Hampton and his cavalry in '64

Preface

This book is intended to be a sketch of that portion of the military career of Lieutenant-General Wade Hampton embraced in the campaign of 1864, when he commanded the Cavalry, which was then an important part of the fighting power of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The facts related are based upon documents and letters in the possession of General Hampton and memoranda prepared by him, to which he has been kind enough to permit me to have access. Most of these were, by General Robert E. Lee's request, arranged for his use when he had the intention of writing the history of his campaigns. Other sources of information and verification, of which I have made use, are official reports and correspondence contained in the " Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," published by the United States War Department, and also authentic evidence furnished by eye-witnesses of the events, or by those conversant with the facts referred to.

It has been the writer's purpose to avoid in this narrative all exaggeration and artificial description, believing that the facts alone best tell the story of that momentous period, when the fate of the Northern as well as of the Southern Confederacy was daily trembling in the balance.

E. L. W

ILLUSTEATIOXS.

General Wade Hampton . - Frontispiece

The bather surprised by (1 aural Hampton 31

Colonel Wade Hampton, of the War of IS 12 , father of General Wade Hampton 53 Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Hampton, slain in the battle of

Brandy Station, younger brother of General Hampton, 69

The battle of Brandy Station, Culpeper county, Va., June

Preparing for the ft 'eld. From many of the humbler homes

came many of the finest soldiers . 105

Map of Central Virginia 119

Wade Hampton, Lieutenant- General, G. S. A 143

An improrised hospital. This was a barn turned hurriedly

into a receiving station for wounded men . 163

Capturing a Federal tcagon train. Uncle Sam aiding the

Confederate Quartermaster's Department 179

The explosion of the caisson, which seemed to give the signal for the victorious charge at Trevilian's, Louisa county, Va., June 12, 186k -07

Lnfantry capturing a Federal battery 221

General Hampton's sword i'3 ]

A night's rest. Typical scene in a Confederate cavalry

camp. 251

General Wade Hampton of the tears of 1776 and 1812. The

grandfather of General Hampton 261

Fitz Simons house, Hasel street, Charleston, S. C, birthplace of General Hampton 275 The beefsteak raid. Prince George county, Va. 297 South of the James 315 Lieutenant William Preston Hampton, A. D. C, mortally

wounded at battle of Burgess Mill 331

Father and son 347

jM'utenaiitWade Hampton, eldest son of General Hampton,

wounded in the battle of Burgess Mill c71

A favorite tree of General Hampton's in the grounds at

Millwood 395

Jiuins of Millwood — (ttntral Hampton's home — near Columbia, S. C, destroyed by Shtrman's arnu'es . 417

Contents

Chapter. Page.

I. BIRTH, ANCESTRY, AND EARLY LIFE

CHARACTERISTICS— SPORTSMAN— COT- TON-PLANTER THE WAR IN THE

Chapter I

BIRTH, ANCESTRY, AND EARLY LIFE CHARACTER- ISTICS SPORTSMAN COTTON-PLANTER THE

WAR IN THE INFANTRY TRANSFERRED TO

CAVALRY.

jIEUTENANT- GENERAL WADE HAMPTON, C. S. A., the subject of this sketch, was born in Charleston, S. C, on March 28, 181 8. In Hasel street, within sound of the chimes of old Saint Michael's bells, he first saw the light. The watchman's voice from the tower giving assurance that "All's well!" had that day special meaning in the light of future events.

The great-grandfather of our General came from Virginia to the Colony of South Carolina previous to the Revolutionary War, and settled in Spartanburg District. Here he and most of his family were murdered by the Indians in 1775. Several of his sons, including the grandfather of the present General Hampton, were absent from home at the time, and thus escaped the massacre, and all of them afterwards served in the war waged for its independence by the colony against the British Crown. Wade Hampton, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, belonged to the cavalry commanded by Colonel Washington, and was lieutenant-colonel at the battle of Eutaw. In all the fighting of those stirring days that cavalry was ever prominent, and the swish of Hampton's sabre always heard in the charge. This sword has been carefully preserved in the family of its bearer, and has the look of one made for use. The blade is much curved, broad, and scimiterlike, suitable, when wielded by a stalwart arm, for dealing telling blows, but not so well adapted for thrusting, which is now accounted more deadly.

