The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-04-23
GENERAL WADE HANPToN.4

and drawn eulogies throughout the United
& STAKES, the event has not been over
estimated: There is no other man left
who so perfectly represented The civili-
xation, the patriotism, the chivalry and
ieroism of the old South as General
Hampton
ss He was the third generation OF Wade
champions who had distinguished them.
selves In their countrys service. he
] was the very flower Of the old slave
holding aristocracy, and it seems impos~
sible for this generation. especially those
with Northern sentiments, to understand
; 1he dignity and conscienhousness with
which such men discharged their duty
; TO their State and to their servants The
idea OF holding office for the sake OF
gain was. impossible with them. and
when by q traresty on representative
government South Carolina. in a. baleful
hour, supplanted HAMPTON with Till
/ man she sounded within her borders the
death knell Of that splendid school of
statesmen.
In the war between the States Hampton
not only distinguished himself as an Of
fccr in the forefront of the fight, but, like
i other heroic men, he received in his heart
his greatest wound when he lost a son
/ in battle at his side. One who served
under Hampton in the cavalry and who
: furnishes the appended notice Of him,
says he remembers Hampton solitary and
alone in the dark midnight sitting by the
dying embers Of his campfire, weeping
over the death of his gallant son, who had
Dust been killed that evening, October q,
1864
In the Boer war the great South AT
rican fighter. DcWet, lost his son at his
side Lord Roberts. the English general.
on the same scene, lost his only boy.
DeWet is reported to have said that he
s11new that no honor that Lord Roberts
had received could compensate him for
his son.
And now Hampton, with child and for
tune and State all lost to him, is driven
to his grave. amid the tears of tens of
thousands of his fellow-citizens, by an
aged negro eighty-five years old, who had
been his playmate in his youth. his body
servant in the field The filing OF that
grave seemed to put the clods upon the
old South. Let us hope that in the new
Industrial and commercial civilization
and eager search Tor wealth, with the
concurrent estimation OF men, according
to what they are worth in dollars, we
may find some men who will nobly
discharge their duty as this great repre-
sentative of old South Carolina, of whom
( his follower in the field has this to say:
Born Of Virginia ancestry, in South
Carolina, March Is, 1915. Wade Hampton,
= 1lsr reason of strength. reached the good
old nge Of eighty-four years. Educated
for the bar, he preferred the life of a
planter and in the midst OF refinement and
wealth he was reared a stror;s, brave.
earnest. high-lnirded gentleman. Taking
part in public affairs, he served his State
iii the Legislature. where his speech
against the slave trade was pronounced
3 by the New York Tribune a masterpiece,
of logic, directed by the noblest senti-
nents of the Christian and patriot
an 1861. when we Went to Waa. What
manner of men, think you. gathered in de-
Tense Of our homes with Wade Hamp-
ton as n private soldier?
but promotion was rapid. and as colo
11nl of The Hampton Legion he won his
8 first laurels and received his first wounds
Again promoted tc the command Of a
brigade of cavalry. he served with the
most distinguished gallantry and success
in all Of Stuart's campaigns, and on the
s Sd OF August. 1863, he was commissioned
1naioregencral.
ron the death Of General Stuart. he
I succeeded to the command Of his corps
as chief of cavalry of the Army OF North
erns Virginia.
Wounded again and again, he bore the
scars Of bullet and sabre, yet speedily
returning to the head of his troops, with
the fresh energy of a charmed life.
1T was the misfortune Of the cavalry
corps to lose his guiding hand in the
winter of 1865, when he was sent South
TO restore the waning fortunes of that
distressed army and to reorganize its scat
tered horsemen. Against vast odds. he
continued to gain victories and reap adj
rantages wheGs hope was against hope.
THE official records of both armies,
Union and Confederate, bear unvarying
testimony to his high qualities as a sol
dier and born leadersof men.
.si,It what estimate could be placed
on his services more honorable and con-
( elusive than the tribute which General
lice paid to him and his command, when
he wrote:
You cannot regret as much as did
that you were not with us at our final
struggle = Sc II you had been there
with ali our cavalry the result at Five
Forks would have been different
eff General Iampton's record as a sol
der is bright with spotless glory, so
his character as a citizen shines with
equal lustre.
I'm the dark days Of Reconstruction
= he led his people out of the wilderness
of despair and revived their dropping
spirits with the assured hope Of better
days placing them again on the high
road to prosperity.
AS Governor OF South Carolina and her
Senator in Congress- he exhibited the
highest qualities of craftsmanship and es-
tablished a wise and honest administra-
ton No better eulogy can be pros
nounced upon this period OF his career
than that already spoken by his chief ops
i nanent IN that crisis Of his States his
tory.
..The people OF South Carolina. in
grateful devotion to his memory, may
well erect to Hampton a statue more
{ Tasting than Time-for he saved the
$50 & SsS