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Overview
"On the eve of the American Civil War, Wade Hampton, one of the wealthiest men in the South, and indeed the United States, remained loyal to his native South Carolina as it seceded from the Union. Raising his namesake Hampton Legion of soldiers, he eventually became a lieutenant general of Confederate cavalry after the death of the legendary J. E. B. Stuart. Hampton's highly capable military leadership throughout the Civil War has until recently been largely overlooked." "After the war, Hampton returned to South Carolina, where chaos and violence reigned as Union officials, newly freed slaves, and disenfranchised white Southerners battled for political control of the devastated economy. Reconstruction collapsed as Hampton was elected governor in the contested election of 1876 in which the governorship of South Carolina and the presidency of the United States hung in the balance. While aspects of Hampton's rise to power remain controversial, under his leadership stability returned to state government and rampant corruption was brought under control. Hampton then served in the U.S. Senate, from 1879 to 1891, eventually losing his seat to a henchman of notorious South Carolina governor "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, whose brand of grassroots, blatantly segregationist politics supplanted Hampton's genteel paternalism." In Wade Hampton, Walter Brian Cisco provides a comprehensively researched, highly readable, and long-overdue examination of a man whose military and political careers had a major impact upon South Carolina, and America. Focusing on all aspects of Hampton's life, Cisco has written the definitive biography of this man.Editorials
From the Publisher
"An exceptional book about an exceptional man.""Wade Hampton has been one of the most overlooked figures in American biography, though he played a major role as both soldier and statesman through a long part of the nineteenth century. We now have the book that has been needed. Comprehensively researched and vividly written, Walter Brian Cisco's biography is definitive. It also provides a stimulating and original view of many almost-forgotten aspects of American life in the Civil War era."
"Walter Brian Cisco's Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman is an extremely well-researched and well-written treatment of Wade Hampton's life that details both his triumphs on the battlefield as well as his greatest achievements in the political arena. Hampton fought like a lion for Confederate independence, and once the war was over, he fought even harder to bring peace and civil rights to the postwar South."
"Unlike previous biographers, Walter Brian Cisco does not engage in hero worship, but shows Hampton as a flesh-and-blood man. . . . Cisco has produced the most balanced account of this often-overlooked Palmetto State icon. For those unfamiliar with the general, this book will be an eye-opener."
"Walter Brian Cisco has not ony produced a penetrating and well-researched volume, he has managed to capture the essential dichotomy of American life in the mid to late nineteenth century. And he has done so with a certain panache and sympathy seldom exhibited in this day of 'political correctness.'"
"A comprehensively researched, highly readable, and long-overdue treatment of a man whose military and political careers significantly impacted not only south Carolina but America."
"A remarkably well-researched and readable treatise."
"Walter B. Cisco's new biography of Wade Hampton fills a void in the historiography of the War Between the States . . . . a well researched book that is an enjoyable read."
"Cisco clearly sets out to produce an exhaustively detailed portrait of Hampton, and in this regard he has succeeded handsomely."