University of Virginia Library

PREFACE

As has been published, I have undertaken with much pleasure
the task of editing the Memoirs of the late Johnson Hagood,
which gives thrilling incidents of the skill of the gallant General
and of the valor of the brave men who dared to follow where
he dared to lead.

Veterans of this grand old brigade, let me say that you are
the remnant of many a well-fought field. You bring with you
marks of honor from Secessionville, Battery Wagner, Cold Harbor,
Petersburg, and other bloody battlefields. When in your
youthful days you put everything at hazard in your country's
cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still
your fondest hopes were not realized. Venerable men, you have
come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously
lengthened out your lives. You are now where you stood
fifty years ago. Behold, how changed! You hear now no roar
of hostile cannon. You see no mixed volumes of smoke and flame
rising from your burning homes—the ground strewed with the
dead and dying—the impetuous charge, the steady and successful
repulse—the loud call to repeated assault, the summoning of all
that is manly to repeated resistance, thousands of bosoms freely
and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may
be in war and death. All these you have witnessed, but you witness
them no more. But, alas! you are not all here—time and
the sword have thinned your ranks. Comrades who fell in battle,
our eyes seek for you in vain amid the broken band—you are
gathered to your fathers, and live only to your country in her
grateful remembrance and your own bright example.

It is hard to realize how information from good scouts has
enabled our generals to win such glorious victories and how
disastrous information from poor scouts has been in all armies.
If General A. P. Hill had been well informed by his scouts, 21
August, 1864, General Hagood would not have made this remark:
"That wielding a blade of such high temper, no wonder its
brigadier hated to have to hack it against impossibilities."

I quote from the historic speech delivered before the New
England Society in New York City, 12 December, 1886, by
Henry W. Grady, of Atlanta, Ga.:

"You of the North have had drawn for you with a master's
hand the picture of your returning armies. You have heard
how they came back to you marching with proud and victorious
tread, reading their glory in a nation's eyes.

"Will you bear with me while I tell you of another army that
sought its home at the close of the late war—an army that
marched home in defeat and not in victory, in pathos and not
in splendor, but in glory that equalled yours, and to hearts as
loving as ever welcomed heroes home?

"Let me picture to you the footsore Confederate soldier, as
buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the parole which was to
bear testimony to his children of his fidelity and faith, he turned
his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. Think of
him as ragged, half starved, heavy hearted, enfeebled by want
and wounds; having fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his
gun, wrings the hands of his comrades in silence, and, lifting
his tear-stained and pallid face for the last time to the graves
that dot the old Virginia hills, pulls his gray cap over his brow
and begins the slow and painful journey. What does he find—let
me ask you, who went to your homes eager to find in the welcome
you had justly earned, full payment for four years' sacrifice—
what does he (the Confederate soldier) find when, having followed
the battle-stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading
death not half so much as surrender, he reaches the home he
left so prosperous and beautiful?

"He finds his home in ruins, his slaves free, his stock killed, his
barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money worthless, his comrades
slain, and the burdens of others heavy on his shoulders.

"What does he do—this hero in gray with a heart of gold?
Does he sit down in sullenness and despair? Not for a day.
Surely God, who has stripped him of his prosperity, inspired
him in his adversity. As ruin was never before so overwhelming,
never was restoration swifter. The soldier stepped from the
trenches into the furrow; horses that charged Federal guns
marched before the plow, and fields that ran with blood in April
were green with the harvest in June."

Every word contained in General Johnson Hagood's Mss.
Memoirs appear in this book.

U. R. Brooks, Editor.

From The State, Columbia, S. C., Wednesday, January 5th, 1898.

Out of the thinning line falls one more man in gray. The
death that in his youth he so often sought in conflict has come
unsummoned to Johnson Hagood in his old age and in the hallowed
peace of his home. But he met it, we may be sure, with
the same quiet smile of old, the serenity of a strong and fearless
soul.

