Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-05-08
Gen. Wade Hampton's Letter.

The following is Gen. Wade Hampton's
letter to Senator Reverdy johnson, which the
latter caused to be read in the United States
Senate on Tuesday:
WILD WooDs, MISS, April 81, 1866
To tile Hon: Reperd.y Johnson, u. s. Senate.
SIR: A few days ago saw in the published
proceedings of Congress tIiat petition from
Benja ROwlcs, of Columbia, S. c., asking
compensation for the destruction of his home
BY the Federal army in February, 1865. had
been presented to the Senate, accompanied
by letter from Major General Sherman.
In this letter General S. used the following
language: "They"-the citizens of Columbia
set fire to thousands of bales of cotton
rolled out into the streets, and which. were
burning before l entered Columbia. I
myself was IN the city as early as nine, and
saw these fires and knew efforts had been
made to extinguish them; but a ,hish and
strong wind kept them alive. l gave no
orders Tor the burning of your city, but, on
the contrary. the reverse, and | believe tic
contiagration resulted from the great imnru-
! dence of culling the cotton bales. whereby
the contents were spread to the winds so that
1t became an imposSibilty to arrest the fire.
L saw IN your Columbia newspapers the
printed order of General Wade Hamilton.
that on the approach of the Yankee army ali
the cotton should be burned, and. from what
saw myself, have no hesitation in savino
that he was the cause Of the destruction Of
! your city"
This grave charge made against me nv
General S. having been brought before the
Senate of the United States. [ am naturally
most solcitious to vindicate myseltbefore the
same tribunal. but my State has no renre-
sentative in that city. Those who sbould he
| there are debarred the right of entrance. In
those Halls there are none to speak for the
South; none to participate in the legislation
winch governs herr none to impose the taxes
she Is called on to pay, and none to defend
her or 10 yndlcate her sons from misrepre-
sentation, injustice, or SANDER. Under these
circumstances L appeal to you, in the conf
dent hope that yuu will use every effort to
see that justice is done in this mattcr T
deny most emphaticalIy that any cotton was
fired in Columbia by my order; [ denv that
her citizens set fire to thousands of bales
rolled out into the streets; | deny that anv
cotton was on fire when the Federal troons
entered the city. And l 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 LAT enormous
crime the inian.y he deserves.
am willing TO submit the case to any
honest tribunal. Before any such pledge
myself to prove my positive orders, bv dircc-
ton OF General Beaurcgard, that no cotton
should be tircd-that not one bale was on
lire when Sherman's troops took possession of
the clty-th he positively promised pro-
lection to the city-and that, i'll spite of this
solemn promise, his soldiers burned it to the
ground, deliberately, Systematically, afro
clously L, therefore, most earnestly request
that Congress may take prompt and efficient
measures to investigate this matter fully.
Not only is this due to themselves and to
the reputation of the United States army,
but to Justice and to truth. Trusting that
you VIII pardon me for troubling you, | am