Description
Carte view of Confederate General Wade Hampton. One of three civilians who attained the rank of Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army without formal military training. He served in both houses of the South Carolina State Legislature from 1852 to 1861, and at the Civil War’s beginning he was reputed to be the largest landowner in the south. Originally opposed to Secession, he remained loyal to his home state once the war began, and organized the Hampton Legion, equipping it at his own expense. Commissioned a Colonel in the Confederate Army, he took his legion to Virginia to fight in the July 1861 First Bull Run Campaign, where he was wounded. He was promoted to Brigadier General in May 1862, Major General in August 1863, and to Lieutenant General in February 1865. He was wounded in the cavalry battle with Brigadier General George A. Custer’s forces on the third day of the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, and assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia’s cavalry corps in May 1864 after the death of Major General J.E.B. Stuart. The war ended for him in April 1865 when he surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston’s forces to Major General William T. Sherman at Durham, North Carolina. This example is back marked by Anthony.
