Hampton, Wade (1818-1902) to Joseph Wheeler
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02662 Author/Creator: Hampton, Wade (1818-1902) Place Written: Doggers Springs, Virginia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 16 August 1899 Pagination: 7 p. ; 25 x 20 cm. Order a Copy
Writes to Wheeler, a former Confederate general, about an article Wheeler wrote and corrects some mistakes. Explains that he was asked to correct them by former Confederate soldiers under his command who are still loyal to the Confederacy and felt that Wheeler's intimation that they had deserted did not do them justice. Explains why a plan to take Confederate President Jefferson Davis across the Mississippi River failed and supplies extracts of correspondence from April 1865 to help explain his points. Discusses how he heard of the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston to Union General William E. Sherman. Describes trying to catch up with President Davis after the surrender but that he kept missing him at each city. States he reached Yorkville alone and that is why it was supposed that his men deserted him. This was not the case as his men were to meet him the next day. Wade explains that he understands how Wheeler made this error in his article but feels he must defend his men's reputation.
Wade was a Confederate general in the Civil War, governor of South Carolina and a United States senator. He had opposed efforts of Johnston and the North Carolina government to surrender to Sherman at the end of the war. Wheeler also served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War but had been rehabilitated by the Republicans under President McKinley and served in the Spanish-American War. He later held office in the Department of Justice.
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