Not far off of the Bull Pen Road, west of the Chattooga River and close to the Ellicott Rock Wilderness Area, lie the ruins of a long forgotten little settlement that has been reclaimed by deep woods. About halfway down the old road leading to it is a place old-timers call the "Lettered Log." The story is told that General Wade Hampton III, without doubt the Chattooga watershed's most famous summer resident, carved on the log while waiting for game on a still hunt. Absent any real evidence, one can easily imagine the tale to be true since the young Wade Hampton III spent many days hunting and fishing in the watershed, close to his family retreat and experimental farm called "High Hampton" near Cashiers, North Carolina.

The history of the Hampton family in upstate South Carolina dates back to the mid 1700's, when Wade's great grandfather, Anthony-described as an old "hemp-beater"-moved from Virginia to Spartanburg, South Carolina. Anthony and his wife raised their family on a farm that was carved out of the Piedmont forest. The Hamptons were under constant threat from marauding Cherokee Indians spurred by resentment of settlers' encroachment on their hunting grounds. In July of 1776, while five of their sons were away, Anthony, his wife, a son and a grandchild were murdered by a band of Cherokees.

One son, Wade, later distinguished himself during the Revolutionary War at the battle of Eutaw Springs in 1781, and rose to the rank of Colonel. After the war Wade became a successful cotton farmer, yet again left the sedentary life to take up arms in the War of 1812. He was promoted to Major General, but later resigned after a bitter dispute with General James Wilkinson at the Battle of Montreal. By his death in 1835, Wade had expanded his farming empire to cotton and sugar cane plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana, with a labor force of 3,000 slaves, and was known as the richest plantation owner in the United States.

His son, Wade Hampton II (1791-1858), also served in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson. Jackson chose Hampton to carry the message to Washington of the victory at the battle of New Orleans. However, Wade II was perhaps best remembered for his domestic activities. He continued to successfully manage the family plantations, and excelled in social and political life. It was said that Hampton's personal library was one of the most extensive private collections in the country. At "Millwood," his plantation in Columbia, South Carolina Hampton bred fine horses and was called "The Great Warwick of South Carolina."

Wade Hampton the third was born in Charleston, South Carolina on March 28, 1818. Wade III was to become one of the greatest Calvary officers this country ever produced, and was an enormously influential political leader in South Carolina history. Hampton was a big man, about six feet tall with the build of an athlete, and possessed great moral, physical and political courage. Although he studied law and graduated from South Carolina College in 1826, he never seriously practiced law. Before the Civil War, like his forefathers he spent most of his time managing the family plantations.

It was during this era that Hampton spent a great deal of time at his High Hampton retreat, hunting and trout fishing in the Chattooga River watershed. A biography entitled Hampton and His Calvary in '64, by Edward Wells, includes an interesting passage (on pp. 40-41) describing Hampton's love of the Chattooga watershed and the Blue Ridge Mountains that helped shape his character. It reads as follows:

"Climate and scenery are molders of body and mind. It is a belief, old as history and widespread as the family of man, that the mountain ranges and their rocky fastnesses have ever cradled the hardiest and freest of races. It is pleasant to think that this beautiful country may not have been without influence on the character of the greatest Cavalry leader of the Civil War.

"By hereditary, tendency and personal habit, Hampton was an accomplished sportsman, and that region then abounded with deer and bear, as well as small game. At times, in the stillness of the night, the fierce shriek of the panther might be heard. In the immediate section he frequented, east of the watershed, near Cashier's Valley, there was first no trout, although they existed at the time in the streams of the western slopes. Hampton carried live fish in buckets across the ridge and liberated them in the eastern waters. They increased rapidly in their new habitat, and the finest of speckled beauties soon abounded there."

The Hampton presence in Cashiers Valley is said to have given the town its name. Local lore has it that the Hamptons brought two prize bulls to High Hampton, and their names were Brutus and Cashius. Cashius got loose and ran away, but became entangled in a laurel thicket. In his struggle to escape, he broke his neck. Thereafter, locals called the area Cashius Valley, which in the mountain dialect became Cashiers Valley. So, as the mountains shaped the man, the man shaped the mountain culture.

When the Civil War broke out, Wade Hampton III answered the call to fight for the South, even though he had serious doubts about continuing the practice of slavery. Hampton placed his fortune at the disposal of the Confederacy, by allowing his cotton to be used as collateral for materiel. He personally raised and equipped a military command known as Hampton's Legion, consisting of six infantry companies, four companies of Calvary and a battery of artillery equipped with six field guns.

