Wade Hampton III

127 Pages·2013·19.61 MB·English

by  Nicholas G. Meriwether

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Caroliniana Library Publications South Caroliniana Library
2008
Wade Hampton III: A Symposium
Nicholas G. Meriwether
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Published in 2008.
Meriwether, Nicholas G., ed. Wade Hampton III: A Symposium. Columbia, SC: University of South
Carolina--South Caroliniana Library, 2011.
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© 2008 by University of South Carolina--South Caroliniana Library
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III
WADE HAMPTON
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A Symposium
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WADE HAMPTON III
A Symposium
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W ADE HAMPTON II!
A SymposiulIl
Edjted by
Nicholas G. Meriwether
TilE UNIVERSIll' SOUTH CAROUNIANA SoctE1l'
FOR THE SOUTII CAROLlNIANA LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF SOlITH CAROLINA COLUMBIA, SOlITH CAROLINA
•
Wade I-Iamplon III, A Symposium.
Edited by Nicholas G. Meriwether.
Published by The University South Caroliniana Society for the South Caroliniana
Library. 0 2008. All rights reserved, No pan of this work may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, including electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission
from the Director afthe South Caroliniana Library.
Cover photographs of Wade Hampton III and Millwood Plantation arc from the collec
tions of the South Caroliniana Library. Used with permission.
Ubrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wade I-iamplon III, A Symposium I Nichola'l O. Meriwether, cd.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and contributor biographies.
ISBN 978-O-9801256-1.{)
I. Hamplon, Wade, 1818-1902.2. Hampton family.
3. Confederate States of America. Army-:.Biography.
4. United Slatcs. Congress. Senate-Biography.
5. Gcncrals-Confedcratc Slates of America- Biography.
6. Govcrnors- South Carolina- Biography.
7. Lcgislators- United Statcs- Biography.
8. Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877}-South Carolina.
9. South Carolina- Politics and govcrnmcnt- I865- 1950.
10. South Carolina- Hislory-Civil War, 1861- 1865. I. Titlc.
E467.1.I-1l92008 975.708
CIP
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Contents
iii Acknowledgements
5 Foreword Allen Slokes
7 The Hampton Family Virginia Meynord
21 The Grandee and the Cavalier: Wade Hampton, 1. E. B.
Stuart, and the Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia
Edward C. Longacre
37 The Chieftain and the War Baby: Hampton's Cavalry
in the Carolinas William J. Lollg
51 Hampton and the Ironies and Limitations of Southern
Moderation Gaines M. Foster
65 Wade Hampton's Black Red Shirts Ednllmd L. Drago
75 The Hampton Administration and the Redeemers' Revenge
W Lewis Burke, Jr.
89 Hampton After the War: Conflicted Leader of the
Conservative Democracy, 1866-1890 Fritz P. Hamer
107 The Governorship of Wade Hampton Robert K. Ackerman
119 Contributors
121 Index
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Ackllowledgmellls
Many people made this volume possible, beginning with
our symposium participants. We extend our thanks to them for
their presentations, and especially for their cooperation in revising
them for publication here.
Steve Griffith, president of the University South Caroliniana
Society, first suggested the symposium and spearheaded the effort
to gather the distinguished panel of scholars who participated.
Allen Stokes, Director of the South Caroliniana Library,
arranged for the program, with the cheerful assistance of the
Library staff.
The symposium was a team effort, but special thanks go
to Beth Bilderback, Visual Materials Archivist, for procuring the
photographs used in the program, which also appear on the cover
of this volume. The staff pitched in to help copy edit the text,
especially fonner Manuscripts Assistant Kathryn Graham, who
did the first round of copy editing and also checked many of the
references.
The greatest thanks go to the membership of the University
South Caroliniana Society, whose support of the Library made
possible the original program and this publication. For seventy
two years. the Society has played a central role in the preservation
and promulgation of South Carolina's history, culture, and people.
This volume is a testament to their vision and generosity.
iii
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FOREWORD
Allen Stokes
More than a century after his death, the figure of Wade
Hampton III still looms large in the minds of historians and in the
history of his state. The scope of his life, the turbulence of his times,
