Includes antique photograph in uniform

Commanded the famed "Hampton Legion" during the War Between the States

Wounded several times during the war

Served as Confederate Lieutenant General

Governor of South Carolina

United States Senator from South Carolina

(1818-1902) Born in Charleston, South Carolina, to a wealthy family, he graduated from South Carolina College in 1836, having studied law, although he never practiced. When Hampton's father died, he inherited a vast fortune, including all of his plantations, making him one of the richest men in the South. He served in both houses of the South Carolina State Legislature, 1852-61. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Hampton enlisted as a private in the South Carolina Militia; however, the governor of South Carolina insisted that Hampton accept a colonel's commission, even though he had no military experience. He then organized and equipped at his own expense what became known as the famed "Hampton Legion," taking them to Virginia in time to fight in the battle of 1st Manassas, where he was wounded. He was promoted to brigadier general on May 23, 1862, and appointed as a brigade commander in General Stonewall Jackson's division. At the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862, he was severely wounded in the foot, but remained on his horse while it was being treated, still under fire. He returned to his brigade in time to see action in the Seven Days campaign in Virginia. In 1862, General Hampton was assigned a cavalry command under General J.E.B. Stuart which he led in a series of cavalry raids behind Union lines, earning the praise of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. At the battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Hampton was wounded three times, twice by saber, and once by a piece of shrapnel to his hip. His men had been locked in fierce hand to hand combat with Union General George A. Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade. After the death of General Stuart, in the battle at Yellow Tavern, Va., in 1864, Hampton took over command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. He distinguished himself in his new role at the bloody Battle of Trevilian Station, defeating General Philip H. Sheridan's cavalry, and in fact, he did not lose any cavalry battles for the remainder of the war. In September 1864, Hampton conducted what became known as the "Beefsteak Raid," in which his troopers captured over 2,400 head of cattle and over 300 prisoners behind Federal lines. Hampton was promoted to lieutenant general on February 14, 1865, and he surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, to General William T. Sherman, in North Carolina, in April 1865. He returned to his estate to find it had been burned and ransacked by Sherman's army. In his post Civil War career, Hampton served as Governor of South Carolina, 1877-1879, and later was a U.S. Senator, 1879-91. From 1893 to 1897, Hampton served as United States Railroad Commissioner, appointed by President Grover Cleveland. He died at Columbia, South Carolina, on April 11, 1902, at the age of 84. He was buried at the Trinity Cathedral Church Yard, in Columbia.

Card Signature as Governor of South Carolina: 3 x 1 3/4, in ink, Wade Hampton, Governor So. Ca. Mounting traces on the verso. Very fine. This is a scarcer Hampton autograph to find in a card format. He was only governor for 1 term. Most of the card signatures, or clipped signatures, that you find are later versions when he was a U.S. Senator, a position he held from 1879-91, and they are signed with his name and state only. Signatures as governor pin this one down to the years, 1877-79.