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Lieutenant General Wade Hampton

NAME
Hampton, Wade
BORN
March 28, 1818
Charleston, South Carolina
DIED
April 11, 1902
Columbia, South Carolina
ARMY
Confederate

He graduated from South Carolina College in 1826 and studied law, but he did not practice. He made a financial success of his family's plantations in South Carolina and Mississippi. Hampton felt that the states of the South had the right to secede, but he questioned the institution of slavery and was concerned about the economic consequences of secession. He held several small public offices.

When South Carolina seceded, Hampton joined the Confederacy and was commissioned as a Colonel. He raised a command of cavalry, which was known as the Hampton Legion.

He was wounded at the battles of 1st Bull Run, Seven Pines, and Gettysburg. Being promoted to lieutenant general on February 15, 1865, he was one of only 3 Confederate lieutenant generals to reach that rank without formal military education. Hampton held a command position at Antietam, Wilderness, Peninsular, Gettysburg, and Petersburg Campiagns and the Chambersburg Raid. After the battle of the Wilderness, he replaced Major Gen. J.E.B. Stuart as commander of the Cavalry Corps.

Hampton trained the cavalry troops to fight on foot when the Confederacy faced a shortage of horses. Hampton led troops to support Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's retreat through South Carolina. Since he and his troops were not actually under Johnston's command, Hampton did not have to surrender. He had considered following President Jefferson Davis and crossing the Mississippi River to continue resistance in Texas, but never did.

After the war, Hampton returned to his family's estates, which were ruined, and was able to restore them to their precious financial success. Politically, he strongly opposed the Radical Republicans, and was elected governor of South Carolina in 1876 and 1878. He was then elected to the Senate, in which he served until 1891.

When the Populists defeated Hampton's "Old South" party, Hampton ended his political career.

Promotions:

  • Colonel - 1861
  • Brigadier General - May 23, 1862
  • Major General - August 3, 1863
  • Lieutenant General - February 15, 1865

Major Commands:

  • Hampton Legion cavalry
  • Army of Northern Virginia, Cavalry Corps
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