General and governor, planter and comptroller, banker and
man of affairs, Johnson Hagood had his full share of honor and
labor in the State of his birth and his devotion. The story of
his career is elsewhere told, but we must set down the thoughts
that come with the memories of long, and, for a time, intimate
association. We first knew General Hagood during the political
campaign of 1880, when he, as the Democratic candidate for governor,
and the writer, as a newspaper representative, journeyed
together through nearly every county in South Carolina. Six
weeks of this close companionship gave an insight into his character
which years of ordinary acquaintance would not have done,
and the friendship there contracted and since continued prompts
this contribution to a better understanding of one of the strongest
and most individual of the sons of the State.

For General Hagood, although eminently honored by his people,
was not known to them as he should have been. He was
diffident, and was often considered haughty; he was reserved,
and was thought cold; he had a wonderfully clear perception and
the penalty for it was that he was sometimes set down as overcalculating.

Johnson Hagood, we have reason to believe, went into the war
knowing that the South would fail, knowing that all its sacrifices
of life and wealth and position would be utterly vain. But he
believed in the cause of his people, and he led his men into battle
as if he had the faith and confidence of a fanatic. His mind, as
we have said, was intensely logical and reflective. He was a
man who thought hard and reasoned icily; yet he could go
against his reason when loyalty demanded.

He had perfect self-poise and was master of his emotions; for
he had emotions under that calm and steady demeanor. When
he was a candidate for governor and had to make his speech in
each one of the thirty-odd counties his voice would choke and he

would tremble as he faced his audiences, so great was his diffidence;
and he was accustomed to say that he would rather charge
a battery than go through such an ordeal—but go through it he
did, holding himself sternly in hand. In other things his self-command
was no less apparent.

He seemed often to be stern of face and thought, but for those
he liked he had a smile as sweet as ever lit up a countenance and
revealed an inner gentleness. Genial he was with his friends and
a good raconteur, with a quiet humor that had a special charm.

General Hagood loved his State and his people, and had a sympathy
with the masses in their hardships which he illustrated by
his concurrence in the free silver movement of 1896. He was a
banker and a man of means, and he had doubts on the silver
question; but, as he said to us in that year, he was willing to take
the risk in the hope that relief might come to those who needed
it so sorely.

A life-long planter, he was successful in his operations, and was
one of the best informed men on agricultural affairs that the
State possessed. He thought much and deeply on farming and
reached wise conclusions, one of which, as we remember, was that
the agricultural salvation of the State was to be worked out
through the development of certain little-regarded crops indigenous
to the soil.

He had a remarkable capacity for organization, and was
thorough, methodical and exact in all his undertakings. A man
of many parts, his strongest characteristic was that he was a real
and original thinker. There are far fewer such than the world
assumes. Johnson Hagood did his own thinking, he made his
own analyses of every question, and he reached his own clear and
logical conclusions.

Much more might be said with truth, but we must be content
to have drawn to the observation of those who did not know him
well some of the salient points of a strong character. He had
nearly reached his three-score years and ten, and the time had
come for him to pass away, but the loss to South Carolina is no
less real because it is late. History will give Johnson Hagood a
place among the great men of his State.

From The News and Courier, Charleston, S. C. Wednesday,
January 5th, 1898.

Crowned with nearly seventy years of honorable life, without a
stain upon his shield, at peace with God and man, General Johnson
Hagood has passed away from these earthly scenes forever.
His life was an inspiration, his death a benediction. He lived
uprightly, he died peacefully. What his hands found to do, he
did with all his might. He was a great soldier, a master of men.
The highest word with him was duty. His strongest ally in all
the storms and conflicts through which he passed was faith—the
faith of a little child. His conscience was his life, his incentive
in action, his comforter in repose, his rod and staff in the final
onset when he won his last great victory.

In every fibre of his soul, in every pulsation of his heart, in
every aspiration of his life he was devoted to the State which he
honored by his service in field and forum. He fought in South
Carolina, in North Carolina and Virginia, and fought with a
courage and intrepidity that challenged admiration. He was no
holiday soldier. Stern in discipline, where discipline was necessary
to the development of the best military qualities, he yet
despised the show and sham of great parade, and measured
officers and men alike by their devotion to the cause in which
he was enlisted. At Battery Wagner, at Drury's Bluff, in the
defence of Charleston, on the James and Chickahominy, he was
ready for every command, and equal to any service. The story
of Hagood's Brigade makes one of the most thrilling and glorious
chapters in the military history of South Carolina. It stood of
right among the bravest of the brave, and it was what it was
because of the courage, the devotion, the military spirit of its
indomitable commander.

