The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-07-27
THE HAMBURG MAsSICgE.
The Ofaeiti Account or It-LeTteF
from Governor ChsmOerlaIn-4s Bad
IS II Can BE.

GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN's LETTER
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLIsA, \
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, COLUMBIA,
July IS, 1876.
Hon. T. J. Robertson, United State.
Senator, Washington, d. c.:
DzAR SIR-Your request for state
ment from me OF the recent bloody
affair at Hamburg, in this State, wa,
duly received. have waited before
replying until official reports and
statements should be received. There
are now before me the official reports
OF the Attorney-General and the Ad-
jutant and Inspector General, tbs
testimony taken at the coronerIs in.
quest and the written statements o.
several.other persons who were pres
ent and witnessed the whole or parts
of the affair. will present to you as
briefly IS possible the leading facts as
they appear from the evidence Ia
which have referred.
STATEMENT OF THE AFFAIR.
On the 4th OF July, q company Of
the State militia (colored) were march.
ing along the streets of Hamburg
The street was over one hundred feel
wide, and the company was marching
in columns Of four. While so march,
ing they were met by two young
white naen in buggy, who insisted
upon keeping their course in the
street without regard to the move
ments Of the militia, and drove
against the head OF the column, which
thereupon halted. Some parleying
took place, which Fesnitsd in the
company yielding, opening their
ranks and allowing the young men to
proceed on their course. On the fol-
lowing day the young men referred to
took out warrants of arrest against
some Of the officers of the militia
company, who were brought before a
trial.justiCe for trial. The trisl was
afterward adjourned till P. NJ. OF
Saturday, the Sth inst. Before that
hour arrived on Saturday, many
! white citizens from the country
around Hamburg began to gather in
the town and armed themselves with
guns and pistols. The militia COM
pany in the meanwhile had Assem- bled
at their armOry in the village, and at
/
ants did not appear.
At this point, it has been stated in
dispatches and newspapers that the
militia officers having defied the au-
thOrity Of the trial Justice, the citi-
Zens were called on to assist the trial
justice by acting as his posse. Moth
ing of the kind in fact occurred. The
militia failed to appear because of
their fear of injury at the hands Of
the armed white men, and the trial
justice, after formally calling them,
took no further steps to cause their
presence in his court on account Of
the excitement and the evidence Of
an impending conflict. While affairs
were in this condition, there being,
according to all accounts, from 900 to
800 armed white men from the sur
rounding country in the town. q de-
mRnd was made by the whites for the
surrender to them Of the arms of the
militia. An hour or two passed in
negotiations concerning this demand,
the whites informing the militia
company that II the. arms were not
given up in 8 short time-most OF the
witnesses say in a half hour-the
whites would open fire on the militia.
The militia refused to deliver up their
arms, saying that the demand was
wholly unWarranted and Illegal, and
that they had reason to fear for their
lives il they gave up their arms.
A brisk fire was then opened by the
whites upon the building in which
the militia was emhled, and soon
after one OF the attacking party was
killed by q shot from the militia in
the building. A piece of artillery was
thereupon brought across the bridge
from AgusIa, loaded with canister
and fired several times at the building
in which were the militia. This had
the effect to cause the militia to en-
deavor TO make their escape from the
rear OF the building. The town mar
shal Of Hamburg, cOlored man, who
was living in the building, was in
stantly shot by the attacking party,
while thus endeavoring to escape from
the building. Twenty or twenty-five
OF the militia were captured by the
attacking party, and kept under
guard for several hours. Finally,
about two o'clock on the morning of
the 9th Of July, Sunday after con-
sultatiOn among their eaptors, and
with complete apparent deliberatiOn,
five OF the captured militiamen were
called out, one by one, and shot to
death in the presence of q large body of
their csptOrs. The rest of the .captur-
ed party were either turned loose, or
broke loose and ran. They were fired
upon as they ran, and three Of them
severely wounded, one of them probs-
bly, mortalIy. Attorney General
Stone thus suceinctly reports this
part Of the affair:
DETAILS OF THE KILLING.
Six men took A. T. Attaway out OF |
the ring. He and his mother begged |
for his life, but in vain. He was told |
to turn around, and was shot to death !
by the crowd.
David Phillips was next taken out,
and was similarly killed.
Pr0mpey Curry was next called out.
He recognized among the bystanders
Henry GetZen and DIR. Pierce. Butler /
called on them to keep the other men
from killing him. He ran and was
shot as he ran, one bullet striking
him on the leg below the knee.
THE ATTORNEY GENERALS REPORT.
The Attorney General, who has
personally visited Hamburg, thus
concludes his official report to me
Making due allowance for errors
In minor details, the facts show the
demand ON the militia to give up
their arms was made by persons
withOGt lawful authority to enforce
such demand or to receive the arms
had they been surrendered, that the
attack on the militia to compel
with this demand Is with
out justification or excuse, and that
after there had been some twenty or
twenty-five prisoners captured and
and completely in the power OF their
capt0rs and without means OF max
ing fuGther resistance, five of them
were deliberately shot to death and
three more severely wounded.
Such was the sffair at Hamburg. II
you can find words TO characterize its
atrocity and barbarism, the triviality
Of the causes, the murderOus and in
human spirit which marked It in all
It's stages, your power of language ex-
ceeds mine. 1t present q darker pic
ture ofhuman cruelty than the slaugh-
ter OF Custer and his soldiers, for they
were shot in open battle. The vie
TINS st Hamburg were murdered in
cold blDOd after they had surrendered
and were utterly defenseless. No Oe-
cssIon existed for causing the presence
Df q single armed citizen at hamburg
1n the day OF the massacre. No vio-
ence was Offered or threatened TO any
1ne. Is is, indeed, said, as usual, that
'the niggePs were impudent," but the
evidence shows that all the actual
physical aggression was on the
part OF : .-tbe whites that
hey msds-a demand which
they mad no right TO make, and when
that demand wss refused, as II should
have been, they proceeded to enforce
Il by arms aud crowned their success
In enforcing their demands by brutal
murders. Shame and disgust must
fill the breast of every man who re-
spects his race or human nature as he
reads the tale. To me in my official
apacity-wherein, as you will testify,
[ have done my utmost, st no little
risk Of my personal and political de-
traction from my political friends, to
remove abuses and restore good gov
and harmony to our people
The occurrence OF such an appalling
-Hananla af harsaQrz.t naaafon and. flo- I