The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-08-03
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
COLuMBIA. s. c.. Juiy Is. 1876,

SUdmUtIldlu duuTc6Scu W SountOi 1sOU
ertson soon after the affray at Hamburg
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
COLUMBIA, S. c., July IS, 1876.
HonlM. j. Robertson. United States Sen
ator, Washingtou, D. c.:
DEAR SIR-Your request for state
ment from me of the recent bloody affair
at Hamburg, in this State, was duly re-
ceived. I have waited before replying
until official reports and statementssh should
be received. There are now before me
the official reports of the Attorney Cen
eral and the Adjutant and Inspector Cen
eral, the testimony taken at the Coroner's
inquest and the written statements of
several other persons who were present
and witnessed the whole or parts of the
affair. 1 will present to you as briefly as
possible the leading facts as they appear
from the evidences to which / have re-
ferred. ,....,.... ....... ..ae ,.li.u
On the 4th of July inst, a company of
the State militia (colored) were marching
along one of the streets of Hamburg.
The street was over IL, seet wide, and the
company was marching in columns of
four. While so marching they were met
by two young white men in q buggy, who
insisted on keeping their course in the
street without regard to the movements
of the militia, and drove against the
head of the column, which thereupon
halted. Some parleying took place,
which resulted in the company yielding,
opening their ranks and allowing the
young men to proceed on their course.
On the following day the young men re-
ferred 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 trial was af-
terward adjourned till four p. M. of Sat
urday, the 9th inst. Before. that hour
arrived on Saturday, many white citizens
from the country around Hamburg began
to gather in the town and armed them
selves with guns and pistols. The militia
company il the meanwhile had assem-
bled at their armory in the village, and
at the hour set for trial the defendants
did not appear.
At this point it has been stated in de-
spatches and newspapers that the militia
officers having de6ed the authority Of the
trial Justice, the citizens were called on to
assist the trial justice by acting as his
posse. Nothing of the kind in fact oc-
CURED. The militia failed to appear be-
cause 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 evidences of an impending con-
Hict. While affairs were in this condi-
ton, there being, according to all ac-
counts, from 200 to 300 armed white men
from the surrounding country in the
town, q demand 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
If the arms were not given up in short
itime-most of the witnesses say il a halt
hour-the whites would open fire on the
militia. The militia refused to deliver
up their arms, saying that the demand
was wholly unwarranfed and illegal, and
that they had reason to fear for their
lives if they gave up their arms:
"A brisk fire was then opened by the
whites upon the building in which the
militia was assembled, and soon after on1
of the attacking party was killed by a
shot from the militia in the building. a
piece of artillery was thereupon brought
across the bridge from Augusta, loaded
with canister and fred several times at
the building in which were the militia.
This had the effect to cause the militia
to endeavor to make their escape from
the rear of the building. The town mar
shal of Hamburg, a colored man, who
was living in the building, was instantly
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,1 after consultation
among their captors and, with complete
apparent delberation, five of the cap
tured militiamen were called out, one BY
one, and shotit to death in the presence of
a large body of their captors. The rest
of the captured party were either turned
loose or broke loose and ran. They we're
fred upon as they ran, and three Of them
severely wounded, me of them probably
mortaliy. Attorney. General Stone thus
succinctly reports this part of the affair :
"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. Pompey
Curry was next called cut. He recog-
nized among the bystanders Henry Get
zen and DR.. 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. Afterward Albert Mayniart,
Moses Parks and Hampton Stevens were
killed. Stevens did not belong to the
company"
The Attorney General, who mas per-
sonally 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
rive up their arms was made by persons
Without lawful authority to enforce such
demand or to receive the arms had they
been surrendered; that the attack on the
militia to compel a compliance with this
demand was without justification or e1-
cuse, and that after there had been some
twenty or twenty-five prisoners captured
and completely in the power of their
captors and without means OF making
further resistance, five of them were de-
liberately shot to death and three more
severely wounded" =,
Such was the affair at Hamburg. Ii
YOU can find words to characterize its
atrocity and barbarism, the triyiahty OF
the causes, the murderous and inhuman
spirit which marked it in all its stages,
your power of language exceeds mine.
It presents darker picture Of human
cruelty than the slaughter of Custer and
his soldiers, for they were shot In open
battle. The victims at Hamburg were