General Hagood's claim to a high place among the immortals
of South Carolina rests largely, but not wholly, upon his splendid
services in war. But he was citizen as well as a soldier. In the
Reconstruction days he remained faithful to his people and to
himself; and it was due in large measure to his skill in organization,
his mastery of emergencies, his fearlessness of consequences,
that the rule of the alien was overthrown in South
Carolina. As Comptroller-General and Governor of the State, he
proved his fidelity to civic trust and, after his retirement to

private life, to the end he was always the same modest man,
loyal to his own conscience and unfaltering in his devotion to
what was best for his people and his State.

We shall not attempt to tell the story of his life and character
and achievements here—it will be written doubtless by others
who are more competent for the service and who will write without
the overwhelming sense of sudden bereavement upon them.
We simply wish to pay tribute today to the modest gentleman,
the gallant soldier, the incorruptible citizen, who has crossed the
river to his waiting comrades on the other shore.

General Hagood's last public appearance in Charleston was at
the reunion of the Confederate Veterans in April, 1896. The
scene in the German Artillery Hall, when he responded to the
call of his wartime comrades is indelibly photographed on the
mind and heart of every one who heard his thrilling words. It
was a soldier's greeting to soldiers, and a soldier's good-bye.
There were no apologies for the past in what he said, and no
regrets except for the unreturning dead. "Together we have
felt," he said, "the mad excitement of the charge, the glorious
enthusiasm of victory, the sullen anger of defeat. Together we
have passed through the valley and the shadow of political reconstruction.
. . . You believed then, and you know now, you
were right. I am with you today as I have been in the past, body
and heart and soul. Our service is nearly over. Most of those
we knew and loved are gone. They are passing now. . . . For
us there is little more left than to prepare for the final inspection
and review. Let us humbly trust that we will meet the approval
of the Great Commander beyond the river."

"They are passing now"; a few months ago it was McGowan;
then it was Cothran; now it is Hagood.

General Hagood in Charleston.

General Hagood's last public appearance in Charleston was at
the reunion of the Confederate Veterans, nearly two years ago.

In its report of the meeting held at the German Artillery Hall
The News and Courier of April 23rd, 1896, said:

When it was decided to stop the reading of the report the
veterans out in the hall wanted a speech, and especially one from
their beloved Hagood. Some one cried out "Hagood," and that
settled the matter. There could be nothing more done until the
gallant Hagood had been seen and heard by the veterans. General
Hagood did not want to talk, and especially not to interfere
with the proceedings, but the veterans insisted and he was always
too willing a man to do his duty not to respond, and so he stepped
out to the front of the stage, and it must have made his heart
gladden to see how he was received by his old soldiers as well as
by those who fought for the same cause under different commanders.
But General Hagood is always equal to an emergency,
and last night he made a short talk to his old soldier friends that
touched them deeply, and left even a brighter picture of the gallant
soldier. General Hagood said in brief:

"I thank you for your kind greeting. It is a long time since
we have met, since we have looked into each other's eyes and
grasped each other's hands. In the long ago we together toiled
in the weary march and looked upon `battle's magnificently stern
array.' Together we have felt the mad excitement of the charge,
the glorious enthusiasm of victory, the sullen anger of defeat.
And harder, sterner duties have been our lot. Together we have
passed through the valley and the shadow of political reconstruction.
We have seen civil rights, sacred from tradition and baptized
in the blood of a patriot ancestry, trampled in the dust.
We have seen the accumulations of two centuries of thrift and
industry swept away, and the State plundered as a ship by a
pirate crew. But `God fulfills Himself in many ways.'

"Today our fair Southland, thanks to the indomitable energies
of her blood, and the abounding resources of her gracious endowment,
with her wounds cicatrized and her plumage renewed, is
moving like the eagle's flight, upward and onward.

"You have met these varied fortunes as they came, and in the
part you bore, you believed then, and you believe now, you were
right.

