The Hunkidories were a particular violent South Carolina low-country black gang whose violence against white and black Democrats was encouraged by the Radical Republicans and overlooked by the Yankee Carpetbagger law enforcement agencies. This post is a true story of the Reconstruction years that you will never see portrayed by Hollywood or taught in schools…
Before the gubernatorial election of 1876, the local Democratic Committee in Cainhoy, SC arranged for a meeting at Johns Island. While waiting for their chartered boat to leave Charleston, a group of Hunkidories arrived and demanded to come aboard. Not wanting a fight on their hands, they gave them permission; as long as they didn’t bring any guns with them. The Negros agreed to the condition. Thinking they had negotiated a safe arrangement, they left Charleston.
When they arrived on Johns Island, it was decided that the both the local Democratic and Republican chairmen would chair jointly. Democrats spoke first. The day started out peaceful enough. Then trouble started. There were several stories on how it began. One story was that a Negro woman began yelling that whites were taking the Negro’s guns hidden in a nearby building. Another story was that a white man and Negro got into an altercation and the black man drew a pistol. Another story was that a white boy fired the first shot and alarmed the darkies, who seized guns to defend themselves.
Most of the white men were either unarmed or had exhausted their ammunition during a target shoot. Some believed the reason the Hunkidories were so accommodating before they boarded the chartered boat was because they already had guns hidden in the swamp and a nearby house for a planned attack. When the firing started, a company of Hunkidories marched out of the swamp and opened fire on the unarmed whites. The Hunkidories in the crowd retreated into the swamp to retrieve the guns hidden there.
One elderly black man in the midst of all this chaos attempted to stop the Hunkidories. But he was told to step out of the way or he’d be the first to go down. They were going to get the white men, even if they had to go through him to do so. Seeing he was helplessness to keep the peace, he got out of their way. When the firing started, several old white men, too feeble to fight, took shelter in a brick house by the church.
The other white men retreated into the adjoining graveyard. Thirty men hidden behind the gravestones with what ammunition they had left from their target shoot could do little, if any damage, to their assailants fifty to a hundred yards away from them. However, they were able to provide a little cover for the unarmed men who struggled through the deep sand and swamp towards Cainhoy for help.
Those white men with some remaining ammunition returned fire. The Hunkidories surrounded the brick house and attempted to batter down the door. Failing to do so, they broke the windows, pointed the muskets at the old white men who were hiding in there and fired. One man managed to escape. But, as he tried to flee, he was knocked down and beaten to death. Then they shot a load of buckshot into his body. A total of six white men killed, six white men wounded, and the Negroes taking no casualties or wounded.
The white men put the six wounded men aboard their chartered boat and sent them into Charleston. The steamer arrived at seven o’clock that evening. Within two hours, the Palmetto Guard was ready for a return trip with two hundred well-armed men. When they arrived, they found the white women and children gathered in the local parsonage. Those white men who had arms stood guard outside. That night the Palmetto Guard waited for federal troops to arrive. Neither the president nor the governor issued any proclamations or ordered troops, even though there were plenty of federal troops to be spared very nearby in Charleston.
The next morning, the white men went out to the brick church, wading their way through the swamps to try to find some of the missing men. The first man they came across in the swamp was shot and horribly beaten. His right eye was torn out of the socket and his clothes taken. When they arrived at the church they found the buggies and carts overturned and the animals gone. The buildings and speaker’s stand were riddled with bullet holes. A little further on, they came across the old black man who lay dead. He too, like the white man, was riddled with buckshot and robbed of everything. In the ruined brick house they found the body of an elderly, crippled white man, who had taken shelter there. He too was beaten. His horribly mutilated body was riddled with buckshot. They also found another mutilated body near the church.
Instead of President Grant sending troops to Cainhoy, he marched federal troops towards Edgefield to protect Chamberlain, the Radical Republican gubernatorial candidate, who was giving a speech there. Again…South Carolina’s pleas to the Federal government for help fell on deaf ears.
Before the gubernatorial election of 1876, the local Democratic Committee in Cainhoy, SC arranged for a meeting at Johns Island. While waiting for their chartered boat to leave Charleston, a group of Hunkidories arrived and demanded to come aboard. Not wanting a fight on their hands, they gave them permission; as long as they didn’t bring any guns with them. The Negros agreed to the condition. Thinking they had negotiated a safe arrangement, they left Charleston.
