a
benevolent and paternalistic slave master, but he did not question the morality
of the institution. (And before we pass judgment on Southerners of
Hampton’s generation, we ought to remind ourselves of slavery’s long history
- that it existed in every ancient civilization, was regulated in Old
Testament days, tolerated by the New Testament church, defended by philosophers,
practiced by America’s Founding Fathers, and legal in all thirteen original
colonies.) Margaret Coit, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of John
C. Calhoun, described the dilemma then faced by Southerners.
Whether
or not slavery was essential to the South, it was essential to the South to
have the power to maintain slavery. If the North could control the
one, she could control all. This was the issue, the tragedy, that
slavery had become the proving ground of the South’s fight to maintain her
rights as a minority within the Union.
Hampton
was alarmed by the rise of the abolitionist movement in the North and horrified
at its hostile spirit, concluding that unless it were suppressed, “I do not
see how the Union can be or should be preserved.” The triumph of
Republican Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election was seen by Hampton -
and nearly everyone else in the Palmetto State - as a precursor of
revolution, a virtual repeal of the Constitution. No longer would the
Federal government be neutral on the issue of slavery, and South Carolinians
were unwilling to await an overt act of aggression by their avowed enemies.
In October he said that if Lincoln were elected, the state should call a
secession convention. On November 24
nearly a month prior to South Carolina’s officially leaving the Union -
Hampton made his position abundantly clear by joining the Columbia chapter of
the Minute Men for the Defense of Southern Rights, a semi-secret, paramilitary
group dedicated to the state’s immediate and unilateral secession. The
press reported him as declaring then that “it was time for the State to move
- for us to go out of the Union; and he pledged his life, his fortune, and
his honor to stand by her and maintain her rights.” Thus Hampton was
very much in the political mainstream in the fall of 1860 -
regretting that secession had become necessary, but taking that stand determined
and unafraid.
During
the post-war years Hampton diplomatically distanced himself from South
Carolina’s original disunionists, emphasizing his own reluctance to embrace
secession. Whether to bolster his credibility with Northerners, or to
promote sectional reconciliation, in this matter he often conveyed more tact
than candor. As the decades passed, fading memory and wishful thinking
- on the part too of men like Matthew Butler, Edward Wells, and Benjamin
Perry - fostered a faulty understanding of the secession movement
and Hampton’s place in it. Even the notion that Hampton had pre-war
doubts about slavery can be traced to nothing more reliable than the words of a
grandson, spoken in 1929.
Hampton
accepted the verdict of battle and became again a loyal American, serving his
state and nation as United States Senator, and later Railroad Commissioner by
presidential appointment. Still, in a sense he forever remained “a
citizen of two countries.” Confederates, said Hampton, “were
inspired by as just a cause as ever fired the hearts or nerved the arms of
patriots.” Though the fight for Southern independence had ended in
defeat, he warned against the assumption that might makes right. “The
sword has never, nor will it ever, decide a principle or establish a truth,”
he reminded fellow veterans. “A noble cause, upheld heroically by honor,
courage and patriotism, may die along with its supporters. A great truth
never dies.” When Hampton spoke on Confederate Memorial Day 1892, even
those who in former days had been the most reluctant to abandon the Union might
now recognize his sentiments as their own:
If
we were wrong in our contest, then the Declaration of Independence of 1776
was a grave mistake, and the revolution to which it led was a crime . . . If
Washington was a patriot, Lee cannot have been a rebel; if the enunciation
of the grand truths in the Declaration of Independence made Jefferson
immortal, the observance of them could not have made Davis a traitor.
It is generally conceded that Hampton was ahead of his time on the question of
civil rights. But you may not realize that his Red Shirt campaign ousted
the corrupt Reconstruction regime with the active support of many blacks.
For a decade prior to the pivotal election of 1876, Hampton had advocated
suffrage without regard to race, though he did want a literacy and small
property-owning requirement applied to all. During his campaign for
governor that year he sought the support of African-Americans everywhere he
spoke, and winning them over became his passion. A significant number of
black voters, genuinely concerned about restoring good government to their
state, were willing to listen to his message and consider change.
Some former Hampton slaves endorsed his candidacy. “You have, ever since
emancipation, been slaves to your political masters,” he told blacks at one
rally. “In coming to us, you are only coming to your own people.
