Colonel (CSA), Alexander Cheves Haskell

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8706908/alexander-cheves-haskell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Cheves_Haskell

Alexander Cheves Haskell (September 22, 1839 – April 13, 1910) was a Colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War and a Democratic politician in postbellum South Carolina.

Early life

Haskell was born in Abbeville County and raised in Columbia, where he graduated second in his class from South Carolina College right before the start of the American Civil War.

Civil War

He enthusiastically volunteered for service in the Confederate Army and was mustered in the First Regiment of the South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, serving as an Assistant Adjutant General for Maxcy Gregg. En route to Virginia in September 1861 for action in the Eastern Theater, Haskell married Rebecca Coles Singleton in Charlottesville. She died on October 26, 1862, after the birth of a daughter six days earlier.

The First South Carolina Regiment initially saw significant action in 1862 at the Seven Days Battles and would play a major role in the Second Battle of Bull Run by repulsing six Union assaults. On May 27, 1864, Martin Gary promoted Haskell to Colonel and placed him in charge of the 7th SC Cavalry in the brigade formerly commanded by Wade Hampton III.

Haskell was injured four times in the war, at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Cold Harbor and Darbytown Road. It was at Darbytown Road where he was most seriously injured after suffering a shot to the head and losing the function of his left eye, but he managed to recover in time to participate in the Appomattox Campaign. Haskell was appointed by General Lee to surrender the Confederate cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia at the Appomattox Court House on April 12, 1865.

Postbellum activities

After the war, Haskell practiced law in South Carolina and was chosen in 1876 to be the chairman of the state Democratic party Executive Committee. His efforts were instrumental in the gubernatorial election by uniting the party for the straightout cause to redeem the state from Radical Republican rule during Reconstruction. Governor Wade Hampton rewarded him for his dedication and fervor by having Haskell placed on the state supreme court in 1877. In the 1880s, Haskell became the president of the Columbia and Greenville Railroad.

Haskell and conservative Democrats were bitterly opposed to Ben Tillman's candidacy for governor in 1890. Tillman was an uncouth demagogue who expressed his opposition to everything favored by the conservatives and further irritating Haskell was that while both men lost the function of an eye, Haskell courageously continued to serve in the Confederate army while Tillman dodged service. Failing to beat Tillman at the state Democratic convention, Haskell led a straightout Democratic ticket in the general election and even appealed for votes from blacks and Republicans. Many in the state refused to vote for anyone other than the official Democratic candidate out of fear of giving Republicans another chance at state government and thus the Haskell ticket fared poorly.

Until his death on April 13, 1910, Haskell was serving as the vice president of National Loan & Exchange Bank of Columbia. He was buried in Columbia at Elmswood Cemetery.

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/haskell-alexander-cheves/

Soldier, legislator, businessman. Born on September 22, 1839, at his family’s summer retreat, the Cabins, near Abbeville, Haskell was one of eleven children born to Charles Thomson Haskell and Sophia Cheves. He studied under private tutors and later attended a private school in Charleston before matriculating to the University of South Carolina in 1856, graduating second in his class in 1860.

Haskell enlisted with South Carolina forces at the beginning of the Civil War and soon became a regimental adjutant. He served with the Army of Northern Virginia for most of the war. By March 1864 he had attained the rank of colonel and taken command of the Seventh South Carolina Cavalry. He was wounded four times. The fourth wound, in October 1864, resulted in the loss of his left eye, but he rejoined his regiment in time for Robert E. Lee’s last campaign and the surrender at Appomattox.

During Reconstruction, Haskell practiced several professions and played an important role in state politics. He taught school and practiced law in Abbeville from 1865 to 1867, while also serving in the state House of Representatives. He was elected a district court judge in 1867 but resigned his judgeship the same year to accept a law professorship at South Carolina College. In 1868 he resigned his professorship, as required, to serve as a presidential elector in the national election. He then opened a law office in Columbia.

In 1876 Haskell chaired the Democratic Party’s State Executive Committee and helped organize the aggressive Red Shirt campaign that brought a narrow victory for Wade Hampton in the race for governor. With the election results disputed, Haskell became the emissary to President Ulysses Grant to press the claims of the Hampton administration. He later became an associate justice on the state supreme court, where he served from 1877 to 1880.

By 1890 Ben Tillman and his supporters had taken control of the Democratic Party and secured for Tillman the Democratic nomination for governor. Haskell bolted the party and ran against Tillman as an Independent, or “straight-out” Democrat. He appealed to black voters, but promised them little. Even many conservatives reluctantly backed Tillman, the mainline Democrat, rather than risk dividing the party and jeopardizing white rule. Haskell lost decisively, 59,159 to 14,828. He later helped organize the State newspaper in Columbia, which consistently opposed Tillman and his allies.

Haskell was a prominent business leader in the state for several decades. In the 1870s and 1880s he served as president of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad. He became the first president of the Loan and Exchange Bank of Columbia in 1886 and was a leading banker in the state until his death. He married twice. On September 10, 1861, he wed Rebecca “Decca” Singleton, but she died in June 1862 just days after giving birth to a daughter. On November 23, 1870, Haskell married Alice V. Alexander, with whom he had ten children. Haskell died on April 13, 1910, in Columbia and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.