"Old friends, welcome—and perhaps, good-bye. I am with you
today as I have been in the past, body and heart and soul. Our

service is nearly over. Most of those we knew and loved are
gone. They are passing now. Even while the drums were beating
the assembly for this reunion the youngest but one of your
brigadiers answered the last roll call on earth. John Kennedy,
patriot, soldier, knightly gentleman, is dead. His honored place
in your midst is vacant. The peace of God is on his brow.

"Younger men, as they should, are filling the ranks. They, too,
are ready to live or die, `for the ashes of their sires and the altars
of their gods. For us there is little more left than to prepare
for the final inspection and review.

"Let us humbly trust that we will there meet the approval of
the Great Commander beyond the river."

General Hagood was quite frequently interrupted by applause,
and at the conclusion of his brief talk there was another round
of applause for Hagood.

A Sketch of His Life.

General Hagood was one of South Carolina's most distinguished
sons. He was born in Barnwell County on February 21,
1829. His family was one of English extraction and settled originally
in Virginia, but prior to the Revolutionary war moved to
this State, located in the Ninety-Six District. Early in the
present century, Johnson Hagood, the grandfather for whom
he was named, removed from Charleston, where he was a prominent
lawyer, to Barnwell County, and there his son, Dr. James O.
Hagood, was, previous to the civil war, a successful planter.
Dr. Hagood practiced his profession of medicine for more than
fifty years, and greatly endeared himself to the people among
whom he lived. He died in January, 1873.

General Hagood got his early education at the Richmond
Academy in Augusta, Ga., and at the age of sixteen years he
entered the Citadel in Charleston, graduating in November, 1847,
with the highest honors of his class. After his graduation he
studied law under the Hon. Edmund Bellinger, a distinguished
lawyer of his day, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. The next
year Governor John H. Means appointed him deputy adjutant
general of militia, a portion of his duties consisting of drilling the
militia at its various encampments over the State. In December,

1851, he was elected by the Legislature commissioner in equity for
the Barnwell District, which important legal position he held
until hostilities broke out in 1861. Then he resigned to enter the
Confederate army. During the decade prior to the war he was
also engaged in conducting his large plantation.

When South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Secession he
was brigadier general of militia; he was at once made colonel of
the First South Carolina Volunteers and took part in the bombardment
of Fort Sumter under General Beauregard in April,
1861. He was then transferred from the volunteer corps to the
Confederate States Army, retaining his rank as colonel. He was
present at the battle of Bull Run. Returning to South Carolina
he was engaged in the operations around Charleston, and at the
battle of Secessionville, June 16, 1862. Immediately after that
battle he was promoted by President Davis to the rank of brigadier
general, and served on the coast of South Carolina until
May, 1864, being engaged in the defense of Charleston during
General Gilmore's siege of that city, and in the defense of Fort
Wagner and the operations on James Island. In May, 1864, he
was, with his command, withdrawn from Charleston and ordered
to Petersburg, Va., where he arrived May 7th, and at Walthall
Junction, a few miles beyond, met the advance forces of General
B. F. Butler, consisting of five brigades. With 1,500 of his men,
supported by 1,100 men of Johnson's Tennessee brigade, he
repulsed them in the open field, many of his most gallant field
and staff officers being killed and wounded. This gave time for the
concentration of troops from the southward for the defense of
Petersburg against Butler's advance. He served under General
Beauregard at Petersburg and afterwards under the same general
in Hoke's Division at Drury's Bluff against Butler and in
the operations at Bermuda Hundreds. During the latter period
he was instrumental in the erection of a battery at Howlett's
House on the James River which, sweeping Butler's transports in
the bend of the river, caused Butler to conceive the idea of cutting
the famous Dutch Gap canal to escape, in his further advance
up the river, the fire of this battery. The first pieces with which
the battery was mounted were two 20-pound Parrots captured by
Hagood's Brigade at the battle of Drury's Bluff. After General
Beauregard had succeeded in bottling up Butler in the peninsular