You do not desert your true friends, but you are coming to them.”
African-American Red Shirts campaigned for Hampton in Columbia, Charleston,
Abbeville, Sumter, Florence, Walhalla, and many other locations; despite threats
and violence directed against them by Radicals. Considering the dangers
they faced, arguably the most courageous men in South Carolina that year were
those blacks who broke ranks to publicly support Hampton. There were
Democratic campaign clubs made up of African-American voters organized across
the state. Black musical bands and choral groups serenaded at his rallies.
The “mounted black cadre,” recruited from black Confederate veterans,
accompanied the candidate to campaign stops. On the eve of the
election, Hampton predicted that “we will owe this victory in great part to
the colored man.” Out of 182,707 votes cast, Hampton received about
10,000 from blacks. He won the election by a margin of 1,134.
Backed by Federal bayonets, literally barricaded in the State House, the
Republican incumbent refused to concede defeat. The political maneuvering
that followed climaxed one of the most dramatic stories in American history, as
Hampton’s legendary leadership finally ensured victory without violence.
Once in office, his administration was evenhanded, economical, and honest.
He was applauded by black leaders, even Congressman Robert Smalls of Beaufort
speaking of the “just and liberal course of the Governor which had recommended
him to the confidence of the people.” Hampton spoke plainly to
African-Americans. “You must stand on your own footing … We propose to
protect you and give you all your rights; but while we do this you cannot expect
that we should discriminate in your favor.” And
he sternly warned white Democrats against turning their backs on black voters by
denying them a voice in the party or by resorting to electoral fraud to retain
power. Should such a betrayal occur, or should they imagine he might
acquiesce in it, “then I am sadly mistaken in the people of South Carolina and
the people are mistaken in me,” said Hampton, “because I can carry out no
such policy as that. I stand where you put me in 1876. I have not
deviated one iota.” In
1878 he was returned to office without opposition, the election that year more a
triumphant procession than a political campaign. It was not the fault of
Hampton that in years to come his would be “the road not taken.”
I was surprised to learn what a witty character Hampton could be! Let me
give a few examples.
In early 1857 the widower Hampton was courting Mary McDuffie, daughter of the
late Sen. George McDuffie. Apparently things were not going well, for on
Valentine’s Day he wrote her a poem that speaks little of romance, but more
than hints at a rocky relationship.
TO
MISS MARY McDUFFIE
-
When the birds to their southern homes so bright,
-
Were planning their flight last November,
-
They promised me, a fair lady to see,
-
And tell me if she could remember.
-
-
They said they would warble their loveliest tone,
-
When such beauty and grace they discover,
-
And the sweetest song, that their notes could prolong,
-
They would sing, when around her they hover.
-
-
Each morn should their melody open her eyes
-
Like a welcome of sunshine and gladness
-
And at eve she should hear, tones most plaintive and clear,
-
While they whisper to her of my sadness.
-
-
Ah me! Will she listen to day; and believe
-
In the notes of their musical letters?
-
Will her smile come to bless? Or must I confess
-
To the wish - that I never had met her.
On
a hot June morning in 1862, toward the end of his furlough after being wounded
at the battle of Seven Pines, Hampton and James Chesnut, Jr., attended worship
services together in Columbia. Sitting in the pew in front of them was a
young girl wearing gold earrings shaped like tiny ladders. During the
service Hampton improvised and jotted down a doggerel composition. (And you
thought only teenagers wrote notes in church!)
-
Lydia swears her prudish ear
-
No word of love shall ever reach
-
Then - tell, I pray, why doth she wear
-
What does another lesson teach?
-
A sign that’s plain to every eye
-
She’s not as deaf as any adder,
-
And he who hopes to climb so high,
-
Has but to use a golden ladder
In
October 1876 Hampton and James Conner were riding side-by-side on horseback in a
campaign procession through one town. Conner observed that the candidate
“was in capital spirits, enjoying the whole thing and keeping up a running
fire of comment on every thing.” Hampton recounted that at a recent
rally “a very pretty woman wishing to tell him the time, pulled her watch from
her breast and said, ‘Oh, my watch has stopped!’ ‘That is very
natural,’ replied the general, ‘for I am sure had I been in the watch’s
place, I would have stopped too.’”
