Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-05-11
GEN. WADE: :IHAMPToNi,s' LEr1rER,

GEN. WADE HAMPTONS LETTER,
The following is Gen. Wade Hanpton'a
letter 10 Senator Reverdy johnson, which
the latter caused to be read in the United
States Senate: ;. H.
. WI WOODS, Miss, April 81, 1865.
TO tile Hon. Reveray johnson,
u. s.. Senate:
SIR::-A few days ago I saw in the pub
;lished proceedings of Congress that petit
.tion from Benjamin Rawles, Of Columbia,
SC. asking compensation for the destruc'
.tion of his home by the Federal army in
February; se5, had been presented to the
Senate, accompanied by letter from Ma
jor: General Sherman. In this letter Cen
eral 8. used the following language:
t'They"-the citizens. Of Columbia"-.set
fire to thousands Of bales of cotton rolled
iuto the streets, and which were burning
before entered Columbia. myself was
in the city as early. as nine, and saw
these fires and knew efforts had been made
to extinguish them; but high and strong
wind kept them alive. I gave no orders
for the burning of your city, but, on the
contrary, the reverse, and believe the
conHagration resulted from the great i'm.
prudence Of cutting the cotton bales,
whereby the'contents were spread 10 the
winds 80 that it became an impossibility to
arrest the fire. / saw in your Columbia
newspapers the printed order of General
Wade Hampton, that on the approach of
SLo v,nl,ao ,r,,,,, III ~, n :,o,t., .Lo,,l3 bo
burned, and, from what Saw myself
have no hesitation in saying that he was
the cause OF tho destruction Of your city"
This grave charge made against rne by
General S. having been brought before the
Senate of the United States, l am NATL
rally most solieitous to yindicate myself
before the same: tribunal. But my State
has no representative in that city. Those
who should be there arc debarred the right
Of entrance. In those Halls there are
none to speak for the South; none to par
ticipate in the legislation which governs
her; none. to impose the taxes she is called
OIL to pay, and none to defend or vindicate
her sons from Misrepresentation, Injustice
or SANDER. Under these circumstances
appeal to you, in the confident hope that
you will use every effort to see that justice
is dono in this matter. deny most en-
phatically that any cotton was fred in
Columbia by my order; deny that her
citizens set fire to thousands of bales roll
ed out into the streets; ! deny that any
cotton was on fire when the Federal troops
entered the city. And most respectfully
ask OF Congress to appoint a committee
charged with the duty Of ascertaining and
reporting all the facts connected with the
destruction of Columbia, and thus fixing
upon the proper author of that enormous
crime the infamy it deserves.
l am willing to submit the case to any
honest tribunal. Before any such I pledge
myself to prove my positive orders, by d.
rection of General Beauregard, that no; 4
cotton should be, fred-that not one bale
was on fire when Sherman's troops took
possession of the city-thaL he positively
promised protection to the city-and that,
in spite Of this solemn promise, his soldiers
burned, tito the:ground, deliberately, sys,
dramatically, atrociously. !, therefore,
most earnestly request that Congress may
take prompt and Efficient measures to in
vestigate this matter. fully. Net only is
this due to themselves and to the reputa-
ton Of the United States army, but to jus.
tice and 'to'truth. Trusting that you will
pardon me for troubling you, am, &C.,
: :: WADE HAMPTON.