South Carolina civil disturbances of 1876

The South Carolina civil disturbances of 1876 were a series of race riots and civil unrest sparked by the intense emotions developed because of the gubernatorial election of 1876 in South Carolina. They all occurred in counties where blacks were in the majority, but not significantly. The Upstate counties had majorities of whites and racial disturbances were uncommon whereas the Lowcountry counties had an overwhelming black population and the white people lived in absolute fear from the black mobs and militias. It was only in the Midlands and Charleston where a parity in numbers existed between the two races, leading to heated passions and intense confrontations.

July

Hamburg

"Main article: Hamburg Massacre"

Located across the Savannah River from Augusta, the black town of Hamburg was the scene of a violent race riot key to rallying South Carolina Democrats for the cause Wade Hampton in the South Carolina gubernatorial election of 1876. It started as a dispute over free passage on a public road on July 4 and by July 8 had turned into a confrontation between the militias of the blacks and whites. Seven men were killed in the incident and it provided the impetus for the Democratic redemption of the state.

eptember

Charleston

On the night of September 6 in Charleston, a black Democratic club held a meeting at Archer's Hall on King Street. A couple of black Radical Republican organizations, the Hunkidories and Live Oaks, assembled on King Street with the intent of disrupting the meeting. A small contingent of white Democrats formed to protect the black Democrats and fired their pistols above the heads of the first row of the black Republicans. However, the black Republicans stood their ground and the police were called to the fight. The arrival of the police resulted in a mêlée and caused enough confusion for the black Democrats to be escorted safely to The Citadel grounds at Marion Square.

The police fled and the black mobs ruled the streets of Charleston. They assaulted every white person that they saw, even attacking those not associated with the fighting. Two reporters for The Post and Courier were beaten and the driver of a street car was assaulted. A white man was killed in the hostilities and over fifty white men were injured.

The officers of the white rifle clubs assembled on the following morning of September 7 and patrols were organized to maintain order and ensure safety of the streets of Charleston. The inability of Governor Chamberlain and the local law authorities to preserve the peace further convinced the people of the state of the failure of Republican rule. Additionally, the menacing and threatening actions of the black mobs persuaded Northerners that the black people were not helpless victims, but byproducts of failed Reconstruction policies. [Williams, p126]

Ellenton

Near Silverton in Aiken County on the afternoon of September 15, two black men attempted to rob Mrs. Alonzo Harley while her husband was working in the fields. She and her ten year old son were brutally beaten, but she managed to ward off the black men by grabbing her husband's shotgun. The citizens tracked down one of the intruders, Peter Williams, who admitted to the crime and named his accomplice to be Fred Pope.

A warrant was issued for Pope's arrest and a party of 14 white men was formed on September 16. Pope was well defended at Rouse's Bridge by 40 armed black men, who refused to give him up. The blacks fired upon any approaching white man and the apprehending party sent in a black woman to obtain the arrest of Pope. However, the blacks held her and instead stated that six men could check to see if they held Pope. The white men showed their arrest warrant, but the blacks said that Pope was not among them and both sides agreed to disperse. As the whites were leaving, the blacks reinforced and laid an ambush from the swamps. They injured one white man, but three blacks were wounded from return fire.

During the night of September 16, the blacks tore up track of the Port Royal Railway and fired into a derailed freight car. The superintendent of the railroad requested assistance from Governor Chamberlain, but General Ruger refused to send troops against the order of the governor. The whites immediately feared an uprising by the blacks and issued a call to arms on September 17 because federal troops from Hamburg were not sent to restore order. Two forces were organized, one from Aiken led by Anthony Pickens Butler and the other by Johnson Hagood out of Barnwell.

By September 18, the situation resembled Indian warfare of the previous century as the whites sought to engage the blacks while on horseback and the blacks countered by organizing ambushes along the roads. The blacks were successful during the day in killing one white man and wounding another. Later in the evening, two companies of federal troops under the command of Captain Lloyd were dispatched from Aiken to end the skirmishing.

The federal troops arrived in Ellenton on the morning September 19 and convinced both the whites from Aiken and the blacks to disperse. Captain Lloyd and the federal troops left and reported on September 20 that all was quiet in Ellenton. Instead, the departure of the federal troops left a power vacuum that the blacks exploited by conducting a wave of arsons across southern Aiken County. Upon hearing that Hagood and his soldiers from Barnwell had reached the outskirts of Ellenton in the afternoon, the blacks reorganized with 70 men and laid an ambush in Penn Branch swamp. The whites managed to overwhelm the blacks killing at least 39 while suffering only two casualties. Simon Coker, a legislator in the South Carolina House of Representatives, was captured and executed because he had tried to lure the whites into another ambush. Afterwards, a detachment of whites retired to Ellenton to maintain order while the rest returned to Barnwell.