The Colonial forces operating in this section at that period were small in proportion to those of their adversaries. They experienced trying times, but fought stoutly and well, and their work largely contributed to, if it was not decisive of, the final general result of the contest. Modern imperialists, who are carried away with the fallacy that God always favors the heaviest battalions, may sneer, if they can find it in their hearts to do so, at the smallness of the numbers of the Colonial fighters in this section, but one has never yet heard the Spartans of Thermopylae twitted or belittled on the same ground. The authority of McCrady, the historian of

South Carolina, unsurpassed in research and conscientious statement, may well be quoted here :

" We shall attempt to show to how great an extent the ultimate result of the whole Revolutionary struggle in the country was dependent upon the operations of the partisan bands of South Carolina and her two neighboring States.

«•** * * ***

" We shall undertake to show that it was by these voluntary uprisings of the people of South Carolina, with the assistance of their friends in North Carolina and Georgia, that the whole of the enemy's plans were foiled, frustrated, and broken up, and the grand culmination of Yorktown rendered possible. * * * * * ***

" We venture to believe that the record we shall present will show that no one of the thirteen original States of the Union suffered so severely in the War of the Revolution as the State of South Carolina; that in no one was there so much actual warfare ; in no one was there such an uprising of the people ; in no one was there so much accomplished for the general cause, and that with so little assistance."

The author from whom we have just quoted adds that he has a list of 130 battles, engagements, etc., which took place in South Carolina during the Revolutionary struggle, and that the records show " there was actual fighting in every county in the State, at present organized, but three, and that these three were traversed by both armies."

In the War of 18 12 the Wade Hampton of Revolutionary fame was one of the generals sent to the Northern frontier, and there again he battled for the common cause of the States. That the military successes in that theatre were not more brilliant was due to no fault on his

] 4 HA MPTOX AXB HIS CA VA LR Y.

part, but to reasons not necessary here to revive.

The wars ended, the old General resumed his agricultural pursuits. He was among the very first, if not the first, to grasp the idea of the paramount importance, for his section, of cotton culture, and entered largely into it with the same good judgment and sturdy resolution that had distinguished his military career As a consequence, he amassed a fortune, and left to his descendants a very large estate, in which were comprised extensive tracts of productive land in Mississippi and Louisiana as well as in South Carolina. As we have said, he came to South Carolina from Virginia, the " Old Dominion," the mother, whose vigorous blood can be traced in a large proportion of the most prominent men of action in the South and West which our country has produced. Hampton is another instance of this descent. His characteristics were marked, and would have made themselves felt in any occupation he might have pursued. To his dying day he retained an imperious will, which would brook no interference with his own rights, nor tolerate it if attempted against weaker neighbors. To maintain right and fair play, and, in doing this, not to count closely the odds against him in war or peace, were his actuating principles, and those disposed to give heed to the laws of heredity, inexorable for weal or woe, are not surprised to recognize the same traits in his distinguished grandson. A little thing will sometimes better illustrate the bent of character than a greater. Old General Hampton in his later years was on his way one summer to the Virginia springs to drink the waters and take a rest. It was the custom of those hospitable days for the traveler to stop with his horses for the night and lodge at almost any convenient house where darkness overtook him. It was in this way, as local philologists assert, that was originated the name of a well-beloved Southern dish, "hopinjohn." At the door of a planter whose larder, strange to say, happened just then to be slenderly provided, appeared one evening the genial face of an acquaintance, who announced that he had ridden in to pass the night, and to him cordial welcome was given. Said the kindly planter, as he warmly shook his guest's hand, and conducted him to the house :

"Right glad to see you. Sorry I have nothing for you to eat except rice and peas and a chine of bacon, but we will do the best we can for you. Hop in, John ! "

So John "hopped-in" doors, and for so doing deserves immortal fame, for he christened an excellent dish.

