Wade Hampton III

Wade Hampton III (March 28, 1818April 11, 1902) was an American military officer who joined the Confederate States of America in rebellion against the United States of America during the American Civil War. He later had a career as a South Carolina politician. Hampton came from a wealthy planter family. Shortly before the war, he was both one of the largest enslavers in the Southeastern United States and a state legislator. During the American Civil War, he joined the Confederate cavalry, where he was a lieutenant general. At the end of the Reconstruction era, with the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from South Carolina, Hampton was a member of the Redeemers, White Southerners who campaigned to restore white supremacy in the state. His campaign for governor was marked by extensive violence by the Red Shirts, a white supremacist paramilitary group that disrupted elections and suppressed Black voters in the state. Hampton was elected governor, serving from 1876 to 1879. After that, he served two terms as U.S. Senator from 1879 to 1891. Early life and career Wade Hampton III was born in 1818 at 54 Hasell St. in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest son of "Colonel" Wade Hampton II (1791–1858) and Ann (née Fitzsimmons) Hampton. His mother was from a wealthy family in Charleston. After the War of 1812, his father had built a fortune on land speculation in the southeastern United States.