of Bermuda Hundreds, General Hagood's Brigade, with its
division, was ordered to join General Lee. It reached him at Cold
Harbor just prior to the battle of June 3, 1864, in which it was
actively engaged. At the siege of Petersburg, which ensued, this
brigade served in the trenches at one time sixty-seven days without
relief, and in that period was reduced by casualties and
disease from 2,300 men to 700 present for duty. At another time
the next officer in rank to the brigadier present for duty was a
captain, and four of the five regiments were commanded by lieutenants.
At a later period during the month of August in the
fighting on the Weldon road, General Hagood became the hero
of as daring and gallant an exploit as is found in the history of
the war. His command had been ordered to charge the enemy,
and when the line of their works was reached some 200 of his
men, having gotten into a re-entering angle where they were
exposed to a severe cross fire, a line was pushed out surrounding
them, and a mounted officer of the enemy galloping out of a
sallyport, seized the colors of the Eleventh regiment and called
upon them to surrender. Several officers and men prepared to
do so, but had not been carried in when General Hagood, whose
horse had been previously shot, proceeding towards them, called
upon his men to shoot the officer. In the confusion they seemed
bewildered and failed to do so. The general, having now come
up to the spot, demanded the colors, telling the officer he was free
to return to his troops. Instead of so doing he commenced to
argue about the desperate position of the small band of Confederates.
General Hagood, cutting him short, demanded a direct
answer, and receiving a decisive negative, shot him from his
horse. His orderly, Stoney, seized the falling colors, and the
general, springing into the saddle of his adversary, succeeded in
withdrawing his men with as little loss as could have been
expected from the terrific fire to which they were exposed in
retiring.

Some years after the war it was a pleasing incident to General
Hagood that by furnishing a statement of the facts he was
enabled to assist in procuring a pension from the United States
Government for the gallant officer with whom the fortunes of
war had placed him in conflict and who had survived the wound
inflicted. General Beauregard, in forwarding the report of this

affair to General Lee, remarked: "Such an act of gallantry as
herein described and of devotion to his flag reflects the highest
credit upon the officer who performs it and should be held up to
the army as worthy of imitation under similar circumstances.
Brigadier-General Hagood is a brave and meritorious officer who
has distinguished himself already at Battery Wagner and Drury's
Bluff and participated actively in the battle of Ware, Bottom's
Church, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, June 16 and 17, 1864, and
I respectfully recommend him for promotion at the earliest
opportunity."

Shortly before Christmas, 1864, General Hagood was ordered
to re-enforce the troops in North Carolina, and was engaged in the
operations around Wilmington and afterwards in General Hoke's
Division at the battles of Kinston and Bentonyille. Retiring
before overwhelming numbers, General Hagood's command surrendered
with General Johnston at Greensboro, N. C.

His brigade entered the war 4,500 strong; at its conclusion only
499 veterans remained of that gallant band, including himself
and his staff. At the termination of hostilities, General Hagood
returned to active supervision of his planting interests. But
he was not long permitted to devote his entire time and attention
to his private affairs. In 1871 the burden of taxation under
a profligate carpetbag rule in South Carolina having become well-nigh
intolerable, General Hagood became a delegate to the State
Taxpayers' Convention held at Columbia and composed of the
most intelligent and responsible men in the State. The Convention
was called to consider the enormous and increasing State
debt and to ascertain if possible its actual amount and what portion
of it had been legally contracted. A false statement of the
State's liabilities was placed before them by Governor R. K.
Scott and the State officers, and a false set of books were produced.
The history of the work of this Convention looking to
the final repudiation of a good proportion of the fraudulent
public debt is familiar to many. General Hagood was the chairman
of the committee that made the investigation, being
appointed to that position on February 20, 1871.

In 1876 General Hagood was nominated on the Democratic
ticket for comptroller-general, and by his patient, prudent and
courageous course during the exciting campaign that followed,

contributed largely to secure the great moral triumph of law and
order and the downfall of the corrupt Radical rule in the old
Palmetto State.

His management as county chairman of the campaign in Barnwell
was perfect in its organization and such as to gain the confidence
of all moderate Republicans as well as Democrats. The
colored voters flocked in large numbers to the Democratic standard
and joined the Democratic clubs, and although hitherto
there had been a Republican majority of 1,800, almost wholly
colored, the county was carried by a majority of more than 1,100
for the Democratic ticket. More than 2,000 mounted men in red
shirts escorted General Hampton through Barnwell County,
camping from time to time at various points where he stopped to
speak, and the enthusiasm of all classes was unexampled.