Old General Hampton, on the occasion above mentioned, stopped for the night at a friend's house, and, being an early riser, was found by his host next morning quietly sitting in the shade of a tree near the porch, on one of the branches of which were hanging the decapitated mortal remains of a huge turkey-gobbler. In reply to the look of surprise on his host's face, the old General remarked :

"I had to kill him. He was strutting about and beating all the smaller fowls, and I could not endure it. It was not fair play."

The unhappy owner of the offending bird admitted that his favorite's fate was deserved, comforting himself with the reflection how steadfastly the old gentleman had formerly followed the same principle in dealing with Tarleton's fierce troopers.

Colonel Wade Hampton, father of the present General, was a planter with extensive interests and large estate. He was very fond of thoroughbred horses, and raised some of the finest this country has produced. Noted as a patron of the turf, his motives were only the sport and improvement of the breed of horses, and not the greed of winning stakes. At his fine old

18 HAMPTON AXD HIS CA V. 1 LR Y

place, Millwood, some five miles from Columbia, where the spacious mansion was burned by Sherman, was a private race-track, to be seer; to-day, where his horses were exercised and. trained. His heart was as large as his means, and his generosity as broad as his acres, and he was beloved by everyone. It was said he never was so happy as when presenting a well, bred horse or bull of pedigree to some friend, who especially admired the animal. His home was one where the charm of plantation life was well illustrated, and where fat, contented negroes gave living proof of happiness in their sheltered existence. In this circle, where kindly feelings and gentle, attractive manners held sway, unostentatious bountiful hospitality was to be found by all comers ; planters, sportsmen, and men of culture, all worthy of it, found welcome without reference to the depth of their purses. Among others, George Bancroft was a visitor. That was in the days of the first editions of his history, before the results of the Civil War had induced him to re-write, in a different sense, for later editions those portions dealing with the States' Rights controversy. Times change and we change, it is true ; but how can facts change ?

A young friend of the Hampton family was, at one time, a student of the South Carolina College at Columbia, and each week, on Friday afternoon, was in the habit of riding out to Millwood, where he remained a guest until the following Monday morning. His horse he kept during the week at a public stable in the town. Now, Colonel Hampton was a trustee of the South Carolina College, and it was prohibited by the letter of the law of the Institution for any student to keep his horse, as it was supposed to be a source of distraction from studies. It was, however, a law more honored in the breach than the observance. But the Colonel was punctilious in his regard of rules, and could

■20 HAMPTON AXD TITS CAVALRY

not countenance any infraction of them, and, on the other hand, was so kind-hearted that it made him miserable to interfere between his young friend and his horse. So he contrived a way out of the dilemma. One day he said

" I think you had better sell that horse."

This was, of course, accordingly done. When the following Friday came round the student went to a stable in the town to hire a horse to ride out to Millwood for his accustomed visit. But the stableman led forth a fine thoroughbred, saying

" Colonel Hampton sent this horse here and said he was to be kept for your use as long as you are at college."

Colonel Hampton was not much concerned in politics, but in war, true to his blood, he was to the front. He served on the staff of General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, that brilliant victory won by the hardy men of the Southwest against great odcls, largely composed of Wellington's Peninsula Veterans, the stoutest fight ever made on American soil, until the actions of the Civil War eclipsed it in glory- He was sent as bearer of dispatches announcing the glad news of the victory at New Orleans, and his was the first authoritative information of that memorable event received by the President. Those were times before steam and electricity had been harnessed by man, and to accomplish his purpose the Colonel found it necessary to ride overland to Columbia, S. C, a distance of about seven hundred and fifty miles. Accompanied by his negro servant, mounted, and with one led horse, he performed the journey in ten days and a half, averaging seventy-two miles a day, including one day, when, owing to the streams being swollen by a freshet, only seven miles were made. In the greater portion of the route he traversed a very sparsely-settled region, much of which was wild, primeval forest. For three hundred miles it was necessary to carry subsistence for man and horse. Bridgeless rivers and swamps were encountered. He rode the same horse from start to finish, and, strange to say, the gallant animal was not one of his own thoroughbreds, but had been picked up by his father a year or two before from a cattle-drover, whom he had met one day on the road when traveling. The old General had the keenest of eyes for a fine horse, and fell in love with this one at first sight. So he stopped the man and offered to buy his mount. The fellow refused to sell, but was willing to exchange. "But, man," said the General, "my horse is worth five hundred dollars." " So is mine to me," replied the drover, and the bargain was made accordingly. No doubt the animal was well-bred, although of unknown pedigree, for he proved his blood.