Once,
in old age, a cavalry veteran asked Hampton how many Yankees he had personally
dispatched in hand-to-hand combat during the war. The old man remembered
eleven, “two with my sword and nine with my pistol.”
“How
about the two at Trevilian Station?” he replied, trying to jog the old
soldier’s memory.
“Oh,
well, I did not count them, they were running.”
Finally,
you may not know, but it is important to understand, that Hampton was a man of
religious faith -- a firm Christian believer. Even before he entered
middle age, Hampton had become the man to whom his extended family turned for
spiritual encouragement and support. Though seriously wounded on three
occasions during the war, in letters home Hampton consistently gave God the
thanks and credit for sparing his life. In the spring of 1865 Confederate
defeat was imminent, though Hampton continued to command his men in the field,
and faced death daily. In the midst of his troubles and responsibilities
he received a letter from Mary Fisher Hampton, his youngest sister, expressing
fears for his safety. On March 31st he took time from his duties to answer
her in an extraordinary letter.
You
must not worry & fret about me, for it grieves me greatly to think of
you doing so. Your faith should be strong enough to make you know that
God orders all things for the best. I am in His keeping & you
should be quite content to trust me there. I hope & believe that
He will keep me for those who are so dear to me & whose prayers go up so
constantly for me. But I am sure that whatever happens, is wisely
ordered. Let this hope sustain you: place your confidence in God,
& having asked Him to answer your prayers, leave the issue to Him.
Hampton’s
faith was tested many times, and grew stronger. Let me mention just two
incidents that further illustrate his spiritual journey.
In
November 1878, two days after his re-election as governor, he shattered his
right leg in a hunting accident. The injury did not get well, infection
spread, and finally the leg had to be amputated. For days he was near
death, indifferent to whether he lived or died. Prayers went up from
across the state, in homes and churches, around the clock, for his recovery.
Hampton related afterwards that at his lowest point he had a vivid dream -
a vision - during which “a grave personage” told him of those
prayers and urged him to make an effort to live. “I never realized
anything like it before,” he said, describing the experience with deep emotion
in his voice. “I woke the next morning feeling the life blood creeping
through my veins, and I told my family the crisis was passed and I would get
better.” Hampton could only conclude that God had more for him to do,
some duties yet to perform.
Hampton
learned also to be content in every condition. Before the war he had been
one of the wealthiest men in the South, owning by his own estimation some 900
slaves and 12,000 acres in three states. Sherman’s devastation,
the emancipation of his work force, and huge debts eventually led to bankruptcy;
reducing him to very modest means. In 1899, at the age of
eighty-one, Hampton had but a humble cottage on the outskirts of Columbia.
One May morning that year he awoke to see what he thought at first was light
from the morning sun under the door of his room, only to realize that the house
was on fire. He and daughter Daisy escaped, but his home and most of his
personal possessions were lost. The next morning a reporter from the State
newspaper found him by the ruins “chatting pleasantly,” and observed that
the old man’s mustache, eyebrows, and hair had been burned in a futile attempt
to save a puppy from the flames. “Well, I have had many hard knocks in
my life,” Hampton told the newsman, “and I do not know any one better able
to stand it than I am.” Friends were of course concerned about him.
“I have saved some clothes, my gun, and fishing tackle,” he told one.
“If I had only saved my tent, I would be all right.” Though he was
reluctant to accept charity, the people of South Carolina rallied to his aid,
quickly raising funds to buy a comfortable home in Columbia, near his church,
where Hampton spent the remaining years of his life.
In
conclusion, let me remind you of Hampton’s triumphant cause. That was,
in his words, the “political contest of '76
in my judgment the most memorable ever waged on this continent, for home rule,
for personal liberty and States’ rights,” concluding that “nothing can
ever deprive me of the honest pride I feel that I contributed, in part, to the
glorious victory won then by the people of my State.” No other South
Carolinian possessed the temperament, wisdom, and moral authority essential to
direct such a crusade. Leading his people out of Reconstruction was
- in my opinion - Wade Hampton’s providential purpose, and
certainly his greatest achievement.
back to the top
WADE
HAMPTON versus JEB STUART by
Edward G. Longacre
In
war, as in romance, opposites often attract. A case in point is the Civil
War relationship of Wade Hampton and his immediate superior, General James Ewell
Brown Stuart, commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia.
