Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: “The Joan of Arc of Carolina” John Hope Franklin (1876–1893)

184 The Joan of Arc of Carolina D ouschka returned to Edgewood the summer of 1876, a time of unrest and revolt. Throughout her adolescent years, Douschka witnessed her mother and others loyal to the Confederacy refuse to accept defeat and, like most White Southerners , found it difficult to accept the concept of Blacks and Northerners placed in positions of authority. Unable to adjust to the changed political scene that stripped them of power and angered by the loss of their slaves, Carolinians of the up-country took matters into their own hands. They openly defied and heaped abuse upon those in authority . A contemporary source related, “Negroes are shot dead or wounded. Nobody is convicted because no adequate testimony is found or the magistrates don’t prosecute.”1 Many freed slaves believed that the lands of their former owners would be divided amongst them. For the most part Republican agents supported this belief and tried to act fairly. South Carolina voted to CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 1876–1893 “The Joan of Arc of Carolina” John Hope Franklin 185 1876–1893 break up and sell to Blacks small lots from an acreage of 80,000 but this never came to fruition. It is no wonder that the freed slave faced confusion laced with bitterness and anger as he now worked the same land as a “share-cropper.” In Edgefield County, a guerrilla band tried to compel the freed slaves to remain with their former masters.2 In retaliation, the Radical Republicans blocked the Southern Democrats from the polls at election time by intimidation and physical force. Angry and humiliated , South Carolinians planned secretly to vote for the candidates of their choice. They met in bands of white-hooded Ku Kluk Klan and spread terrorism in the up-country of South Carolina until finally suppressed by martial law in 1871.3 Although forbidden to gather in large groups or to possess weapons , these South Carolinians met under the guise of “Recreational Clubs” at Edgewood and other plantations. In secrecy they collected weapons and ammunition, adopted a uniform of red shirts and rode about the countryside at night terrorizing the radical Republican rulers. These activists considered themselves to be on a religious crusade for deliverance or, as they saw it, the redemption of a prostrate state.4 It was said that the Rebels were not whipped only overpowered . In 1876 Governor Daniel H. Chamberlain came up for re-election as Governor of South Carolina. His opposition proved to be Wade Hampton’s Red Shirts who, 600 strong, took over a political meeting and heaped abuse upon carpetbaggers and scalawags. They denounced the governor as one who had come to prey upon Southerners and steal from them their substance. The war heroes Martin Gary and Mathew C. Butler are credited with instigating this group of “Red Shirts” and Douschka is said to have led their most famous wild ride. Articles, newspapers, and an historical novel mention a ride of the Red Shirts as taking place on election day, November, 1876.5 That dramatic incident would undoubtedly have had Lucy’s blessing. Douschka, mounted on her horse, Bonnibell, a red cape draped about her shoulders and red plume dangling from her Garibaldi cap, moved to the front of a company of Red Shirts on horseback. At a 186 The Joan of Arc of Carolina given signal the young girl stood in her stirrups, gave the Rebel yell and galloped her mount through the town with the Red Shirts thundering behind her. Waving carbines and yelling, they headed to the polling place. The Republican radicals blocking the polls ran in terror before this avenging sea of red. Taken by surprise, the Republican Provost Marshall made a feeble attempt to retaliate with his troops, but Douschka drove them back. With the company of Red-shirts now guarding the polls, the Southern Democrats entered and cast their vote for their candidate, Wade Hampton. He won the election as the first Democratic Governor for South Carolina in over ten years. Douschka Pickens was called “The Joan of Arc of Carolina” for helping to make this possible. This ride of the Red Shirts is said to have heralded the end of Reconstruction pretensions in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, as well as on the national scene.6 The past fifteen years with their sorrows and worries had drained Lucy of health and stamina and she no longer felt...