At nearly the same time that Colonel Hampton made this famous ride, a very different kind of traveling party was wending its way from the North towards Washington. It consisted of five commissioners sent by Massachusetts and Connecticut, in pursuance of the report of the Hartford Convention of the New England States, to confer with the President of the United States in regard to certain amendments to the Constitution, styled by them "The Federal Compact," which they were to insist upon as a condition precedent to their States consenting to remain in the Union. When arrived at their destination these gentlemen found themselves in an awkward position and were greatly perplexed, for the first sounds which greeted their ears were the shouts of the people hailing with transports of joy the proclamation of peace. But, like sensible men, as they were, they concluded to make the best of the situation, said nothing about their mission, left the official documents in their trunks, put on evening dress and paid their respects to the charming hostess at Mrs. Madison's reception.

24 IIAMPTOX AND HIS CAVALRY.

This was, in fact, a Peace Jubilee. In the rooms all was gaiety and happiness, every face beamine with smiles, but when the Commissioners entered a funereal silence fell upon the company. Matters were soon set right, however, by Mrs. Madison's admirable tact, and the pleasures of the evening resumed ; but we may well doubt whether the five gentlemen in question enjoyed themselves overmuch.

In the sunshine of Millwood the present Wade Hampton learned the sturdy virtues " to ride, to shoot, and to speak the truth," and in its charming atmosphere was imbued with the refinements of life, acquired the scholastic knowledge suitable for a gentleman, and evolved the attractive personality which has exerted so powerful an influence on all with whom he has come in contact ; which has made him dear to friends and proved a spell to open the hearts of his foes. This marked characteristic was of great service to the masses of his countrymen of the

North, as well as of inestimable benefit to those of the South during the terrible culmination of the Reconstruction Period in 1876. Then, in his State stood arrayed against each other — grasping their weapons — on one side education, intelligence, property, and civilization ; on the other, the reverse of all these — the negro and the carpet-bagger, leaning for support on the then existing Federal administration. The former demanded either a return of representative government, or else the rule of the naked bayonet pure and simple. This was no vague threat of non-combatant politicians or idle boys, but the stern — if despairing — resolve of veteran soldiers, well proven on many an historic field. If the fires of civil war had been then relighted no one can say where or when they would have been extinguished, but it is certain the effect on the North, as well as on the South, would have been lamentable, and not improbably subversive, eventually, of free government throughout the entire land. There was no man then living, except Hampton, able to stand forth from among his fellows as the Great Pacificator, who could extract out of chaos a modus vivendi between the discordant elements. This was rendered possible by his previous record, and largely by that indefinable personal influence which men, for lack of a better term, call "magnetism," and the conviction among all classes that he would act with generosity as well as with justice, and that the weak were as safe as the strong under the aegis of his protection. The inner history of this period, properly written, would prove very interesting, and it is to be hoped it will be taken up by some competent hand while there is yet time, for death is constantly at work removing the actors and those behind the scenes. Such an account of mere facts would indeed be stranger than fiction ; would abound in pathos and romance, thrilling adventures, almost incredible situations, revealing much that is most exalted as well as most debased in human nature. It would exhibit a vivid picture of the most remarkable descent, for a time, to primitive conditions, which has probably ever been witnessed among Western nations since the days of 1793. Imagine the necessity imposed on every man, however averse to violence, of always — day and night, at his office or club, his home or at church — being armed to the teeth, ready at any moment to protect his own family or assist his neighbors, well aware that no remedy from law existed, but that a constant menace from its perverted forms was ever present.

