The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-05-14
FROM A FEDERAL SOLDIER.
CHAMPION, THE PEERLESS"
A Splendid Tribute From
Northern Editor
Personal RntniniSNnnnns


Col A X. CT lure in Philadelphi
Record.
The recent death of Wade Hampton
of South Carolina, removes one of th
notable characters of the last half
century.
In the fierce sectional discussions
which were precipitated for some years
before the civil war Hampton took M
part. While he loved the South ant
had all the pride of Its noblest blood
he was not an agitatUr, and earnestly
and sincerely deplOred secessions and
civil war. He was reared In the school
that knew only obedience to the SOW.
erelgnty of the State. The pride OF
the South Carolinian had taught hin,
that his was the noblest and grandest
of all the Commonwealth empire
by courtesy called State. The scy-
ereignty of the State had been taught
in his mothers lap, in every school he
entered, from every pulpit from which
he heard minister of the Gospel, and
the great statesmen, such as Calhoun,
McDuflie and Hayne, had advocated it
sincerely and ably. He saw the i'm
posing walls and pillars of the Colum-
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 tlismember.
ment of the Union, and he little
dreamed that this magnificent struc.
ture would within his lifetime be
hastily and rudely completed for
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 a slave he was faith
full to us; as free man let us treat
him as friend; deal with him frankly,
justly and kindly" Had the Southern
men generally shared the broad and
sensible views of Hampton the prob
lem of reconstruction would have been
an easy one, and the South would
have been spared unspeakable suffer
ing and sorrow.
HIS WAR RECORD.
When the war came it is needless to
say that Hampton was one of the first
to offer his services, and he volunteer
ed as private, but before the company
he had joined had been organized he
was appealed to by many hundreds to
accept the command of special bri-
gade, composed of infantry, cavalry
and artillery, and to be known as the
I" Hampton Legion" He commanded
the Legion at Bull Run, the frat battle
of the war, and there, as in all the sub
sequent battles in which it was engag-
ed, it bore a distinguished part. In
the battle of Seven Pines, ON the PEN
insula, Hampton's command lost near
ly half its members in killed, wounded
and missing, and Hampton was se-
verely 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 Hamp-
ton had an important 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 Cham
bersburg and around McClellan's army
soon after the battle of Antietam. At
the battle of Gettysburg Hampton re-
ceived three wounds, and the majority
of the officers of his command were
either killed or wounded. Perhaps the
most important special service he ren-
dered as cavalry commander was
when he checked Sheridan at 1'revil-
lian's Station, in 1864, and broke up
Hunters campaign In the valley by
preventing the junction of Sheridan
and Hunter at Lynchburg. He was
made lieutenant general and comman-
der of Lees cavalry in August, and he
made number 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, gallant officer
under him, was killed in action.
THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA.
When Johnston organized his army
in North Carolina to oppose the adj
vance of Sherman northward from
South Carolina Hampton was assigned
to that army 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 Shermarl's army
entered. Before retiring he had fired
considerable amount of cotton that
was stored In the outskirts of the city
and this gave some color of plausibilitl
to the charge that he was responsible
for the burning of Columbia. A some-
what heated controversy occurred be-
tween Hampton and Sherman after the
war as to who was responsible for the
destruction of the beautiful capital of
the Palmetto State, but the weight OF
testimony certainly acquitted Hamp-
ton. He surrendered with ,Johnston'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 expression of bitter
ness Or resentment ever came from
Wade Hampton. On the contrary, he
not only earnestly urged the restora-
ti0n OF peace and fraternal brother.
hood, but was one Of the few men in
the South who appreciated the fact that
the negro was not only freeman, but
citizen, and was entitled TO be treated
and respected as such.
AT CIlAMBERSBURa, 1862.
My first acquaintance. with Hampton
was I'M October, 1862, when Stuar
made his celebrated raid around Nc
C,ellan's Amy, then in Maryland.
was then on duty at Harrisburo aa as