Though Hampton had no military training, he quickly demonstrated a grasp of military tactics and an instinctive "feel" for the battlefield. His leadership ability and extraordinary courage did not go unnoticed, and at the end of the war he was one of only four officers without military training who had risen through the ranks to Lieutenant General.

Nonetheless, Hampton's military career may have suffered as a result of an incident with General Robert E. Lee over troop assignments. After Hampton complained, Lee, who had a notorious temper, is reported to have said to Hampton that he didn't care if his whole legion went back to South Carolina. Whether Lee resented Hampton, a rich plantation owner with no military training, is only speculation. This notwithstanding, a man of such skill and courage was destined for glory.

At the first Battle of Bull Run, Hampton was outnumbered and eventually wounded, but he and his dashing, well-trained legion played a key role in a Confederate victory. He fought bravely through the Peninsula Campaign and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in May of 1862. At Seven Pines he was wounded again, this time in his foot. He refused to dismount, instead having the musket ball removed while remaining in the saddle. He fought battles at Antietam, rode in the Chambersburg Raid, and was wounded for the third time at Gettysburg.

It was at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign that Hampton took part in the greatest Calvary battle in American history. On the evening of June 8, 1863, almost the entire Calvary of the Army of Northern Virginia-five full brigades-prepared for battle on the west bank of the Rappahan-nock River. The following morning they were surprised by the full force of the Calvary of the Army of the Potomac, which had crossed to meet them at dawn. Of note is that among these Calvarymen was a young captain named George Armstrong Custer. During the ensuing Battle of Brandy Station, Hampton is credited with leading one of the most gallant Calvary charges of the battle. His actions might have resulted in the capture of the whole Union force on the field, had not his advance been checked by heavy Confederate artillery fire well-directed at the head of his charge. It was also at the Battle of Brandy Station that General Hampton lost his brother Lt. Col. Frank Hampton to enemy fire.

In August of 1863, Hampton was promoted to Major General. He succeeded J. E. B. Stuart after his death as leader of the Calvary Corps. Hampton had finally received the commission as the supreme Calvary Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia by fighting his way to the top.

Thereafter, Hampton continued to demonstrated his cool-headed courage and battle sense on many occasions. In September of 1864, Hampton was pinned down with the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg. The Confederate Army was gravely short of supplies. At 1 a.m. Hampton, with 4,000 Calvarymen, rode out and raided a poorly guarded federal encampment and pulled off the largest cattle rustle in history. Hampton stole 3,000 cattle out from under the Union Army's nose, and drove them back to feed the starving Confederates.

In the closing years of the war General Hampton distinguished himself even in the face of the inevitable defeat of the Confederacy. At daybreak on June 11, 1864, at Trevilian Station he commanded 5,000 cavalrymen in a gallant charge to ward off a raid by Union General Philip Sheridan's cavalry of 6,000 men. In November of that same year, he personally carried his own dead son from the battlefield and saw another son wounded, yet even in the face of personal tragedy still remained in command of his troops. Hampton also fought at Sappony Church, Ream's Station, and Burgess Mill. In January of 1864, Hampton was sent to South Carolina to find remounts for the battered Confederate cavalry. Finally, he was ordered to cover Joseph E. Johnson's retreat, until the Confederate surrender in 1865.

Of historical interest is a controversy about the burning of Columbia, South Carolina by General Sherman. Sherman claimed that the fire that burned Columbia had been set by the retreating Hampton. He later admitted that this was not true, and there is speculation that the allegation had been made to humiliate Hampton.

After the war, Hampton returned to the ruins of his once lavish plantation. He reentered political life, to oppose the radical Republican Reconstruc-tionists. In 1876, he was elected Governor of South Carolina, with the aid of the militant "Red Shirts." He is credited with leading the state out of the dark days of Reconstruction. Hampton also served in the US Senate in the 1880's, but a populist movement in 1890 and 1891 ousted him and his conservative colleagues. General Hampton died in Columbia, South Carolina in April 1902.

Somewhere in the wilds of the Chattooga River watershed lie the crumbled ruins of a log where the great General Wade Hampton III once pondered the state of the Union. The woodsman skills he perfected in Cashiers Valley and the people he met certainly shaped his character. Who knows what great things will come from future generations inspired by the beauty of the mountains and streams of the Chattooga River watershed?

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