Prince Rivers
Encyclopedia
Prince Rivers was a corporal and later sergeant in the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, a Union regiment in the American Civil War
.
Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina
, Rivers worked on a plantation as a coachman. He escaped from slavery by stealing the plantation owner's horse, riding through the Confederate lines to the town of Edgefield, in order to enlist in the Union Army as a volunteer in 1862.
Along with Robert Sutton
, he became a non-commissioned officer in the newly formed 1st South Carolina Volunteers. His commanding officer, Thomas Wentworth Higginson
, wished to promote him to commissioned officer but was prevented by his superiors from doing so because of Rivers' race. Higginson said of Rivers, "No anti-slavery novel has described a man of such marked ability. He makes Toussaint perfectly intelligible; and if there should ever be a black monarchy in South Carolina, he will be its king."
The 1st South Carolina Volunteers and other African-American soldiers were promised the same pay as other soldiers in writing, yet were paid less than half that pay by the U.S. government, until June 1864 when an Act of Congress granted them retroactive equal pay.
After the war, Rivers became a legislator and trial judge, closely involved with Reconstruction politics. He was registrar for Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1867. In the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868, he was the representative for Edgefield. After a redistricting in 1872, Rivers was the representative for Aiken County.
In 1876, Prince Rivers was the judge in a hearing which was related to the Hamburg Massacre
. Rivers became a target of the Red Shirts, a white Southern paramilitary organization. Though he tried to persuade the local black militia to give up their weapons, and the white militia to back down from open violence during the events that led to the Hamburg Massacre, his efforts failed and seven people died in the Massacre. His home was burned and property stolen or destroyed by the Red Shirts. He subsequently worked as a house painter and coachman until his death.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
, Rivers worked on a plantation as a coachman. He escaped from slavery by stealing the plantation owner's horse, riding through the Confederate lines to the town of Edgefield, in order to enlist in the Union Army as a volunteer in 1862.
Along with Robert Sutton
Robert Sutton
Robert Sutton may refer to:*Robert Sutton, 1st Baron Lexinton , Member of Parliament for Nottinghamshire in 1625 and again in 1640*Robert Sutton, 2nd Baron Lexinton , English diplomat...
, he became a non-commissioned officer in the newly formed 1st South Carolina Volunteers. His commanding officer, Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Thomas Wentworth Higginson was an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, and soldier. He was active in the American Abolitionism movement during the 1840s and 1850s, identifying himself with disunion and militant abolitionism...
, wished to promote him to commissioned officer but was prevented by his superiors from doing so because of Rivers' race. Higginson said of Rivers, "No anti-slavery novel has described a man of such marked ability. He makes Toussaint perfectly intelligible; and if there should ever be a black monarchy in South Carolina, he will be its king."
The 1st South Carolina Volunteers and other African-American soldiers were promised the same pay as other soldiers in writing, yet were paid less than half that pay by the U.S. government, until June 1864 when an Act of Congress granted them retroactive equal pay.
After the war, Rivers became a legislator and trial judge, closely involved with Reconstruction politics. He was registrar for Edgefield County, South Carolina in 1867. In the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868, he was the representative for Edgefield. After a redistricting in 1872, Rivers was the representative for Aiken County.
In 1876, Prince Rivers was the judge in a hearing which was related to the Hamburg Massacre
Hamburg Massacre
The Hamburg Massacre was a key event of South Carolina Reconstruction. Beginning with a dispute over free passage on a public road, this racially motivated incident concluded with the death of seven men...
. Rivers became a target of the Red Shirts, a white Southern paramilitary organization. Though he tried to persuade the local black militia to give up their weapons, and the white militia to back down from open violence during the events that led to the Hamburg Massacre, his efforts failed and seven people died in the Massacre. His home was burned and property stolen or destroyed by the Red Shirts. He subsequently worked as a house painter and coachman until his death.
External Sources
- Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Army Life in a Black Regiment.