The amiability of Hampton's nature was remarkable and it is not a little singular that, though personally the hardest of fighters, he was scarcely more popular with his own men than with those of his enemy Once in Virginia he came upon a Federal who was taking a bath in a stream of water, having left his clothes upon

2S HAMPTOX AXD HIS CA VALRY

the bank. So the General quietly told him he was a prisoner. The man was dumfounded at this, not being- aware the Confederates were

■ o

near at hand, and supposing himself quite secure. He begged and plead to be let off, using every argument he could think of, perhaps (among others) that he was a non-combatant detailed to the Quartermaster Department, which at the time furnished about as many supplies to the Confederate as to the Federal army. The General thought it was needlessly hard to pick up the poor fellow in this way, but still he would have his joke. After amusing himself by letting his captive continue his supplications for some time, Hampton at length consented to let. him go free, at which the man was delighted, and most profuse in thanks, and came ashore to put on his clothes. But the General said :

"Ah ! No ! I can't let you have them. My men are too much in need of clothes. I can't spare them."

After fruitless entreaties the Federal finally left for his camp, naked as when he was born, and the last words heard from him were thanks, and

" I'll name my first son Wade Hampton ! "

Many years after this occurrence, the then Senator Hampton stepped into an elevator in a hotel in Washington ; as he did so a young man said to him,

"Are you General Wade Hampton ? "

On his replying that he was, the stranger asked if he remembered capturing and releasing a naked Federal prisoner at a certain time and place in Virginia.

"Yes. I recollect it perfectly," answered Hampton.

"Well," said the stranger, "he is my father. My name is Wade Hampton. Good morning, sir — and stepped out of the elevator at his floor

Early on the morning of March 11, 1865,

30 HAMPTON AND Ills CAVALRY.

Johnston's arm)- was crossing" the Cape Fear river at Fayetteville, N. C. The infantry, artillery, and wao-on-trains had nearly effected the crossing", which the cavalry were covering. Sherman's forces in overwhelming numbers were pressing- up. General Hampton was near the hotel in the town, when one of his best scouts, Hugh Scott by name, galloped up, and told him that the enemy were close by in the next parallel street, a company of them having come through a by-road, which had not been picketed, and that more were behind them. The situation was critical. If the enemy succeeded in wedging in between the rear of the retreating army and its cavalry, the rear-guard, it would entail disaster The cavalry would thus be cut off from covering the retreat, and the bridge across the river, which it was essential to burn after the crossing was completed, if left intact, would afford the Federals the opportunity of swift pursuit. Not a moment was to m if

•i li

7%e bather surprised by General Hampton.

be lost. A cavalry leader must be able both to think and to act with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, and that Hampton did on this occasion. He realized that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in war as well as in disease, and that one man's services at the nick of time may be more valuable than those of a thousand a few minutes later. So calling to the scout and two members of his staff to follow him, and picking up three privates from Com pany K, 4th S. C. C. (Charleston Light Dragoons), then serving as escort to General Butler, and also one man said to be from Wheeler's command, whose name is unknown, and who was perhaps killed in the melee, the General dashed round the corner and gave the order, "Charge ! " His seven followers (there were no others in the charge) obeyed with alacrity, and all, the General leading, flung themselves upon the Federals, who were drawn up in the street.

