Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-05-05
Observation-Disclosures. .s..s..s..s..s.s..s..s..s.
'5''t' .s"s.
!. THE FIRST RED SHIRTS IN !.
i. SOUTH CAROLINA. j.
'$''s' .s..s.
.S'3..s.'ss..s..s..s. .i..s..s..s..s..s..s..3..9.
(J. C.. Stribling, in Anderson Intel
ligencer)

/. ligencer.)
There is not a member of the orig
inal company Of the Hampton Red
Shirts" at Pendleton but who will be
willing to surrender that honor to
any other company that can prove
by the records of the press. that any
other Red Shirt company was form
ed or organized before the Pendleton
Red Shirt company.
1t Is now thirty-three years since
this memorable Hampton Red Shirt
campaign, and the mere memory of
men cannot be taken as competent
data, when the records of the many
newspapers give actual dates of all
important events Of that most des-
perate campaign in the history of
South Carolina. Therefore, we call
upon "the boys" our comrades, to
give the dates. Let's have show
down and be quiet, as there is honor
enough in this Red S'iirt business to
go all around, so that every one who
wore a red shirt, either great or
small, has his share. For what could
one man, or one company, or one
county do without concert of thou
sands of men and clubs and all the
counties of the State?
The mythical goddess, Diana of the
Ephesians, was great, because her
people all said, "Great is Diana of
the Ephesians." Hampton was great
in 1876, because the people said,
"Hurrah for Hampton" and a great
army Of patriotic men wore red
shirts as part Of their campaign uni
form, and not only rallied around
their candidates at every Democratic
meeting, but at all Radical meetings.
All through the prime object Of
our Red Shirt organization was to
rally at all Republican meetings and
compel division of time among par
ty speakers. There were only sixty
three Red Shirts at the first clash of
this kind, which was pulled off in
Anderson court house on the 9th day
of September, and which Is known
as the Hogue-Aiken contest, when we
had more than two thousand men
with red shirts in line. That was
seven days before, on the I'd day Of
September, when Hampton made his
speech at Anderson.
Now. it was glorious, smooth 60
ing, bowling pleasure to march in
the Red Shirt column at the Hamp-
ton speaking, but when Col. James
A. Hoyt, that gallant soldier and pa
triot, asked the Red Shirts to back
Col. Aiken in the first attempt at
forcing a division of speakers at An
derson on the 9th of September, be-
tween Aiken (Democrat) and Hogue
(Republican), candidates for Con-
gress, that was another thing. Then
it was like going into the lions den,
more like fighting. In the eyes of the
written law it was high treason for
an unauthorized armed organization
to parade; 1t was time then and
there to make the crucial test
The United States marshal had ar
rived in Anderson to prevent, by in
timidation, the Red Shirt demonstra-
ton, and the Red Shirts knew that If
they did not win out that day the
whole rank and file of them would
be incarcerated and the leaders held
for treason.
The Pendleton Red Shirt company
had taken graveyard oath to stand
behind Col Aiken and wera assem
bled at daylight in Pendleton on the
morning of the 9th, when many Of
the good citizens there informed us
Of the hazardous undertaking In ap-
pearing before United States mar
shal under such circumstances, but
the time had come to either back
down or open the ball that was des~
tined to free our State from Radical
rule, and about half the PendIeton
Red Shirt company lit out for An
derson under command of the first
lieutenant
A detachment from Capt. Garri-
sons company Joined us at Sandy
Springs, and as we were about to en-
ter the city Of Anderson We were
again notified Of the presence Of the
United States marshal, who was in
the town prepared for us; but the
boys in red were there to do or die,
and in single file they marched to
the public square. yelling the rebel
yell, which struck terror to the ne
grOpS and awakenad tba potriot;o