and the multifarious nature of his career make him an appealing,
even arresting, figure whose complex legacy is still being explored
by scholars, an effort furthered by the symposium that first created
the essays in this volume.
The eldest of the eight children of Wade II and Anne
Fitzsimons, Wade Hampton III was born in the Fitzsimons family
home on Hasel Street in Charleston in 1818. He spent his youth
at Millwood plantation near Coiwnbia, graduating from South
Carolina College in 1836. He married first Margaret Frances
Preston (1818-1852) and second Mary Singleton McDuffie (1830-
1874).
On the eve of the Civil War, Hampton was reputed to be one
of the wealthiest men in the South, with extensive land holdings
and a labor force of nearly 1,000 in South Carolina and Mississippi.
Hampton actively managed his properties and educated himself in
the most advanced agricultural practices.
Elected to the state House of Representatives in 1852 and
elevated to the state Senate in 1858, Hampton was not an active
participant in the agitation for secession. Despite a lack of formal
military training, he obtained a colonel's commission and financed
the raising of Hampton Legion. Twice wounded, he ultimately
attained the rank of lieutenant general, one of only three civilians
to earn that distinction in Confederate service. He distinguished
himselfas commander ofa brigade of J. E. B. Stuart's Cavalry Corps
and was known for his tactical brilliance in operations outside of
Richmond and Petersburg. In 1864, he was appointed commander
,
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6 WADE HAMPTON III
of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, returning to
South Carolina in the last year of the war to defend his native state
against Shennan's invasion.
After the war Hampton sought to rebuild his fortunes, but
never regained the wealth of his pre-war years. He successfully
campaigned for governor against the incumbent Daniel H.
Chamberlain in 1876, though the bitterly contested election
was marred by fraud' and violence on both sides. Only after the
withdrawal of Federal troops five months later did he formally
assume office.
Hampton was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1879 and served
until 1891. His final public service was as commissioner of Pacific
Railways from 1893 to 1899. His lasl years were spent in Columbia,
where he died in 1902. He is buried in the graveyard of Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral, where his father and grandfather are interred.
The essays that follow outline the background, career and
achievements of this towering figure in South Carolina history,
whose life spans the state's most turbulent decades.
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THE HAMPTON FAMILY
Virginia O. Mcynard
The name of Wade Hampton is well known and revered in
South Carolina, but it is not generally remembered that there were
three Wade Hamptons. ,All were of equal importance to the state
in their own time, each with an outstanding family, and the legacy
of the first two helped shape the life and career of Wade Hampton
Ill. Tracing the Hampton family lineage provides a window
into the world that Wade III inherited and reshaped during his
multifaceted career as planter, businessman, general, and governor.
Yet his distinguished life of accomplishment, the culmination of
generations of family service, also reflects the turbulent history of
his state, region, and the nation. I
The Hampton family roots are in Virginia, where William
Hampton arrived in 1620. Four generations later, in 1774, Anthony
Hampton and his six sons- Wade I was the youngest- moved to
the Upcountry of South ICarolina. The boys were Indian traders
who obtained deerskins and furs from the Cherokees and sold them
to English merchants.
To be nearer their source of supplies, they built their
homes ncar present Greer, S.c., on what was then the border of
the Cherokee Nation. It was there, in 1776, that tragedy first struck
the family, when Anthony Hampton, his wife and eldest son were
brutally massacred by Indians and Tories, who swept through the
settlements burning the houses of Revolutionary supporters and
murdering the inhabitants. The Hampton family's service during
the Revolution was distinguished, with Wade Hampton I serving
J This chapter is based on Virginia G. Mcynard, The Venturers: The Hampton,
Harrison and Earle Families of Virginia. South Carolina and Texas (Easley.
S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 198 t). References to this work arc by page num
ber within the text. Readers interested in delving more deeply into the source
material infonning this chapter are urged to consult this volume.
7