ade Hampton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to Ann FitzSimons Hampton
and Wade Hampton II, a very wealthy planter. Young Hampton received his
education from private tutors, then at South Carolina College, graduating in
1836. He studied law and applied his legal training to the management of his
family's estates in Louisiana and Mississippi. Using his inherited wealth to
create even greater profits, he became one of the richest men in the South. In
1838 he married Margaret Preston; they had four children before she died in
1855. In 1858 he wed Mary McDuffie; they had two children.
In 1852 Hampton won the first of two terms in the South Carolina state
legislature before being elected to the state senate in 1856. He was a Southern
Democrat, but also a Unionist, which meant that he did not share the extreme
views of the radical states' rights wing of the party. He opposed South
Carolina's secession in December 1860, but granted its constitutional legitimacy
and remained loyal to his state and the new Confederacy.
At the onset of the Civil War, he was commissioned a colonel and raised his own
unit, called Hampton's Legion. He proved to be a highly effective military
officer. He participated in the Battles of First Bull Run (First Manassas) and
Seven Pines, suffering injuries at both. He was made senior brigadier in J.E.B.
Stuart's Cavalry Corps and saw action at Antietam and Gettysburg (where he was
injured again). In September 1863 he was promoted to major general, and in May
1864 he became corps commander after Stuart's death. His continuing record of
distinguished service was recognized with his elevation to lieutenant general in
February 1865.
Hampton had experienced great personal and property loss during the war; his
brother and his son had been killed, the latter dying in his arms, and his South
Carolina plantations had been burned. Yet he advised accommodating the federal
troops and officials in the South, rejected proposals for former Confederates to
emigrate to Latin America, and supported limited suffrage for black men. He
stood steadfast against Radical Reconstruction, though, labeling it
"illegal, unconstitutional, and ruinous." He believed that black
voters would follow the political leadership of their former masters, but they
voted Republican instead. Hampton chaired the state executive committee of the
Democratic party during the 1868 presidential campaign. He then retired from
politics for eight years, living primarily on his "Wild Woods" estate
in Mississippi.
Hampton returned to politics with a vengeance in 1876 when he entered the race
for governor of South Carolina. It was an extremely violence campaign. Hampton
and the Democrats ran as "redeemers" who would purge the state of
Republicans and their Reconstruction policies. The Democrats organized
paramilitary groups called the Red Shirts, who intimidated black and white
Republican voters. The most extreme example of their tactics was the Hamburg
Massacre, which resulted in the death of six blacks and one white. Hampton did
make an attempt to reign in the violence of his supporters, but had only limited
success.
Hampton won the governorship by a slim margin, but the Republicans charged the
Democrats with fraud and intimidation and refused to leave office. Hampton
pledged to the new Republican President, Rutherford B. Hayes, that he would
protect the rights of black South Carolinians and maintain the peace. Hayes
removed the remaining federal troops from the South and the Democrats took over
the state government. To his credit, Hampton did try to abide by his promise to
the president. Most Democrats wanted to remove all blacks from public office and
eliminate state educational funding for blacks. The new governor, however,
appointed a few blacks to minor positions, allowed some to run for public
office, sustained their right to vote, and protected state funding of black
schools. Still, he did not believe in racial equality, and blacks suffered
continued harassment and even greater legal restrictions during his
gubernatorial administration.
To white southerners, Hampton was a hero who represented the Confederate cause
and the overthrow of Reconstruction. He won an easy reelection victory in 1878,
but within a few weeks was elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate.
He served in the nation's upper house until 1891, but did not play a prominent
role in debates or legislation. His influence waned over the years, and he lost
a reelection bid in 1890. He was a member of the U.S. Railroad Commission from
1893 to 1897, then retired to Columbia, South Carolina, where he died.