Year: 1876

GOVERNOR CHAMBERLIN's LITTER.


STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,


EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, COLUMBIA,


July Is, 1876.
Hon. t. j. Robertson, United States


Senator, Washington, ID. c.:


DEAR SIR: Your request for a state
ment from me of the recent bloody
affair at Hamburg, in this State, was
duly received. l have waited before
replying until official reports and state
ments should be received. There are
now before me the official reports of
the Attorney General and the Adju-
tant and Inspector General, the testi-
mony taken at the coroner's inquest
and the written statement of several
other persons who were present and
witnessed the whole or parts of the af-
fair. will present to you as briefly
as possible the leading facts as they
appear from the evidence to which 1
have referred.


UT Air.


On the 4th of July, a company of
the State militia (colored) were march
ing along the streets of Hamburg. The
street was over one hundred feet wide,
and the company was marching in
columns of four. While so marching
they were met by two young white men
in a buggy, who insisted Upon keeping
their course in the street, without re-
gard to the movements of the militia,
and drove against the head of the col
umn, which thereupon halted. Some
parleying took place, which resulted in
the company yielding, opening their
ranks and allowing the young men to
proceed on their course. On the fol-
lowing day the young men referred to
took out warrants of arrest against
some of the officers of the militia com
pany, who were brought before a trial
Justice for trial The trial was after
ward adjourned till p. NJ. of Satur-
day, the Sth inst. Before that hour
arrived on Saturday many white citi-
zens from the country around Ham
burg began to gather in the town and
armed themselves with guns and pis-
tolls. The militia company in the
mean while had assembled i'll their ar
mory in the village, aud at the hour
set for the trial the defendants did not
appear.


At this point, it has been stated in
dispatches and newspapers that the
militia officers having deiied the au-
thority of the trial justice, the citizens
We're called on to assist the trial JUS
tice by acting as his posse. Nothing
of the kind in fact occurred. The
militia failed to appear because of their
fear of injury at the hands of the
armed white men, and the trial Justice,
after formally calling them, took no
further steps to cause their presence in
his court OH account of the excitement
and the evidences of an impending
conflict. While affairs were in this
condition, there being, according to
all accounts. from 200 to 300 armed
white men from the surrounding conn
try in the town, demand was made
by the whites for surrender to them
of the arms of the militia. An hour or
two passed in negotiations concerning
this demand, the whites informing the
militia company that if the arms were
not given up in short time-most of
tine witnesses say in half an hour-the
whites would open fire on the militia.
The militia refused to deliver up their
arms, saying that the demand was
wholly unwarranted and illegal, and
that they had reason to fear for their
lives if they gave up their arms.


BRISK FIRE


was then opened by the whites upon
the building in which the militia was
assembled, and soon after one of the
attacking party was killed by a shot
from the militia in the building. A
piece of artillery was thereupon
brought across the bridge from Au-
gusta, loaded with canister and fired
several times at the building in which
were the militia. This had the effect
to cause the militia to endeavOr TO
make their escape from the rear of the
building. The town marshal of Ham
burg, a cOlored man, who was living in
the building, was instantly shot by
the attacking party, while thus endeav-
oring TO escape from the building.
Twenty or twenty five of the militia
We're captured by the attacking party,
and kept under guard for several hours.
Finally, about two o'clock on she
morning of the 9th of July, Sunday
after consultation among their captors,
and with complete apparent delibera-
tion, five of the captured militia men
were called out, one by one, and shot
to death in the presence of large
body of their captOrs. The rest OF the
captured party were either turned
loose. or broke loose and ran. They
We're fired upon as they ran, and three
of them were severely wounded, one
OF them probably mortally. Attorney
General Stone thus succintly reports
this part of the affair:


DETAILS OF THE KILLING.


Six men took A. T. Attaway out Of
the ring. He and his mother begged
for his life, but i'm vain. He was told to
turn around, and was shot to death by
the crowd.


David Phillips was next taken out,
and was similarly killed.


POmpey Curry was next called out.
He recognized among the bystanders
Henry GetZen and DIR. Pierce. Butler
called on them to keep the other men
from killing him He ran, and was
shot as lie ran, one bullet striking him
ON the leg below the knee.


THE ATTORNEY GENERALS REPORT.


The Attorney General, who has per-
sonally visited Hamburg, thus con-
cludes his official report to me:


Making due allowance for errors in
minor details, the facts show the de-
mand On the militia to give up their
arms was r-ade by persons without
lawful authority to enforce such de-
mand or to receive the arms had they
been surrendered, that the attack on
the militia to compel a compliance
with this demand is without justifica-
ton or excuse, and that after there
had been some twenty or twenty five
prisoners captured aud completely in
the power of their captOrs and with
out means of making further resist
ance, five of them were deliberately
shot to death and three more severely
wounded.