22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the few Non-West Point Generals, December 12, 2004
This review is from: Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman (Hardcover)
Wade Hampton has never had the fame or attention of the Confederacy's other calvary leaders such ad J.E.B Stuart or Nathan Bedfore Forest. Unlike most of the other generals of the Civil War (on both sides) he did not attend West Point, he was trained in law but never practiced. When the war started, believing that the states who had voluntarily joined together could withdraw from the union if they wished, he formed the Hampton Legion. Wounded three times he was at many of the big battles of the war. These included: First Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, the Battle of Seven Pines, Antietam, the Chambersburg raid, and the Battle of Gettysburg. After the Battle of the Wilderness, he became commander of the cavalry corps, and took part in the Petersburg Campaign. He finished the war as a Lt. General.
This book completely covers his wartime campaigns, but then goes on to cover his extensive political career after the war. Governor of South Carolina and two terms in the U.S. Senate he was finally defeated by the political machine of Ben Tillman.
This book, by a fellow South Carolinian, is a welcome addition to Civil War literature. Well written, this is the definitive view of the General.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Swordsman, January 24, 2006
This review is from: Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman (Hardcover)
Wade Hampton III has been in need of a comprehensive biography for a long time now. Reserved and deliberate in life, both as a cavalry commander and as a political leader, he tried to restrain his annoyance when temporarily outshone by more flamboyant peers; with the benefit of hindsight, however, we ought to pay more attention to WHIII and his substantial achievements.
The "untrained" officer whose pragmatic cavalry tactics proved more of an asset to Lee than the celebrated Stuart ever was; the reluctant secessionist who sacrificed family and fortune to the Confederate cause (or more accurately, to the cause of South Carolina); the conservative Democrat who reined in the bitter ferocity of his own party's extreme elements to become among the first Democrats in the nation to benefit from black voters - Hampton is a fascinating character and Cisco provides a worthy introduction to him.
Walter Cisco does not repeat the bits of folklore that crept into the last Hampton biography, a 1940's hagiography; instead he quotes extensively from primary sources and lets his subject's character emerge naturally. Nor does he shy from uncomfortable aspects, such as the probable abuse of Hampton's sisters by another prominent South Carolinian, or Hampton's bitter exchanges with Sherman over POW executions in the Carolinas Campaign of 1865. However, by the time you finish this work, you'll understand Wade Hampton III as a major and underappreciated figure in both the military and civil history of the South and of our nation.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Don't Get Much Better Than This, December 13, 2010
Wade Hampton: Confederate, Warrior, Conservative Statesman, by Walter Brian Cisco. Potomac Books, Inc. Washington D.C. 2004.
This book is a biography of Wade Hampton III, a Confederate General during the American Civil War. Cisco gives a detailed look into Wade Hampton's life with focus on his service as a Confederate General during the Civil War and as a Conservative Statesmen in South Carolina after the war. It is Cisco's intent to demonstrate Wade Hampton's ability to transform himself from a slave owner to a respected Statesman who fought against the Radical Republican reconstruction efforts in the South. The author also gives the reader a glimpse into Nineteenth Century life and politics, as well as an understanding of how the United States was transformed from a Republic to an Empire. It is during this transformation that the author provides the reader with an in depth look at the life of a man who had played a significant role in shaping post Civil War South Carolina and helping the nation heal as a whole.
The author marshals his facts and his findings by using mostly primary sources; such as manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals. Some of the manuscripts Cisco uses include; Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, New York: Peter Smith, 1938. "Democratic Convention," Harper's Magazine vol. XXXVII, no. 220 (September 1868): 567-571, Constitution of the Minutemen for the Defense of Southern Rights, Camden, S.C. Camden Weekly Journal Press, 1860. These are just a few examples of the many manuscripts the author used. Some of the newspapers and periodicals that Cisco used include; Chicago Tribune, 1880, New York Times, 1866, 1867, 1876, 1877, Charleston Daily Courier, 1860, 1861,1862, 1865, 1866,1867. These also are just a few of the many newspapers that Cisco used.
This book is organized in a way that is both chronological and topical. The chapters are broken down into topics which follow a timeline from Wade Hampton's birth in 1818 to his death in 1902. The main focus of this book is a chronicle of Hampton's life during the Civil War through Reconstruction and his post war political life. Cisco provides some maps and pictures that are helpful for the reader to put a face or an image to the topic the reader is engaged in at the time. The author maintains a style of organization which makes an even flow from one topic to the next.
The author maintains a detailed account of Wade Hampton's life. Wade Hampton III was a native of South Carolina born in the city Charleston on March 28, 1818. Hampton's family had a history of military service; his father, Wade Hampton II was a wealthy planter and slave owner and fought alongside Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Hampton's grandfather; Wade Hampton senior fought on the side of Colonials in the American War for Independence. Hampton grew up in a wealthy family, receiving private education and in 1836 he graduated from South Carolina College. Early on, he devoted his life to the management of his great plantations in South Carolina and Mississippi. He was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1852 and served as a Senator from 1858 to 1861. In 1858 he inherited a vast fortune including the plantations and several slaves.
When war broke out Hampton was not against secession, but he did not want to see the Union being broken up either. Hampton was loyal to his home state and when the Ordinance of Secession came, he resigned from the Senate and enlisted as a Private in the South Carolina Militia. The Governor of South Carolina; however insisted that Hampton accept a Colonel's commission even though he had no military experience at all. Hampton organized and partially financed the unit known as "Hampton's Legion", which he personally financed all of the weapons for. He quickly rose to the rank of Brigadier General and by 1863 was promoted to Major General. Cisco maintains that Hampton was an effective leader by saying," (J.E.B.) Stuart admired Hampton's abilities, even if he could not quite forgive the forty-four-year-old for not having been born in Virginia."(94) After the Peninsula Campaign in 1862,Wade Hampton served under Stuart through the remainder of the war.
After the War ended, Hampton was offered the nomination of Governor, but refused because he felt the Northerners would be suspicious of a former Confederate General. It was not until 1876 that Hampton returned to the role of a politician. Hampton fought against the Radical Republicans' policies in the South. He ran as the first southern gubernatorial candidate against Reconstruction. Hampton ran as a Democrat against Radical Republican incumbent governor Daniel Henry Chamberlain. Supporters of Hampton were called Red Shirts and were known to practice violence. After the election; both parties claimed victory and for over six months, there were two legislatures in the state. Eventually, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Hampton as the winner of the election. After the election, Hampton became known as the "Savior of South Carolina."
Cisco's book offers a detailed look at a man who most certainly could be seen as a hero during the war and after the war at a time when it was not popular to be an Ex-Confederate. Cisco accomplishes his goal of presenting a well organized biography of a man who stood up to the Radicals and regained the Democratic mantra of being a party of the people. Wade Hampton was able to help return the Democratic Party back to its former glory and restore power back to the people. The author proves his thesis well by showing that Wade Hampton did indeed posses great leadership abilities. This book is an easy read and could be recommended to anyone who wishes to have a personal look into the life of a man who lived through pre-war America to post war Reconstruction and beyond.
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