Martin Witherspoon Gary (March 25, 1831 – April 9, 1881) was a Confederate attorney, soldier, and politician from South Carolina. He attained the rank of brigadier general in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He played a major leadership role in the 1876 Democratic political campaign to elect

Wade Hampton III Wade Hampton III (March 28, 1818April 11, 1902) was an American politician from South Carolina. He was a prominent member of one of the richest families in the antebellum Southern United States, owning thousands of acres of cotton land in Sout ...

as governor, planning a detailed campaign to disrupt the Republican Party and black voters by violence and intimidation.Ehren K. Foley, "Sites of Violence: Cainhoy Riot," Citations: "Plan of the Campaign of 1876"
, ''South Carolina during Reconstruction'' website, 2010-2012, Papers of Martin Witherspoon Gary, South Caroliniana Library, Columbia, South Carolina, accessed 26 October 2014 Gary was first elected to office as a state representative in 1860. He was elected to the

South Carolina State Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at t ...

in 1876 from

Edgefield, South Carolina Edgefield is a town in and the county seat of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia met ...

, serving two terms. He fell out with Hampton after failing to get appointments to the U.S. Senate in 1877 and 1879, and left politics in 1881 after finishing his second term. He returned to his home in Cokesbury and died in April of that year.

Early life and career

Born in

Cokesbury, South Carolina Cokesbury is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greenwood County, South Carolina, Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 215 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 279 in 2000. History The name "Coke ...

, to Dr. Thomas Reeder Gary and Mary Ann Porter, the young Gary received his primary education at Cokesbury Academy before enrolling at

South Carolina College The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Carolina System and th ...

in 1850. His participation in

Great Biscuit Rebellion Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

at the University of South Carolina in 1852 resulted in his withdrawal from the state college. The protesters demanded leave from compulsory participation in campus dining which was said to include wormy biscuits. He later returned to his studies and graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1854. In 1855, Gary was admitted to the bar in South Carolina and began practicing as a lawyer in Edgefield.

Civil War

Gary was elected in 1860 to the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

as a

secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

. His time in office was short. When South Carolina seceded in 1861, he joined Hamptons Legion as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of infantry. At the

First Battle of Manassas The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by lieutenant colonel of the infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

in the Legion and was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

when given control of a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

. Hampton's Legion came under the command of General Longstreet and was active in the battles of Virginia through mid-1863 before being transferred to help the

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was a Field army, field army of the Confederate States Army in the Western theater of the American Civil War, Western Theater of the American Civil War. Named for the Confederate States of America, Confederate state of Tenn ...

in the latter part of the year. Back east, Gary was commissioned as a brigadier general of a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

. The

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

was part of the

Department of Richmond Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

until January 1865. It included the infantry

of Hamptons Legion that had been mounted on March 11, 1864 and transferred from Longstreets Corps.Sifakis Page. 106-107 The Brigade was transferred to the Cavalry Corps,

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...

in January 1865, but Gary refused to surrender with General

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

at Appomattox. Instead he led 200 men of his brigade to escort President

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sa ...

and his cabinet from

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, to his mother's house in

Cokesbury Cokesbury is the retail division of the United Methodist Publishing House. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Cokesbury serves as an agency of the United Methodist Church but serves also as an ecumenical resource provider to other denominations. O ...

, where he ended his service as a Confederate soldier.

Postbellum activities

After the war, Gary resumed his law practice in Edgefield and pursued a number of other business ventures. Fed up with the

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...

government which obeyed the constitutional amendments and allowed the African-American majority in the South Carolina population to have a say in the government, he became an outspoken racist. On one occasion he said "that the negro shall not become a part of the body politic, or from any qualification either as to education or property, be allowed to vote in this country." Gary worked with white

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

groups, rifle clubs and the Red Shirts, who organized in 1874 to suppress black voting in the state. A manuscript of his "Plan of the Campaign of 1876" shows the level of detail and attention he gave to this project. In the summer of 1876,

Matthew Calbraith Butler Matthew Calbraith Butler (March 8, 1836April 14, 1909) was a Confederate soldier, an American military commander, attorney and politician, and slaveholder from South Carolina. Database at He served as a major general in the Confederate States ...

wrote to his former commander,

, urging him to seek the governorship in the upcoming election. Butler omitted the details of the violent campaign planned by Gary and others, and Hampton accepted. Two years later Gary claimed credit for convincing Hampton to run. It soon became apparent that Hampton did not support Gary's campaign plan, known as a modified version of the

Mississippi Plan The Mississippi Plan of 1874–1875 was developed by white Southern Democrats as part of the white insurgency during the Reconstruction era in the Southern United States. It was devised by the Democratic Party in that state to overthrow the Repub ...

or the "Shotgun Policy. It was also known in South Carolina as the "Edgefield Plan" due to Gary's leadership in its design and implementation. It called for the bribery or intimidation of African-American Republican voters by local Democratic "rifle clubs" or "Red Shirts," formed ostensibly to attend campaign events and to ensure order at polling places. The Red Shirts conducted parades and rode openly at political gatherings with the overt goal of overturning the Republicans. Gary's tactics helped Hampton to win, as black Republican voting was deeply suppressed in Aiken and Edgefield counties.Melinda Meeks Hennessy, “Racial Violence During Reconstruction: The 1876 Riots in Charleston and Cainhoy”
''South Carolina Historical Magazine,'' Vol. 86, No. 2, (April 1985), 104-106 In addition, Hampton had expressed himself as a moderate with paternalistic interest in blacks and won their trust and votes in several areas. In Edgefield and Laurens counties, the total votes for Hampton exceeded the total number of registered voters. The election returns from these two counties were challenged by the state board of returns. Their contribution was critical, as Hampton had a victory margin of only 1100 votes statewide. Hampton's victory resulted from a deal between South Carolina Democratic leaders and the national Republican Party. In April 1877 Republican candidate

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

received the hitherto contested votes of South Carolina electors and was finally declared the winner of the contested United States presidential race. In return, he ordered the withdrawal of Federal troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, ending the formal Reconstruction era. Gary was elected to the state senate from

Edgefield County Edgefield County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 25,657. Its county seat and largest community is Edgefield. The county was established on March 12, 1785 ...

in 1876, defeating Lawrence Cain, and was reelected in 1878. During his time in the State Senate, he became a vocal opponent of Governor Hampton because Hampton blocked his appointment to a

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

seat in 1877 and 1879. In addition, Hampton and his allies prevented Gary's candidacy in the gubernatorial election of 1880. Upon leaving the South Carolina Senate in 1881, Gary returned to his family home in Cokesbury. He died there on April 9, and was buried in Tabernacle Cemetery in Cokesbury.

Notes

References

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External links