During the Ellenton riots General Hagood was placed by the
Republican Judge Wiggins in command of an armed posse to
repress the disturbance. And during the uncertain and perilous
time between the election in November, 1876, and the recognition
of the Hampton government by President Hayes, when any
moment might have precipitated a collision between the rival
parties, Governor Hampton called only two of the State officers
to his assistance—General Hagood and Attorney-General James
Connor. Acting in entire accord with General Hampton they
were both an advisory council and his executive officers during
the existence of the dual governments. It was largely through
the influence of General Hagood that over a thousand of the
negroes in the county at the time united in the voluntary contribution
by the citizens of the State of one-tenth of the texes they
had paid the previous year to the support of the Hampton government
before it had been formally recognized by President
Hayes. In May, 1877, he formally took possession of his office in
the State capitol and at once entered upon the duties thereof. He
applied himself to the task of thoroughly organizing and systematizing
his department, which task he successfully accomplished.

At the regular election in 1878, his admirable conduct of the
office was recognized and rewarded by a re-election and he continued
in this office another two years, only to be still more honored
by the people, who, in 1880, elected him governor of the
State.

His inaugural address was an able paper; it was characteristic
of the man. Brief, practical, suggestive, it discarded generalities
and dealing with the matter in hand, set forth succinctly the
present condition of the State, marked the improvements which
had followed the restoration of honest government in 1876, and
indicated in what direction, in his opinion, further progress
could be made. He contrasted the then conditions with those of
the period of riotous misrule that preceded. In concluding his
address he said: "But the political equality of all men in South
Carolina is now as fixed a feature of her policy as is the Blue
Ridge in her geography. It can neither be suppressed nor
evaded. The solution of the problem requires the wisest thought,
the gravest counsel. It seems to me that I see it in firmness, moderation,
justice. Let these characterize every act of legislation.
It is my duty as governor to take care that the laws are faithfully
executed in mercy. I repeat the pledge made before my election
—that in the discharge of this high trust I shall know neither
white man nor colored man, but only citizens of South Carolina
alike amenable to her laws and entitled to their protection."

Governor Hagood's administration upon these lines was a success.
Notwithstanding his expressed desire to retire at the end
of his term, the disposition of the people of the State was strong
for his re-election as their chief executive, and it was upon his
declaration that he would not accept a renomination that they
began to look elsewhere for his successor. The press of the State,
upon his retirement, without exception generously voiced the universal
approval he had earned.

Since Governor Hagood's retirement at the close of his term he
has taken but little part in active politics. Without further
aspiration for office, he took his position in the ranks and simply
sought to do his duty as a citizen to his party and his country.
He devoted his attention chiefly to his agricultural pursuits and
to the development of the local enterprises and industries of his
county. He was instrumental in the formation of a building and
improvement association, an oil and fertilizer factory, a bank, a
graded school and other enterprises. He always took a deep
interest in agriculture and education.

In 1869 he was elected the first president since the war of the
South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Society, holding

that office for four years, when he declined re-election. He was
also for two terms chairman of the State Board of Agriculture.
He was the pioneer in and a strong advocate for the diversification
of the State's farming industry, to which much of its present
success is due; and his contributions to the agricultural press,
together with his own success in the new departure, notably grass
culture and stock farming, contributed much to that end.

He was always a warm supporter of the common schools and
the State university.

Since 1876 he has been chairman of the board of visitors of the
South Carolina Military Academy. To the welfare of this school
—his alma mater—his time and his services have been given without
stint.

Governor Hagood in 1854 married Eloise, daughter of Judge
A. P. Butler, then United States Senator, and of whom General
M. C. Butler is a nephew. He has one son, Butler Hagood.

Epitaph Written by General Hagood Himself.

In Memory of
Johnson Hagood,
Planter.

Brigadier in the service
of
The Confederate States.

Comptroller-General and afterwards Governor
of
South Carolina.

For years Chairman of
The Board of Visitors in charge
of
The State Military Academy.

Born 21st February, 1829.

Died 4th January, 1898.

Rest.

(By Father Ryan.)