The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-11-27
How the Red-Shirts
Rode with Hampton
"reminiscences of the Days when Men
Lived i'm the Saddle.
w. w. Ball, in News and Courier.

and the $500 white men, including
boys and gray heads, who are the
population of the county, are $4,000,
who, night by night and day by day,
seem to crowd the highways and COW
| er the 800 or 900 square miles Of the
county. One never loses sight Of a
rider.
And Yet Peaceful.
Yet generally all is peaceful. Now
and then one hears Of homicide or
a shooting scrapc, but usually it is
not directly connected with politics.
A Radical candidate comes to town
and the "boys' (thc saloons wcrc
open in '7G,) find him at his hotel
and they are not civil-thcy sing RI
bald songs under his nose and twit
him and guy him and perhaps are
impolitc, but they do not kill him.
Sometimes, in most eases, they are
timid, these "rads' and sneak away
but occasionally they are brave and
have the picture of one before me, a
South Carolina scalawag, not carpet
Dagger, bright, young fellow, often
drunken because ashamed, who one
night dared the score of young devils
who hooted him rs he stood by the
bar counter to fight him one by one.
Poor fellow! Renegade that he was,
even in his abasemcnt he could not for
get his breeding. He was defeated for
office and soon after, in year or
two, dicd-drowncd, in whiskcy
But no one accepted the Republic
can's challenge to fight Wade Hamp-
tom, then campaigning in Charleston
or Beaufort or elsewhere, saved his
life. The leadership Of Hampton
meant campaign without bloodshcd.
That was the one thought he uttered
most and emphasized as essential to
success and finally il broodcd over
South Carolina until every man felt
il to restrain his arm as his passion
rose. The success Of the cause lay in
preserving the peace and the great
effort Of Hampton and his conlidcn-
tial lout tcnantS, generally Veteran
comrades Of his. was to prevent out
breaks that would provide excuse for
Federal interference. Hampton would
not have justified the insults to the
young scaIaway' | have mentioned,
but, nevertheless, The campaign was
one Of dcmonstrat ration--continuous cX-
ultant, terrifying demonstration. New
or were the negroes and white Rcpub-
l'r"ns c"t"c'lv ""fnr than they were
in 1876, it would not do to shoot and
kill, and everybody knew it; that was
the word that went out from the coun-
~ leaders to the country boys and the
village boys; there was not the slight
est intention TO hurt anybody, that
was the word from Hampton and his
friends constantly from every stump
but the everlasting riding and the
old "rcbel yell" ringing and ringing
through The hills and ravincs had
their effect. II was intimidation on
ly in so far rs The negro voters lack
cd the courage to assert themselves,
backed as they were by the Federal
Government.
When Men Were in Earnest
Nor do | mean to say that il was all
"bIuff.' Had the Republicans been
aggressive, it probably would have
been impossible to restrain the "rcd-
shirts,' but Hampton knew that the
battle could be only won and should
be won without resort to violence. II
was the deepseatcd, almost idolatrous
faith in this great soldier in the hearts
of the people that restrained them
a faith which at that time no other.
living man could have inspired.
Many man of that day might have
led charge through the State but
none other leading it could have kept
the sabrcs Of his men in their scab-
bards. That was the one way to win.
But to champion Day" again. It
really dawncd, so to speak, the even
ing before. Our grandmother took us
over 10 The other side Of the village, to
Col. Tom Crcws's house, where there
were boy friends Of ours who had red
shirts and goat well broken---so that
we could have red-shirt riding, too--4$