The two men were opposites in many respects--age, physique, personality, prewar
background, military attitudes, and leadership style. Even so, from July
1862 (when Hampton joined the Cavalry Division, A.N.V.) until May 1864 (when
Stuart was mortally wounded in battle), they complemented each other to a
remarkable degree.
Both
men were so well equipped to lead—so effective in directing and inspiring
their troops—that a debate continues to rage: which was the abler
strategist and tactician? Which made better use of finite resources?
Which inspired greater respect and confidence among officers and troopers?
And which more closely fit the image of the quintessential Confederate cavalry
leader?
While
most of those questions remain unanswered (perhaps they’re unanswerable), many
students of the Army of Northern Virginia would claim the latter distinction for
Stuart, who has come down to us as the “Last Cavalier,” the “Knight-Errant
of the Confederacy,” the embodiment of Southern chivalry.
Stuart
worked hard to fit the cavalier image. He was born in 1833 into a
respectable but unprosperous family in Patrick County, Virginia. He was
graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, ranking 13th in his
46-man class. Upon graduation, he was posted to the army’s single
regiment of mounted riflemen, and later to the 1st United Sates Cavalry.
With the 1st Cavalry he took part in several engagements on the western
frontier. During one, against the Sioux in the Kansas Territory, he was severely
wounded.
Fighting
on horseback against Native Americans--the finest light cavalry this country
ever produced—was usually a losing proposition. Stuart, however, took
his cue from his regimental commander, Colonel Edwin Sumner, who believed that a
mounted attack could succeed even against Indians—and proved it more than
once. Early on, Stuart took note of the shock value of the mounted charge
–a product of the unstoppable momentum of horsemen riding knee-to-knee, sabers
and pistols upraised—a tactic that could defeat an enemy psychologically as
well as physically. He came to believe that mounted troops were only
effective when used as an offensive weapon—not to take and hold ground, but to
overthrow and demoralize a less mobile, less enterprising opponent.
The
mounted attack helped fill a need in Stuart. He always professed (no doubt
sincerely) that he abhorred the violence and bloodshed of war. But from
his earliest days, he was enamored of the color and glamour of soldiering.
For this reason he came to rely on what we might regard as “props”— gaudy
affectations such as golden spurs, crimson-lined capes, ostrich-plumed hats, and
personal banjoists playing songs like “Jine the Cavalry.” Stuart was
also attracted to the thrill of battle, a thrill enhanced by the
pulse-quickening evolutions of the saber charge.
He
brought that mindset to his civil war service. As a loyal son of Virginia,
he resigned his United States army commission in May 1861 and offered his
services to his state. He was sent to Harpers Ferry to organize, and later
to command, the 1st Virginia Cavalry. In mid-July he led his regiment,
along with the rest of General Joseph Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah, to
augment Confederate forces in northeastern Virginia.
During
the first major battle of the conflict, First Bull Run (or First Manassas),
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart led a detachment of his regiment in a hell-for-leather
charge that routed Union troops attempting to outflank the infantry brigade of
Thomas Jonathan (“Stonewall”) Jackson. The action, which secured
Jackson’s position on Henry House Hill, was one of the turning points of the
battle, which ended in the enemy’s retreat to the defenses of Washington, D.
C.
Stuart’s
feat helped him win promotion to colonel and then to brigadier general in
command of all the cavalry in Johnston’s army. By the autumn of 1861, he
led four regiments of Virginia and North Carolina horsemen, supported by the
Stuart Horse Artillery, the most famous horse artillery unit of the
war—eventually comprising five batteries under the celebrated Major John
Pelham.
Stuart’s
fame soared in a series of triumphant engagements along the “Alexandria
Line,” south and west of Washington. His good fortune was to be opposed
by less talented and energetic commanders, whose inexperienced
troopers—erstwhile mechanics and store clerks—proved no match for Stuart’s
troopers, most of whom had been born to the saddle and had a long working
knowledge of firearms.
Not
surprisingly, for the first two years of the war, the Confederate cavalry in
Virginia consistently outperformed—and often embarrassed—its adversary.
Union officials, including the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major
General George McClellan, began to fear that their horsemen would never stand up
to those led by the general who was already becoming known, on both sides of the
lines, as “the Beau Sabreur of the Confederacy.”
