Wade Hampton

by Cisco, Walter Brian

• ISBN13: 9781574886276
• ISBN10: 1574886274
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-04
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

On the eve of the American Civil War, Wade Hampton, one of the wealthiest men in the South and indeed the United States, remained loyal to his native South Carolina as it seceded from the Union. Raising his namesake Hampton Legion of soldiers, he eventually became a lieutenant general of Confederate cavalry after the death of the legendary J. E. B. Stuart. Hampton's highly capable, but largely unheralded, military leadership has long needed a modern treatment. After the war, Hampton returned to South Carolina, where chaos and violence reigned as Northern carpetbaggers, newly freed slaves, and disenfranchised white Southerners battled for political control of the devastated economy. As Reconstruction collapsed, Hampton was elected governor in the contested election of 1876 in which both the governorship of South Carolina and the American presidency hung in the balance. While aspects of Hampton's rise to power remain controversial, under his leadership stability returned to state government and rampant corruption was brought under control. Hampton then served in the U.S. Senate from 1879 to 1891, eventually losing his seat to a henchman of notorious South Carolina governor "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, whose blatantly segregationist grassroots politics would supplant Hampton's genteel paternalism. In Wade Hampton, Walter Brian Cisco provides a comprehensively researched, highly readable, and long-overdue treatment of a man whose military and political careers had a significant impact upon not only South Carolina, but America. Focusing on all aspects of Hampton's life, Cisco has written the definitive military-political overview of this fascinating man. Winner of the 2006 Douglas Southall Freeman Award.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
List of Maps	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
``Consider Everything Certain Which Is Possible''	1	(18)
The Hampton Heritage
``Deep in Unfathomable Mines''	19	(18)
Learning to Be a Gentleman
``Flags Were Waving in Every Direction''	37	(18)
Hampton Chooses Secession
``Stand Up for South Carolina''	55	(18)
The Legion Goes to War
``A Man for Hard Work''	73	(17)
Infantry Commander
``The People Have Surrendered Chambersburg''	90	(20)
Hampton Joins the Cavalry
``Have All the Sabres Sharpened''	110	(16)
Brandy Station and Gettysburg
``I Would Not Care if You Went Back to South Carolina''	126	(10)
Reinforcing the Division
``My Heart Is Sorely Bruised''	136	(14)
Stuart's Successor
``The Grand Smash Has Come''	150	(14)
Defeat in the Carolinas
``I Am Not Reconstructed Yet''	164	(25)
Surrender Brings No Peace
``We Shall Not Give Up Our Country''	189	(18)
Battle against the Radicals
``Straight Every Time''	207	(17)
Hampton Is Nominated for Governor
``To Storm Hell for Hampton''	224	(21)
The Red Shirt Campaign
``I Am Going There to Demand Our Rights''	245	(25)
Both Sides Claim Victory
``He Has Kept All His Pledges''	270	(18)
Governor Hampton
``Hampton Has Nothing to Regret''	288	(19)
United States Senator
``Memories of the Past''	307	(18)
Railroad Commissioner, Southern Symbol
Notes	325	(46)
Bibliography	371	(20)
Index	391	(10)
About the Author	401