These fired a volley with their carbines, but by 3 that time the Confederates had struck them, and confused by the suddenness of the attack, the fierce yells, and the powder-smoke, they did not realize the small number of their assailants. So they tried to wheel about to run, but among them there were pistol bullets at close quarters, and the hack and thrust of sabres. Less than a hundred yards down the street was a turn at right angles to the left into the by-road by which they had entered the town, and by which they were endeavoring now to escape. Here they became jammed together in confusion, all organization lost, and their pursuers cut and thrust like devils incarnate as the fugitives probably thought. Eleven Federals were killed and twelve captured, and the rest, many of them wounded, fled in wild panic carrying consternation to their friends, with excited tales of hundreds of "men in buckram," as the best will do in such circumstances. Strange to say, so far as known, the only casualty in the attacking party was suffered by a handsome well-bred mare ridden by one of the privates mentioned. A rifle bullet struck her fair in the chest and came out just behind the saddle-girth, and yet the plucky little thing showed no signs of diminished vitality for ten minutes afterwards, and then patiently lay down to die. The pathetic expression in her soft, dark eyes would have elicited compassion from a heart of stone. Thus had Hampton grasped the situation, and applied the remedy, for the crossing of the river was then made without further trouble. The Captain, Duncan, of the Federal company, was among the prisoners. He reported his command as numbering sixty-eight by the morning report that day. There was also taken in the charge a Federal spy, David Day by name, dressed in Confederate uniform. When he was brought in General Hampton told him he had no time to attend to him then, but that when he had got across the river, he would have him hanged. The spy was turned over with the other prisoners to the keeping of some Junior Reserves, and when inquired for at night, it was found he had escaped from his guard. When General Hampton soon afterwards, in company with General Johnston, met some of the Federal officers prior to the capitulation, they told him that this man was one of the best scouts in the army, and that he had been captured three times since they had left Savannah. They also said, they thought, if he did not turn up the next morning after the Fayetteville fight, he would not be seen again, but that he reported on time. And now for the sequel and the point of the story -

Thirty-one years after this fight Hampton was in Denver, Colorado. A stranger called upon him at his hotel and spoke of having been among the Federals in the Fayetteville charge. Hampton told him of the spy in gray whom he had intended to hang=

HAMPTOX AXD HIS CAVALRY 37

" I'm the man," remarked the stranger.

"Well," replied Hampton, "I said I would have you hanged as soon as we got across the river. I certainly would have done it if you had not got away, but I am glad the hanging did not come off."

" So am I," said the other, laughing.

Day published an account of the fight in the local newspaper the next morning and was very laudatory of Hampton, and the number of killed he credited him with was fabulously large, when the correct bag was surely heavy enough to satisfy the most exacting. He was apparently quite proud of being connected with the General even in this way, just as others during the war took credit to themselves in being hacked by his sabre, if they lived to tell the tale.

Wade Hampton was a graduate of the South Carolina College, at Columbia, S. C, but received no military education. Many of his summers were passed among the mountains of

Western North. Carolina. There are to be seen the loftiest peaks and highest plauteaus east of the Rocky Mountains, the scenery combining the grand and the picturesque in a manner altogether unique. As, standing on some height, you look northward towardsA sheville, against the sky-line runs the long chain of the Balsams, crowned with the trees from which their name is derived, and further on the Blacks rise seven thousand feet in altitude, but wrapped to their summits in rich verdure, and of these Mount Mitchell is monarch by divine right. Nearer to you, but many a mile away, is Pisgah, of mountains made the queen by plebiscite, in virtue of her beauty, her profile clear-cut, like a handsome human face, with form soft, graceful, and lovely as some fair sfirl's. To the west are towering upward the Smokies on the Tennessee line, which countless ages ago in vain arose a mighty physical protest against the invasion of civilization. Close at hand are Whitesides and his lovable old comrades, hoary with age, mellowed, softened, and beautified by years, like those of our own kind with whom time has dealt gently- Southeastward, as far as the sea, three hundred miles away, stretches an immense plain dotted with towns and villages, farms and forest, but in every other direction are countless mountain ranges and their outlying foothills, in the distance not unlike Titanic waves of a vast ocean. Scanning the scene you soon detect the backbone of the system, the Blue Ridge, running north and south, farther than eye can follow, through Virginia and Pennsylvania, forming the water-shed between the Atlantic and Western States. Then you will probably be led to reflect upon the fact that this rocky wall and its gigantic flankers once represented the geographical line of demarkation, the racial "great divide," between the rivals during centuries, opposites in civil and religious creeds, the Saxon and Celt. You will recall that in the struggle between these for mastery in America, and in the world, Wolfe, dying victorious on the Heights of Abraham, pictures one grand achievement, but that the contest was finally and forever settled by Thomas Jefferson through the acquisition of that vast region, then mostly unexplored, known as Louisiana, extending, according to French titles transferred to us, from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and as far north as the Great Lakes.