The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-07-28
THE HAMBURG s1AssACEEE.
'CIle Case Thoroughly Stated
Topeka Commonwealth.


circumstances of that affair.
Hamburg Is a decaying town of
| 500 Inhabitants, in South Carolina,
opposite Augusta. The Inhabitants
are mostly negroes and the NUM-
cipal government is in their hands
Edgefield district, in which Ham
burg is situated, is a turbulent re-
gion. Tue white Democrats keep
up volunteer sabre and rifle clubs,
well armed and mounted the black
Republicans have two or three
companies of militia armed with
Winchester rifles. On the 4th of
July, a colored militia company,
commanded by "Doc." Adams, was
parading in the streets OF Hamburg.
Two Young men, one named But
Ter, the other GettsOn, attempted to
drive a buggy through the ranks
and a quarrel ensued. Gen. M. c.
Butler, lawyer, and in the war q
Major General in the Confederate
army, was sent for to prosecR te
Adams aud his company for OBJ
structing the highway. lie went to
Prince Rivers, colored Justice,
with his complaint and the case was
postponed till Saturday. On that
day the defendants did not appear.
Gen. Butler SAID the negroes must
give up their arms, and Adams de-
clined to do SO. Rivers, who is a
Major General in the State militia,
advised q surrender Of the arms /,
but without effect, and here ends
act first.
Butler sent to Georgia for an
armed force to disarm the negroes,
and the men came, and three sabre
clubs from different parts of Edge
| field district also came. The color
ed militia still refused to deliver
| the arms placed lawfully in their
hands by the State government, and
fell back to their armory, a common
brick building. The whites open
ed fire on the building which the
besieged returned, and a white man
was, in the course of time shot
through the head. a six FOUNDER
from Augusta was then brought to
bear on the building. The besieg-
ed held out for a time, till the
building was considerably shatter-
ed, and then their fire slackened, a
negro came out, gave himself up
and informed the whites of the
state of affairs. The whites did
not care to risk an assault, but sur
rendered the building, and with the
ceasing of resistance on the part OF
the blacks ended part second.
The third act was the usual mas
srcre. Two negroes attempted to es.
cape and were riddled with bullets.
A third one is captured and while
standing unarmed in the midst o.
his captors is shot in the back and
mortally wounded. Finally the
house is assaulted and three or -four
men are found, and are marched of
under guard; then the town Of
Hamburg is searched, Quilted, In
fact, and SO twenty-odd prisoner!
were taken. Gen. Butler then, af
ter telling the guard to take tho
prisoners to Aiken and put then
in Jail, goes Off and leaves the prls-
oners TO their fate. The prisoners ART
taken out, one by one, told to ruI
and shot in the back as they run
This process proving tiresome after
|. tour had been Killed, the squad
were told to run and a volley pour
ed into them as they fed. Thel
the Democratic army went home.
People, even in the North, viii
look at this transaction differently
If we were a Democrat and propos
ed to vote tor Tilden and Hendrick
we should try and be consisten
with the just history and tradition
of the party, and would say, in tn
first place, that the men shot dow
+ in the streets and zelda in an'
. around Hamburg, were "damI
niggers" and deserved all they got
that instead of parading on tn
Fourth of July, they ougot to hav
been working in the field for. tw,
suits OF clothes a year and what ho
: and hominy they could eat that tn
unfortunate fact that they were no
so engaged was owing to the iniq
, uitous amendments TO the Constitu
5 ton, which, in time, grew out O
/ "Ihe Black Republican war" wage,
, tor the subjugation of the Southern
States in consequence of the ascer
ton of their constitutional rigLt t
secede. But not being Democra
we are obliged 10 say that Their
v was no more necessity for the tigh
!. at Hamburg Oh the Fourth of Jul
= than was for fight at Topeka o
the same day, on the occasion c
the appearance of the cOlOred Ma
sonsin the procession. The militi
, had a right to parade, and there wa
! no reason for prosecuting them be
cause they did not give way, an
, there was no law for. calling o
them to surrender their arms, nc
: for the rallying of the sabre club
| 81, 20 haN
concocted for the purpose of pre-
voking fight, which betwee
: whites and blacks in South Care
lima, means a massacre Of the latte
If we were Democrat we shout
, advise that nothing be done aboG
q this slaughter; we should acceI
I the assurance that "the best citizens
/. of sEdgeIield district deeply dt
: plore" the affair, and should thin
: Gen. NJ. G. Butler a very patriot
p and high minded gentleman. 81
n not being on that side of the fenc
r we believe the expressions of Sol
; row are hypocritical we believe 1
" good rebel citizens as exist in Soui
B Carolina and Georgia took part
n the massacre, and we have not Il
: least doubt that Gen. NJ. Q. Butte
who LETT helpless prisoners, who
a he could have saved, to be murde
n ed in cold blood, is 3 very fair re-
n resentative OF the South Carolil
= Democrat, who has never "accep
y ed the situation," and never will
n who has never acknowledged Il
a. rights of the black man as citizt
10 and never will.
l. Democratic orators and newsp;
!; pers may cry ''bloody shirt" fore
- er and ever, but they can new
make us believe that there is al
v necessity for massacres like that
4, Hamburg. There are thousands
st colored people in the North thou
ia ands ofthem paraded on the Four
of July, probably to the stoppage
several buggies, but no murde
followed; there was no spectaC
as of bleeding, crippled and dead m
o. lying in the fields or by the roa
re side. The cause of the difference
Q that the Republican North does n
=, wish TO restore slavery, or wre
~ ycnUeanca on the black man for II