The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-05-14
WADE HAMPTON,
Warm Tribute from 81 Eminent
Northern Editor.
AN INTERESTING PERSONAL.
"He Was Reared in the School That
knew Only obedience to
the Sovereignty Of
the State"
the State"

the State.
The recent death Of Wade Hampton
Of South Carolina, removes one OF the
notable characters OF the last half
century.
In the fierce sectional discussions
which were precipitatcd for some years
before the civil war Hampton took no
part. While ne loved the South and
had all the pride of its nobleSt blood,
he was not an agitatOr. and earnestly
and sincerely deplored SecesSiOnS and
civil war. He was reared in the school
that knew only obedience to the S0v-
ereignty of the State. The pride Of
the South Carolinian had taught him
that his was the nObleSt and grandeSt
of all the COmmonwealthS-an empire
by courtesy called State. The SOW
ereigntv of the State had been taught
in his mothers lap, in every school he
entered, from every pulpit from which
he heard a minister of the Gospel. and
the great statesmen, such as Calhoun.
McDutfie and Hayne, had advocated 1t
sincerely and ably. He saw the i'm
posing walls and pillars Of the Column
bia Capitol slowly growing Up year
after year to be completed in the great
est Splendor as the future Capitol of
the Southern Republic, if the sectional
issue should ever lead to the diSmem-
berment of the Union, and he little
dreamed that this magnificent Struc-
ture would within his lifetime be
hastily and rudely completed for a
meeting in which his own slaves would
be his lawmakers: but even when this
bitter humiliation came to him he had
the courage to bow to the inevitable.
and only one year after the war had
ended he pleaded the cause Of the ne
gro, saying: AS slave he was
faithful to us: as a free man let US
treat him as a friend; deal with him
frankly, Justly and kindly" Had the
Southern men generally shared the
broad and sensible views Of Hampton
the problem Of reconstruction would
have been an easy one and the South
would have been spared unspeakable
suffering and sorrow.
HIS WAR RECORD.
When war came it is needless to say
that Hampton was one Of the first to
offer his services, and he volunteered
as private, but before the company
he had joined had been organized he
was appealed to by many hundreds to
accept the command Of a special bri-
gade, composed of infantry, cavalry
and artillery, and to be known as the
Hampton Legion" He commanded
the Legion at Bull Run, the first bat
tie of the war, and there, as in all the
subsequent battles in which it was en-
gagged, it bore a distinguished part. In
the battle Of Seven Pines, on the
Peninsula, Hampton'S command lost
nearly half its members in killed,
wounded and missing, and Hampton
was severely wounded. After the
Peninsula campaign Hampton was
promoted and assigned to brigade of
cavalry under Stuart, and in nearly
every important raid made by the
Confederate cavalry with Lees. army
during the war Hampton had an i'm
portant part. He was regarded as one
Of the best cavalry officers for detached
service, and was second in command
with Stuart when the most audacious
raid Of the war was made through
MercerSburg and ChamberSburg and
around McClellan'S army soon after
the battle of Antietam. At the battle
Of Gettysburg Hampton received three
wounds, and the majority Of the otd-
GERS of his command were either killed
or wounded. Perhaps the most i'm
portant special service he rendered as
a cavalry commander was when he
checked Sheridan at Trevillian's Sta
tion. in 1864, and broke up Hunters
campaign in the valley by preventing
the junction of Sheridan and Hunter
at Lynchburg. He was made lieuten-
ant general and commander Of Lees
cavalry in August, and he made num-
Der Of successful raids, capturing many
prisoners and at one time some twenty
four hundred beef cattle from the
Union army. In one Of these RAIDS
his son a gallant officer under him.
was killed in action.
THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA.
When johnson organized his army
in North Carolina to oppose the ad-
vance Of Sherman northward from
South Carolina Hampton was assigned
to that amry to command the cavalry.
He was in possession Of his home city
of Columbia, the Capital Of the State,
when Sherman advanced upon it, and
retreated northward as Sherman's
army entered. Before retiring he fired
a considerable amount Of cotton that
was stored in the outskirts of the city
and this gave some color OF plauslblll-
ty to the charge that he was response
BILE for the burning Of Columbia. A
somewhat heated controversy occurred
between Hampton and Sherman after
the war as to who was responsible for
the destruction of the beautiful Capt.
tai of the Palmetto State, but the
weight Of testimony certainly acQult-
ted Hampton. He surrendered with
Johnson's army to Sherman in North
Carolina and returned to his home
with the hope Of gathering up some
remnant of his broken fortune. From
the day that the war ended no express
sion of bitterness or resentment ever
came from Wade Hampton. On the
contrary, he not only earnestly urged
the restoration Of peace and fraterna-
brotherhood, but was one Of the few
men in the South who appreciated the
fact that the negro was not only a
freeman, but a citizen, and was enti-
tied 70 be treated and respected as
such.
AT CHANBERsBURG, 1862.