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Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman

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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.

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.

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.

Wade Hampton is local hero here in Columbia, SC. His statue is prominent on the State House grounds and his home is a local historical society attraction. Outside of SC he may not be a household name, but within SC he is an icon, a figure respected and admired. This biography of Wade Hampton will give the reader an orderly summary of the key events of his life. When significant events occure the author goes into more detail, rightly so. Readers interested in Civil War military or political history, the history of Reconstruction, or American politics in general will benefit from this book.

I had trouble putting this book down and finished it in 2-3 days. I consider it one of the best books on my shelf, not only for its style, but because it is extremely well researched. Part of the fun after reading the book was going through the bibliography and the footnotes to see where Mr. Cisco came up with all the information he presented. "The Truth is (still) Out There", for anyone who cares or takes the time to look. Buy it, read it, and see what your school teachers left out when they taught you about "Reconstruction"!

Much of the information contained herein will disturb those who are public school educated AND have never learned to think for themselves, or who see the past in terms of their own world. If this is you, then don't buy this book. Instead, do an amazon search for "video games" and stay in your contented fugue state because you will certainly be disturbed by what's in this book!

I picked this up as I hadn't read all that much previously on General Hampton. I found the book surprising as the author is a South Carolinian and something of an apologist for the Confederacy, not something you see in most modern Civil War histories. The book is as much about his post Civil War political career as the governor of South Carolina as it is about his war time exploits, although those were considerable. The author is clearly no fan of the Reconstruction period either, but he does make a valient effort to make Hampton into something of a racial moderate, at least in comparison to his contemporaries. However, given South Carolina's troubled racial history since the Civil War, I found it hard to admire Hampton's success in overcoming the Yankee occupation.

There are redeeming qualities in this biography of Hampton. There is much more material included about Hampton's postwar life than is found in Longacre's treatment. But Cisco has totally bought into the highly favorable southern examinations of Hampton that predate the Civil Rights era. There were certainly redeeming qualities in Hampton who seems genuinely concerned about black's welfare especially when compared to racists like Ben Tillman (a Hampton opponent), N B Forest and John Brown Gordon (a Hampton ally), but Hampton was a virulent opponent of any black who did not see things his way and presided over the end of large-scale participation of blacks in South Carolina governance. It is notatable that Cisco includes nothing about Hampton as a slave-owner (he owned over 900 human beings) other than a few "oh he was a fine massa" quotes from ex slaves who were in no position to state otherwise.

There is still room for a scholarly study of Hampton particularly his role in slavery and his post war career. This one is for the Civil War buffs only.

The new biography of Hampton by Rod Andrew is indeed a vastly superior work compared to Cisco's effort, but I doubt it will receive as much readership.

With respect to the other reviewers in this forum, I must disagree with their positive impressions of this book. Cisco's book is strictly for the neo-Confederate reader. True, Hampton is in real need of a biography--there are basically three: Manly Wade Wellman, Giant in Gray, 1949; Ed Longacre's, Gentleman and Soldier, 2003; and Cisco's version. The best of the lot, Longacre's, is war heavy, and the other two are biased to a Confederate view. Indeed, Cisco's book can not be taken seriously by academics or even serious students of history with such outlandish comments that, "During the war many Southern blacks stood by their country--the Confederate States" (p. 170) Or, that Hampton "treated slaves as individuals and fellow human beings." (p. 41).

This book is poorly written and ignores Hampton's role as a Redeemer and slaveowner. Hampton, and the reading public, deserves better.