The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-12-24
cupving the armOry.

into town WIN a cavalry COllpdllS VI
80 men. The negroes barricaded the
windows with guns. General Butler
called for volunteers with rifles. Mr..
Will Butler, Mr.. Henry Getzen. MIR.
Mills, Mr.. Finley and Mr.. Joe Meri-
wether stepped forward. There was
a boyish tussle between father and
son, and finally Mckie Meriwether
got the rifle from his father, saying:
Give me the gun, father"
Henry said Colonel Butler to
Mr.. Getzen, take charge of this de-
tail. Go down to the abutment of
the bridge with your rifles and fire
into the windows. The rest of the
men have shot guns and l want to
get in shot gun range of the building
and unless you boys with rifles run
the negroes away from the windows
we cannot get them"
The detail went down and ran the
negroes from the windows to para
pet on the top of the building. Just
about this time, the Augusta people,
thinking it purely negro affair,
fired a volley from the other side of
the river and the detail was compell-
ed to protect themselves by rail-
road bank. After the firing ceased
a bit, Messrs Mills and Finley left,
saying their ammunition was out and
Mr.. Meriwether stepped behind the
pier to roll up his trousers. In a
few seconds Mr.. Butler turned to Mr..
Getzen saying:
There lies one of our men," Mr..
Getzen tells it with much feeling.
1T was just about dark and bull
lets were flying around me. l went
over, felt young Meriwether, who
was trembling in the convulsion of
death, and found a hole across the
top of his head. My young compan-
ion, Will Butler, said, I cannot help
you, Henry, because warm blood has
strange effect over me- So a
young man, st. Julian De Arman,
came by and assisted me in deliver
ing the body to DR.. H. H. Shaw, Col.
Butler and Mr.. Meriwether.
Augusta Sends Help.
That fine old gentleman, Mr.. John
Conway, of Augusta, at that time
very popular stable man, hitching
some of his very best horses to a
cannon, came over With some other
Augustans, among them Mr.. Blount,
who drove the horses and was later
killed, falling from the cannon.
After the first cannon shot the ne
groes seemed to vanish in mid-air;
others, fguratively speaking, went
through a hole in the ground, but
several sought hiding places in the
building. Attaway, the commandant,
was pulled out from under the steps
by Mr.. Tom Hammond and one negro
was found in a coffin with the lid on.
1t is sometimes thought that negroes
were shot at random, but this was
not true, for only those who had
committed some crime were shot, ex-
cept in an instance or two.
After the Riot.
Every man in a radius of 20 miles
of Hamburg was "sent word to ap-
pear at court in Aiken. So eager
were they to meet the requirements
encamping near Aiken, and consult
ing with lawyers: Colonel Butler,
of law that they spent whole day
Of Edgefeld, Major Gary, of Augusta,
Henderson, Croft and Aldrich, of
Aiken, all refusing pay for services.
At the trial the men were dismiss
ed on the most ridiculous bond.
Mr.. Matheney, a mail clerk, stood
hundred thousand dollar bond and
owned nothing but his hat. This
was the last of the trial.
The First Red Shirts.
While the boys were being tried
the girls of Aiken were making shirts,
white cambria spotted with Venetian
red, and these were the first red
shirts worn. But later, when Cen
eral Wade Hampton came to South
Carolina, companies of red shirt boys
were formed all over the state. One
of the original shirts is now owned
by Mr.. ]. NJ. McKie.
This ended the radical rule in
South Carolina.
One of the golden keys that un-
locked the gate that led down the
rugged path to reconstruction was
found on the evening of July IS,
1875, on the spot where Thomas Nc
Kie Meriwether was killed.
Prince Rivers.
My story would not be complete
without giving you a description of
Hamburg's magistrate, prince Riv-