Stuart
was adept not only in combat but also at reconnaissance. He proved as much
during the Peninsula Campaign of spring/summer 1862, when he led his brigade on
a circuit of McClellan’s army astride the Chickahominy River. The daring
feat enabled Stuart to bring Robert E. Lee (Joe Johnston’s successor) critical
intelligence about the enemy’s position south of Richmond. In turn, Lee
was enabled to attack and drive the invaders from the doorstep of the
Confederate capital.
In
the aftermath of the campaign, Lee reorganized his army. He realized that
Stuart now had enough manpower (more than 5,000 officers and men) to give the
army a second brigade of cavalry. Stuart would command the resulting
division with the rank of major general. One brigade would be entrusted to
Stuart’s ranking subordinate and close friend, Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee,
nephew of the army commander. Robert E. Lee approved Fitz’s selection,
but he reserved the right to appoint the commander of the other brigade.
In the end he chose an officer not only unknown to Stuart, but also one lacking
in cavalry experience—Wade Hampton III.
By
this point in the war, Stuart’s reputation had been well established—so had
his personality and his habits of command. In his dealings with
others—superiors and subordinates alike—he was open, frank, and candid,
neither egotistical nor pompous. He had a strong sense of humor--fond of
playing jokes on others; he laughed just as loudly when the joke was on him.
Such qualities endeared him to his troops--he won not only their respect and
admiration but, in many cases, their affection.
Simple
virtues—honor, honesty, loyalty, courtesy, devotion to cause and
region—meant a great deal to him. He was a shrewd judge of people, and
was capable of sober and mature reflection. Many who served under Stuart
considered him businesslike, polished, and professional.
On
the debit side—while he often acted in a mature, calculated manner, he could
behave immaturely just as often. He had a kind of man-child quality that
showed in his fondness for those colorful adornments I mentioned earlier.
He was susceptible to the flattery of powerful men and to the charms of pretty
women—the latter trait gained him a host of female admirers while no doubt
upsetting his faithful and long-suffering wife, Flora. And although
he had a guileless nature, in his reports of military operations he showed a
chronic inability to admit failure—even the hint of failure—as if to suggest
otherwise was to reveal a crippling weakness.
Stuart
had a penchant for risk-taking, one shared by many of his officers but not
necessarily by his enlisted force. He loved the thrill of slipping into
and out of dangerous situations with little or no outside assistance.
Often he set off on a mission with a minimum of men and guns, even when
operating deep behind enemy lines. On more than a few occasions he placed
his men needlessly in harm’s way. And his preference for horsemanship
over marksmanship—his reliance on the mounted charge in almost every tactical
situation—further exposed his command to potential damage.
Wade
Hampton III was cut from different cloth. He was too old; too mature, to
see war--as Stuart sometimes did--as a grand pageant, a genteel tournament, a
defining test of manhood. Like many another Southerner, Hampton had grown
up on the tales of Thomas Mallory and Walter Scott—but to him they were light
fiction, not guides to right living.
At
age 44, walking with a slight limp from a wound received in infantry service on
the Peninsula, Hampton saw war for what it was—a grim and dirty business, to
be won and done with as quickly as possible. It was true that he was a
nonprofessional soldier, without military experience or education. But he
had been born to leadership—had become the master of five plantations in three
states, worked by many hundreds of slaves.
Thus,
even before he entered Confederate service, he knew what it was like to be
responsible for the lives of others. And therefore he was not impressed by
what he saw when he reported for duty at Stuart’s headquarters at Hanover
Court House, Virginia, on July 28, 1862. The exuberant, devil-may-care
attitude of Stuart’s subordinates—many of whom were young enough to be
Hampton’s sons—confirmed Hampton’s preconceived notion that the cavalry
was the province of pampered youth playing at the business of war.
He
was a part of it only by necessity. The leadership and valor he had
displayed at First Manassas and on the Peninsula had secured his promotion to
brigadier general. But Hampton had lost his command when apart from the army;
recuperating from the wound he had received in the June 1 fighting at Seven
Pines. Returning from convalescent leave, he found that in his absence his
brigade had been reorganized and assigned to a more senior commander.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, a close acquaintance of Hampton’s,
offered him an opportunity to retain his rank by transferring to the cavalry.
Hampton had agreed to the posting but only until a suitable berth in the
infantry opened up.
