Redcliffe`s August 2014 Newsletter

This newsletter sponsored by the campaign to re-elect James H. Hammond.
REDCLIFFE PLANTATION
181 REDCLIFFE RD
BEECH ISLAND, SC 29842
(803) 827–1473
UPCOMING
EVENTS AT
REDCLIFFE.

Vote like its 1842!
Redcliffe Southern Times
V O L U M E
9 ,
I S S U E
5
N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 4
HARRY HAMMOND & THE SIEGE OF PETERSBURG
.
Asst. Park Ranger
Jenny Tabbert
From June of 1864 through April Harry and other reinforcements dows to see what damage they
1865 the city of Petersburg, Vir- from the Army of Northern Virgin- had done…”
gina was besieged by the Union ia arrived near Petersburg in midArmy. Harry Hammond, eldest June 1864 to help General PGT After finally being allowed to
son of James Henry Hammond Beauregard and his troops foil the serve in segregated units in the
and future owner of RedUnion Army back in 1863,
cliffe, was right in the thick
several black regiments fought
The Petersburg Campaign
of things. A quartermaster
against the Confederate army
encompassed 292 days of
serving with Gregg’s Brigade
at Petersburg. When describin the Army of Northern Vir- combat, maneuver and trench ing a battle known to the
ginia, Harry wrote many warfare between June 15, 1864 South as the battle of Fussell’s
letters home to his wife EmiMill, Harry records that Conand April 2, 1865.
ly and daughter Julia during
federate forces were brought
- From the Civil War Trust website
the siege which described the
in to “recapture the works thus
conditions of the camp and
lost, and whipped the enemy
the events the soldiers endured.
Union Army’s attempts to occupy back with great slaughter—It is
the city. In a letter dated June 30th, the first time we fought negroes
Writing to his four-year-old 1864 Harry described the following and I am sorry to say no quarter
daughter Julia about a visit she to his wife Emily: “The enemy was shown them.”
had made to the camp earlier in throw a number of shells daily into
the year, Harry wrote “There has Petersburg but they do little dam- As well as providing first hand
been many a sad story for the age, the people (women and chil- accounts of the siege, Harry’s
people you saw that day, and dren) seem not to mind them at all - letters also reveal a man desperate
many weary anxious hours for on one street yesterday where such to be with his young family. Most
all of us since then… Now the a number of shells burst… women of his letters to his wife admonish
Yankees keep shooting so, every were passing about with little con- her for not writing him more ofday and every night, that no cern, dodging around a corner ten! For more information about
body knows what they are going when they heard a shell coming, or these letters see the Document of
to do from one day to another.”
putting their heads out of their win- the Month on the following page.
From James Henry
Hammond’s Diary for
15 November 1841:
VOTE LIKE ITS 1842!
“Thirty-four years
old today. Dined
with mother and
family on a 7 year
old Gobbler.”
In 1842 35-year-old James H. Hammond cast
his bid for Governor of South Carolina. He
didn’t even have an opponent until the day of
the election! Can he win the election again?
Not a traditional
modern Thanksgiving
but close enough!
during Redcliffe’s regular house tours
Regular Tours (11, 1 & 3)
Nov 1 - 9, 2014
$5/adult, $4/Ages 6-16, $3/
SC seniors, Free/5 & under

An Evening with the
Hammonds: 1864
Sat, Nov 22 5 PM—6:30
$10/Adult, $7.25/SC Senior
For more information on these
programs please contact the park.
Park Staff
Park Manager
Joy Raintree
Park Interpreter
Elizabeth Laney
Park Technician
Doug Kratz
Asst. Park Ranger
Josh Snipes
November 1-3 & 6-9
at 11 am, 1 pm & 3 pm
$5/Adults, $4/Ages 6-16, $3 SC Seniors
Some individuals may be ineligible to vote in this election.
James Henry Hammond
Get an “I Voted in the 1842 Election” sticker!!
Robert FW Allston
Governor (and later Senator) James Henry Hammond was no stranger to a good argument. In the two
examples below he blasts Governor Morehead of North Carolina during the negotiation of the release
of a “political offender”, circa 1842 (left) and mocks future Governor of South Carolina William Henry Gist in a private diary entry after Gist opposed Hammond’s own election as Governor, 1842 (right).
08 Dec 1842
The leaders were Bill Myers, a
notorious blackguard...Wm. H.
Gist, a bladder and blatherer from
Union, and L.T. Wigfall, the
Edgefield bravo…
I am endeavoring to collect
the names of those who
voted against me.
from The State, “Carolina Folklore”, 2/2/1964
from the diary of James Henry Hammond, 1842
Document of the Month - Harry & Emily Hammond’s
Two years after Harry Hammond married
Emily Cumming in 1859, Civil War broke
out. In the Hammond family papers today there is a collection of letters
written back and forth between
Harry and Emily which describes
the couple’s Civil War experiences—his on the war front and hers
on the home front. The letters
provide a touching look at a
young family, often separated by
the war. The letters are a part of
the
Hammond-Bryan-Cumming
Papers at the University of South
Carolina’s Caroliniana Library, but
scans of several of the letters are
on display in an exhibit in the
Redcliffe Plantation SHS Visitor
Center today.
Civil War Letters