The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 493
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"Those Texians Are Number One Men"
feel rather tired. I should have written you last night, but for the fact
that I didn't sleep much the night before, and was quite sleepy. I said, I
didnt sleep much, night before last-It was quite an eventful night. Let
me give you an account of it. In the first place a lot of young men from
the "Washington Light Infantry" 3 (Citizens of Charleston) took it into
their heads to give a concert. They accordingly went to the village of
Occoquan, distant from the camp about two miles, and about four
from the camp of the Enemy. Just think of that, the idea of having an
entertainment of that kind almost within gun shot of the Enemy's lines.
But then we had the river Occoquan between us. I knew nothing of the
affair until the arrangement was all completed. In the morning before
the night of the concert-they asked through their Capt. permission to
have it. I consented on condition that they would preserve good order,
conduct themselves properly, and not report anything about it in the
newspapers. They invited our Field and Staff and said it was gotten up
for our express benefit. So that we all concluded to go. Col Hampton 14
'SThe Washington Light Infantry of Charleston was formed in 1807 after the British frigate
Leopard fired on the U.S.S. Chesapeake within sight of the Virginia coast, and continued tensions
over the rights of neutral shipping prompted talk of war. The unit saw no action during the
War of 1812, but it was in combat in Florida during the Seminole War and fought in the Mexi-
can War as part of South Carolihna's Palmetto Regiment. During the Civil War the Washington
Light Infantry furnished three companies for Confederate service: two for the Twenty-fifth
South Carolihna Infantry and one for the Hampton Legion, which became Company A of the
infantry. Generals James Johnston Pettigrew and James Conner came out of this company.
Rolls of South Carolina Volunteers in the Confederate States Proviszonal Army. State Troops and Miscel-
laneous Rolls (5 vols., n.p., n.d.), V, 95, South Carolina Department of Archives and History,
Columbia, An Ihstorzcal Sketch of the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, S C (New York: D
Appleton and Co., 1875), 1- io; The Washington Light Infantry of Chaileston, S.C An Account of
the Revival of the Company (Charleston. Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1873), 23-26, 96, 99
'"Wade Hampton III (1818-1902) of Richland District, South Carolina, was perhaps the
richest planter in the South In addition to his plantation outside Columbia, he owned five
more in Mississippi, covering some io,ooo acres, and an interest in the Hampton family's sum-
mer retreat in the North Carolina mountains. Collectively the Hamptons were estimated to
own 3,000 slaves, probably more than anyone else in the southern states. Beginning in 1852
Hampton served three terms In the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly and
two in the senate. When the war broke out, he was commissioned a colonel and authorized to
raise a special regiment that combined Infantry, cavalry, and artillery battalions Hampton was
promoted to brigadier general to rank from May 23, 1862, and in July took command of a
brigade of the cavalry division under J. E. B. Stuart. Although he had no mihtary training,
Hampton proved to be an extraordinarily effective cavalry commander. He was promoted to
major general to rank from August 3, 1863, and assumed command of the corps after Stuart
was killed at Yellow 'ITavern in 1864. Hampton was promoted to heutenant general to rank
from February 14, 1865, and finished the war in the Campaign of the Carolinas against William
Tecumseh Sherman. In 1876 he ran successfully for governor of South Carolina on the
"Straight-Out" Democratic ticket that ended Republican rule. He was reelected in 1878 and
subsequently served two terms in the United States Senate before being defeated by "Pitch-
fork" Ben Tillman. Virginia G. Meynard, The Venturers The Hampton, Harrison, and Earle Fami-
lies of Vzrgina, South Carolina, and Texas (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1981), 194,
204, 211, 976-979; Manly Wade Wellman, Giant in Gray: A Biograplhy of Wade Hampton of South
Carolina (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1949), 15-54, Ezra J Warner, Generals in Gray
Lives of the Confederate Commanders (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959),
122-123; Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone (eds), Dictionary of American Biogaphy (io vols.;
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926-1936), IV, 213-215; Confederate Military Hizstory, I,
697-699.493
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992, periodical, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117153/m1/569/?rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.