Hampton
met all the qualifications for cavalry service—he was an expert horseman, a
master swordsman, and a crack shot with pistol and rifle. Even so, there
was nothing of the cavalier about him. He dressed plainly, made no show of
his prowess with horses and firearms, and cared nothing for pomp and pageantry.
One of Stuart’s staff officers, the novelist John Eaten Cooke, caught the
essence of the new subordinate, describing him as “Encased in a plain gray
sack coat of civilian cut, with the collar turned down; cavalry boots, large and
serviceable, with brass spurs; a brown felt hat, without star or feather; the
rest of the dress plain gray. . . . What impressed all who saw him was the
attractive union of dignity end simplicity in his bearing—a certain grave and
simple courtesy which indicated the highest breeding. He was evidently an
honest gentleman who disdained all pretence or artifice. It was plain that
he thought nothing of personal decorations or military show, and never dreamed
of ‘producing an impression’ upon any one . . . . After being in his
presence for ten minutes, you saw that he was a man for hard work, and not for
display.”
For
his part, Hampton formed a mixed opinion of his new superior. He found
Stuart to be personable and approachable as well as courteous, dignified, and
correct in his military habits. He did not form so high an impression of
some of Stuart’s other lieutenants, especially Fitzhugh Lee, whom Hampton
sized up as vain, pompous, and condescending. Fitz’s manner was typical
of the well-bred Virginian—a manner that made Hampton deeply conscious of the
fact that, as a South Carolinian, he was an outsider. It was obvious that
native-born Virginians ruled the cavalry of an army that was, after all, named
for their state.
Then,
too, despite his family’s wealth and prominence, early on Hampton got the
impression that Fitz Lee and other F.F.V.s (although not Stuart himself) looked
down on him as nouveau riche. The fact that Hampton was one of the largest
slaveholders in the South also worked to his disadvantage among colleagues who
seemed to be ambivalent toward, and even defensive about, the “peculiar
institution.”
Then
there was the fact that, because he had won his wreathed stars before Fitz Lee,
Hampton immediately became Stuart’s second-in-command. His place at
Stuart’s right hand stirred jealousy in Fitz as well as in some of Stuart’s
regimental commanders such as Colonel Thomas Grosser.
Three
incidents early in Hampton's tenure in the cavalry created friction between him
and Stuart. When Stuart divvied up his regiments, he placed almost all the
Virginia outfits in Fitz Lee’s brigade, while Hampton was given command of all
non-Virginia units, including the 1st North Carolina, 1st South Carolina, and
the Mississippians, Georgians, and Alabamians of the Jeff Davis Legion and the
Cobb Legion. Hampton didn’t mind Stuart’s preference for geographical
segregation—in fact, he preferred leading Deep South units. But he got
the impression that Stuart favored the regiments from his own state, and gave
them most of his attention and support, while conferring on the other units a
kind of second-class status.
Then,
too, when Stuart formally organized his new command, he attempted to designate
Fitz Lee’s as the First Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army of Northern Virginia,
while making Hampton’s the Second Brigade. It may seem a minor
distinction, but by doing this Stuart was implying that Fitz was his senior
brigadier. Perhaps because Hampton complained, Robert E. Lee forced Stuart
to renumber the brigades.
Then,
when Stuart retook the field for active campaigning, he led Fitz’s brigade
westward, in company with the main army. Having cowed McClellan into
immobility, Robert E. Lee now turned against the newly formed army of Major
General John Pope, then operating between the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers.
The result was the campaign of Second Bull Run (or Second Manassas), which, like
the first, ended in Union defeat and retreat to the Washington defenses.
But
Hampton was not allowed to join in the victory; his brigade was left behind on
the Peninsula, ostensibly to watch McClellan and ensure he did not make another
attempt against Richmond. Stuart knew this was unlikely, but he also knew
that Hampton lacked cavalry experience—he was not ready to tackle a major
field assignment. Undoubtedly Stuart was correct, but his action rankled
Hampton and hurt his pride.
Hampton
got his chance for active command during the Antietam (or Sharpsburg) Campaign,
that September. He performed with quiet competence throughout his army’s
sojourn north of the Potomac, winning Stuart’s approval and the grudging
respect of other Virginians. However, Hampton studiously avoided social
obligations that he considered out of place during a field campaign. He
refused to attend the gala ball that Stuart staged on September 8 at his
headquarters near Poolesville, Maryland, and to which he invited the
Southern-sympathizing gentlemen of the area and their ladies fair.