October

Cainhoy

A Democratic meeting was held in Cainhoy on October 16 and the steamer "Pocosin" was chartered because many of the Democrats would be attending from Charleston. However, a throng of black Republicans assembled at the docks and demanded to be taken to the meeting and given time to speak. The Democrats agreed to the conditions provided that both parties did not bring any weapons to the meeting.

However, the black Republicans had secretly brought weapons to Cainhoy and stashed them in the swamp and an old house nearby a church. They began to riot when hearing rumors that the whites had seized their weapons and that a white man had drawn a pistol in self defense. The blacks rushed from the swamps with their guns and pursued the retreating unarmed Democrats towards the church.

The Democrats became held up in the church, but all managed to escape except for one white man who was beaten to death and mutilated by the blacks. Regrouping in the cemetery, the Democrats conducted a rear-guard action to allow the wounded and elderly to flee, but suffered many casualties as a result. The "Pocosin" was quickly loaded with the wounded and returned from Charleston with 100 armed men of the Palmetto Guard to provide protection for the white citizens of Cainhoy.

The massacre at Cainhoy resulted in the deaths of six white men and wounding sixteen while only one black man was killed. The operation conducted by the black Republicans gave every appearance of being carefully planned and meticulously executed. [Reynolds, p380] With the threat of retaliatory attacks by the whites, Governor Chamberlain sent a company of Federal troops to prevent any more bloodshed.

Edgefield

On October 17, a group of six white men of red shirt club were leaving a Democratic meeting in Edgefield and were ambushed by two black brothers from a cotton patch about three miles outside the town. One of the white men was instantly killed from a headshot and one man departed to fetch the coroner and some reinforcements. Several other black men joined the brothers in the cotton field and fired their rifles, wounding the coroner in the leg. The red shirts threatened retaliation, but were restrained by Martin Gary and Wade Hampton because the black men were on state property. A total of five black men were arrested for the assault.

Mt. Pleasant

At Mt. Pleasant on the night of October 23, an armed mob of blacks occupied the town and threatened to kill all the inhabitants. The white citizens congregated in a single house and a mixed force of white and black Democrats were posted as sentries through the night. The black mob left in the morning and stated their intentions to return and terrorize the population.

November

Charleston

In Charleston on the afternoon of November 8, Edmund W. M. Mackey read aloud the election results from Republican newspapers to a crowd of blacks at the corner of Meeting and Broad streets. He left and went further down Broad street to the office of the News and Courier to read their bulletins. A drunk white man struck Mackey's face with his hat and in the ensuing scuffle, a gunshot went off. The blacks at the outskirts of the crowd yelled that Mackey had been killed and immediately a mob of blacks charged down Broad Street. They were held at bay when whites began to fire on them and they dispersed when the police arrived.

However, a number of the black policeman joined the rebellion instead of restoring order. A white man who asked for assistance from a black police officer was clubbed and the black policeman fired their guns indiscriminately at any white person they saw. A call to action went out to all the rifle clubs and red shirts in Charleston and over 500 men had assembled by five o'clock. In addition, two companies of federal troops converged with the men of the rifle clubs to end the bloodshed and reestablish order. The whites suffered one killed and twelve wounded in the riot while the blacks had one killed and eleven wounded.

Beaufort

During the night of November 7 in Beaufort after the closing of the polls, a black Democrat was assaulted and beaten by black Republicans. The next day he went to report the beating to a trial justice who sent Constable J. H. Shuman on November 14 to make arrests, but was killed when the black Republicans violently resisted arrest. Outraged red shirts across the Lowcountry gathered and restored order in the area while heeding calls from Wade Hampton to limit bloodshed and show mercy.

ee also

*South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1876
*History of South Carolina

Notes

References

*cite book | first = Edmund L. | last = Drago | title = Hurrah for Hampton!: Black Red Shirts in South Carolina during Reconstruction | year = 1998 | publisher = University of Arkansas Press | id = ISBN 1-55728-541-1
*cite book | first = Walter | last = Edgar | title = South Carolina A History | year = 1998 | publisher = University of South Carolina Press | id = ISBN 1-57003-255-6
*cite book | first = John S. | last = Reynolds | title = Reconstruction in South Carolina | year = 1969 | publisher = Negro University Press | id = ISBN 0-8371-1638-4
*cite book | first = Alfred B. | last = Williams | title = Hampton and his Red shirts; South Carolina's deliverance in 1876 | year = 1935 | publisher = Walker, Evans & Cogswell Company