Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/223

Rh should have been so disguised as to lead to the conviction on the part of his soldiery that the act, so far from incurring his disapprobation or censure, would be a source, to him, of peculiar gratification." The cotton bales in the town had been placed in the centre of the wide streets in order to be burned to prevent their falling into the possession of the invaders. But upon General Hampton suggesting that this might endanger the town, and that as the South Carolina railroad had been destroyed, the cotton could not be removed, General Beauregard, upon this representation, directed General Hampton to issue an order that the cotton should not be burned. The proof of this fact is to be found in the written statement of General Beauregard himself. Accordingly, and in due time, the order forbidding the burning of the cotton was issued by General Hampton and communicated to the Confederate troops. The officer then acting as General Hampton's adjutant (Captain Rawlins Lowndes) speaks as follows: "Soon after General Hampton assumed command of the cavalry, which he did on the evening of the 16th of February, he told me that General Beauregard had determined not to burn the cotton, as the Yankees had destroyed the railroad, and directed me to issue an order that no cotton should be fired. This I did at once, and the same order was extended to the cavalry throughout their march through South and North Carolina." The general officer commanding the division forming the rear guard of the Confederate cavalry (General M. C. Butler) deposes: "That he was personally present with the rear squadron of his division; that Lieutenant-General Wade Hampton withdrew simultaneously with him, with a part of this deponent's command, and that General Hampton, on the morning of the evacuation and the day previous, directed him that the cotton must not be set on fire, and this order, he adds, was communicated to the entire division and strictly observed." A clergyman, highly esteemed at the North, as well as at the South (Rev. J. Toomer Porter), thus testifies: "General Hampton had told me at daylight, in answer to the question whether he was going to burn the cotton: 'No, the wind is high; it might catch something and give Sherman an excuse to burn the town.'" "Between 8 and 9 o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February," deposes the Mayor, "General Hampton, while sitting on his horse, observed some cotton piled not far off, in the middle of the street. He advised me to put a guard over it, saying: 'Some careless ones, by smoking, might set it on fire, and in doing