The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-07-30
FULL MEASURE OF THEMAN
He Saw Trouble Ahead of his
People and Preferred to Re-
main With Them,

main WIN Ihem.
AT a Confederate reunion held last
week in Richland County there were
several good speeches, including one
from Col. u. II. Brooks, of Columbia,
who took occasion TO read an unpub-
lished letter from Gen. Wade Hamp-
ton, which was written to Gen. Il. Il.
Lee thirty-six years ago, accompanied
by a report of the cavalry operations
in Virginia during the last campaign
of Lees army. These documents are
of historic value and Importance, and
the letter shows the unselfsh spirit
of the great cavalry leader, Gen.
Wade Hampton, and his devotion to
the people ofSouth Carolina. His let
ter is as follows:
COLUMBIA, S. c., July 81, 1866.
My Dear General: 1 have just re-
turned from Mississippi, where 1 have
been since last December trying to
collect the fragments of my property.
During my stay there, l have endeav-
ured to procure all the data possible,
IN order to prepare for you the paper
you desired. Most of my old officers
have sent me memorandum or reports,
and when Genls. Fitz and William
Lee give me their reports, which have
been promised, L shall be prepared to
make out q report for you. How long
a paper do you desire 2 A mere MEM
orandum giving only actions and dates
can be compressed into a very few
pages, but to enter into details would
perhaps fill fifty or sixty manuscript
pages. L wish to make what l pre-
pare for you conform entirely to your
purposes and wishes, SO l hope that
you will not hesitate to let me know
precisely what you would prefer. L
have nothing to do this summer, and 1T
would give me great pleasure to con-
tribute all in my power to the success
OF your undertaking. And it will be a
pleasure, though a melancholy one, to
pay the last tribute in my power to
those brave men who stuck to their
colors to the last. You must bear In
mind though, my dear general, that L
am not reconstructed yet, and in what
shall write every word will be die
lated by Southern feelings and come
from a Southern heart. "I'l not dis
own a single pulse-throb, o q single
BREATH" 1t has been one of my pleas
ATTEST anticipations that [ should have
the pleasure of seeing you this summer,
and If l can possibly accomplish this
purpose you may be sure that L shall
do 80. L trust that you are getting
en- we'll and that you fluid in the adj
miration expressed for you by all,
whose good opinion is worth anything,
some compensation for your losses and
your sacrifices. Thank God, the
NnnHnnc fheu,,l kIoxx r..Jo 80.
cannot make the world believe it, and
time will prove that you have not
fought in vain.
L hope your noble old common
wealth is recovering from the deep
wounds she received. Could 1 leave
my own poor, desolate, stricken State,
l should assuredly make my home in
Virginia, but l cannot forsake a peo-
pie who have given me so many proofs
OF their love as these have done.
Are your family well2 L know how
much troubled you must be by letters
and how little time you have to answer
them, but If you find leisure to write,
L sha be most happy to hear from
you. Ihls Will be my address until
October. Gen. Beauregard, who has
been offered two positions in the Eu-
ropean war, one a command OF 100,-
600 men, has written to offer me the
command of all his cavalry, with the
rank OF major general, if he concludes
TO accept. But whilst approaching his
confidence, L have declined. / shall
never draw my sword again except
Tor my own country. 1 saw Long
street in New Orleans and he spoke
much OF you. Alexander you know Is
mere: Pray remember me TO your
family.
With best wishes for your happiness
and prosperity, 1 am, my dear general,
very respectfully and sincerely your
friend, WADE HAMPToH.
General r.. r.. Lee.