When they arrived on Johns Island, it was decided that the both the local Democratic and Republican chairmen would chair jointly. Democrats spoke first. The day started out peaceful enough. Then trouble started. There were several stories on how it began. One story was that a Negro woman began yelling that whites were taking the Negro’s guns hidden in a nearby building. Another story was that a white man and Negro got into an altercation and the black man drew a pistol. Another story was that a white boy fired the first shot and alarmed the darkies, who seized guns to defend themselves.
Most of the white men were either unarmed or had exhausted their ammunition during a target shoot. Some believed the reason the Hunkidories were so accommodating before they boarded the chartered boat was because they already had guns hidden in the swamp and a nearby house for a planned attack. When the firing started, a company of Hunkidories marched out of the swamp and opened fire on the unarmed whites. The Hunkidories in the crowd retreated into the swamp to retrieve the guns hidden there.
One elderly black man in the midst of all this chaos attempted to stop the Hunkidories. But he was told to step out of the way or he’d be the first to go down. They were going to get the white men, even if they had to go through him to do so. Seeing he was helplessness to keep the peace, he got out of their way. When the firing started, several old white men, too feeble to fight, took shelter in a brick house by the church.
The other white men retreated into the adjoining graveyard. Thirty men hidden behind the gravestones with what ammunition they had left from their target shoot could do little, if any damage, to their assailants fifty to a hundred yards away from them. However, they were able to provide a little cover for the unarmed men who struggled through the deep sand and swamp towards Cainhoy for help.
Those white men with some remaining ammunition returned fire. The Hunkidories surrounded the brick house and attempted to batter down the door. Failing to do so, they broke the windows, pointed the muskets at the old white men who were hiding in there and fired. One man managed to escape. But, as he tried to flee, he was knocked down and beaten to death. Then they shot a load of buckshot into his body. A total of six white men killed, six white men wounded, and the Negroes taking no casualties or wounded.
The white men put the six wounded men aboard their chartered boat and sent them into Charleston. The steamer arrived at seven o’clock that evening. Within two hours, the Palmetto Guard was ready for a return trip with two hundred well-armed men. When they arrived, they found the white women and children gathered in the local parsonage. Those white men who had arms stood guard outside. That night the Palmetto Guard waited for federal troops to arrive. Neither the president nor the governor issued any proclamations or ordered troops, even though there were plenty of federal troops to be spared very nearby in Charleston.
The next morning, the white men went out to the brick church, wading their way through the swamps to try to find some of the missing men. The first man they came across in the swamp was shot and horribly beaten. His right eye was torn out of the socket and his clothes taken. When they arrived at the church they found the buggies and carts overturned and the animals gone. The buildings and speaker’s stand were riddled with bullet holes. A little further on, they came across the old black man who lay dead. He too, like the white man, was riddled with buckshot and robbed of everything. In the ruined brick house they found the body of an elderly, crippled white man, who had taken shelter there. He too was beaten. His horribly mutilated body was riddled with buckshot. They also found another mutilated body near the church.
Instead of President Grant sending troops to Cainhoy, he marched federal troops towards Edgefield to protect Chamberlain, the Radical Republican gubernatorial candidate, who was giving a speech there. Again…South Carolina’s pleas to the Federal government for help fell on deaf ears.
Sources:
Hampton and His Red shirts by Alfred Williams, pages 268-275
Wade Hampton – Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman, pages 237
Reconstruction in South Carolina by John S. Reynolds, page 378
Wade Hampton and the Negro – The Road Not Taken by Hampton M. Jarrell, page 69
After Slavery – The Negro in South Carolina During the Reconstruction by Joel Williamson, page 272
The Anderson Intelligencer, October 26, 1876, Image (newspaper)
Hampton and His Red shirts by Alfred Williams, pages 268-275
Wade Hampton – Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman, pages 237
Reconstruction in South Carolina by John S. Reynolds, page 378
Wade Hampton and the Negro – The Road Not Taken by Hampton M. Jarrell, page 69
After Slavery – The Negro in South Carolina During the Reconstruction by Joel Williamson, page 272
The Anderson Intelligencer, October 26, 1876, Image (newspaper)
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