While the company was drilling, two men, Thomas Butler and Henry Getzen, came upon the company in their carriage, and demanded that the company move so that they could ride through. Adams halted the company, remonstrated with Butler and Getzen for thus seeking to interfere with the company, and called their attention to the fact that there was plenty of room on either side of the company to pass. Captain Adams asked the men to drive around the drilling company, as there was plenty of room on the street. Butler and Getzen were unwilling to drive around the company, and to avoid an incident, Captain Adams had the company make way for the carriage to drive through.
However,
This incident seems to have angered Butler and Getzen, who made complaint before Trial-Justice [Prince] Rivers against the militia company for obstructing the highway. The trial justice on the following day issued a warrant against Adams, as he was the captain of the company, and had him brought before him for trial. During the progress of the trial, Adams was arrested by the Trial Justice for contempt of court, and subsequently the case was continued until four o'clock Saturday afternoon, July 8th. During the trial, it was learned that between 200 and 300 armed white men were in Hamburg, and that a demand had been made by them to the militia that the militia were to surrender their weapons.General Matthew C. Butler, an attorney and local major general of militia, was employed as the plaintiffs' attorney. General Butler said that he had given orders to the militia company to surrender their weapons within a half an hour, and would not bargain with the Trial Justice or with the company. However, Trial Justice Rivers talked General Butler into letting him speak to the officers of the militia company, and
Rivers then went to the building known as the Sibley building, in the second story of which the company had its armory and drill-room, and where it was then assembled, and told Captain Adams what might be expected if he should refuse to give up the arms. To this Adams replied that General Butler had no right to the guns; that the company held them, and he proposed to hold them unless General Butler showed some authority to take them.
Rivers then returned to General Butler, who basically refused to meet with the militia soldiers or their leaders. By then, however, the armed mob of white men were assembling on the northern bank of the Savannah River, near the Sibley building, and soon the mob began firing on the building.
Captain Adams gave the order to the company to hold their fire until he gave the order to fire, as the company had very little ammunition. Soon thereafter, the soldiers commenced firing on the mob, and one of the whites attackers, McKee Merriwether, was shot in the head and killed. After awhile, an artillery piece (likely belonging to the Washington Artillery of Augusta) was brought to the scene, and four charges of cannister shot were fired at the armory, but without hitting any of the militia soldiers.
Likely after running out of ammunition, the militia soldiers escaped through the rear of the armory, and hid "wherever else they could find shelter." According to the official report on the incident, the
first man killed by the whites was James Cook, town marshal. He had been in the armory, but was not a member of the company. He had gone into the street from the rear of the Sibley building, and was at once fired on, and fell dead instantly, pierced by five or six bullets. Afterward the whites began their search for the members of the company. They succeeded in getting about twenty-five colored men as prisoners, some of whom were never members of the company. As fast as they were captured they were taken to a place near the South Carolina Railroad, where a large party of armed men stood guard over them. None of those thus captured had arms in their hands. Subsequently, and at about two o'clock A.M., six men took A. T. Attaway out of the 'ring'. He and his mother begged for his life, but in vain. He was told to turn round, and was then shot to death by the crowd. David Phillips was next taken out, and was similarly killed. Pompey Curry was next called out. He recognized among the bystanders Henry Getzen and Dr. Pierce Butler, and called on them to keep the other men from killing him. He ran, and was shot at as he ran, one bullet striking him in the right leg, below the knee. Afterward, Albert Myniart, Moses Parks, and Hampton Stephens were killed. Stephens did not belong to the company. Nelder John Parker, who has been commonly referred to in the newspaper reports as John Thomas, was corporal in the company. When he was arrested and taken to the spot where the other prisoners were, he recognized among the party two men of Augusta, named Twiggs and Chaffee. He appealed to them for protection. They said he should not be hurt. He states that General M. C. Butler asked if he was one of the d----d rascals. The reply was in the affirmative. He was then shot in the back. Messrs. Twigg and Chaffee then said if he was shot again they would shoot the ones who did it. They took him off, and had him taken to Augusta. He was shot before Attaway was killed. He may recover from his wounds.
The conclusion of South Carolina Attorney General William Stone's report was
the facts show the demand on the militia to give up their arms was made by persons without lawful authority to enforce such demand or to receive the arms had they been surrendered; that the attack on the militia to compel a compliance with this demand was without lawful excuse or justification; and that after there had beens some twenty or twenty-five prisoners captured and completely in the power of their captors, five of them were deliberately shot to death and three more severely wounded.
It is unknown if any of the soldiers' murderers were ever brought to trial. General Butler went on to a successful career in law and politics, dying in 1909 at the age of 73.