Stuart’s
horsemen saw relatively little action in the September 17 fighting outside
Sharpsburg, the bloodiest day in American history. But afterward Hampton
did an effective job of covering the army’s retreat to Virginia. In
October, he turned in another able performance, this time during the raid that
carried Stuart’s division as far north as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
When he entered the city, Stuart demonstrated his confidence in Hampton by
appointing him military governor of Chambersburg for as long as the confederates
lingered in the area, confiscating rations, forage, and livestock.
By
the winter of 1862-63, Hampton was sure enough of his own abilities as a
cavalryman, and felt comfortable enough in Stuart’s ranks, that he passed up
an opportunity he had once longed for—command of an infantry brigade, whose
leader had been mortally wounded during the December battle of Fredericksburg.
Even
so, by now Hampton had come to harbor some misgivings about his superior’s
leadership. While he admired Stuart’s ability as an
intelligence-gatherer, he disliked the man’s preference for long-distance
raiding. Hampton believed that cavalry’s primary mission was close
support of the main army, not independent operations. In modern terms, he
advocated a tactical role for cavalry rather than a strategic one.
Then,
too, he questioned some of Stuart’s operational decisions. On yet
another raid that winter—during which Stuart’s people penetrated to the
suburbs of Washington—Hampton had detached a brigade under his ranking
subordinate and close friend, Colonel Matthew Calbraith Butler. Although
Butler encountered a much larger force of Yankee troopers, Stuart ordered
Hampton to press north, leaving Butler to his fate. The colonel and his
men barely avoided mass capture—an outcome that infuriated both Butler and
Hampton.
Hampton
continued to resent the favoritism Stuart showed toward his Virginians. In
letters to his family in South Carolina, he charged Stuart with overworking and
neglecting his Deep South units. On occasion, he complained personally to
Robert E. Lee. This did Hampton more harm than good, for Lee thought
highly of Stuart and abhorred intra-command squabbling.
Early
in 1863 Hampton got into trouble by going over Lee’s head to Jefferson Davis
with a demand that his worn-down brigade be sent to North Carolina to secure
recruits and remounts. Hampton won the right to refurbish his command in a
section of Virginia not picked over by the armies. But in doing so he
incurred Lee’s temper. The famous diarist Mary Boykin Chestnut claimed
that on a later occasion, when Hampton sought permission to go home on furlough,
the army leader replied: “I would not care if you went back to South
Carolina with your whole brigade.”
Because
Hampton was allowed to graze his horses far from the army, he was not available
to assist Stuart during the Chancellorsville Campaign of April-May 1863.
Thus he failed to share in the glory won by Stuart and Fitz Lee, who on May 2
located the vulnerable right flank of the enemy army west of Fredericksburg—a
coup that led to the crushing defeat of the Federals under their latest
commander, Major General Joseph Hooker.
Hampton
was on hand to take part in the next major campaign—the one that culminated at
Gettysburg—but it was a painful period for him in more ways than one.
However, it got off to a good start—on June 9, during day-long fighting at
Brandy Station, Virginia, he helped Stuart salvage a draw against the suddenly
energetic and confident union cavalry. But then he accompanied Stuart on
his controversial ride around the flank and across the rear of Hooker’s
army—a ride that deprived Robert E. Lee of his “eyes and ears” as he
groped his way toward south-central Pennsylvania.
Just
being involved in this ill-starred operation was enough to sully Hampton’s
reputation. But on July 2, outside Hunterstown, Pennsylvania, his command
suffered needlessly when its leader copied Stuart’s tactics by charging a
force of dismounted Federals backed by artillery. The following day—the
decisive third day at Gettysburg—Hampton lost control of his brigade, which on
two separate occasions attacked the enemy’s cavalry without orders.
On
both days, Hampton was severely wounded by saber slashes to the head—the first
time, when struck from the blind side by an unchivalrous assailant, the second
time when surrounded by 10 or 12 Union swordsmen. On July 3, he was also
struck in the thigh by a piece of shell.
When
Lee’s army retreated from Pennsylvania, Hampton reached Virginia aboard an
ambulance. His recuperation lasted four months, but upon his return he was
greeted by a long chorus of shouts from the various regiments of his brigade.
Reportedly,
