The hearing at the Hamburg Court House was entering its third day.

Four days earlier, a small regiment of the South Carolina National Guard held a drilling march down the town’s Market Street, which ran parallel to the Savannah River.  Most of the Guard were negros, or Freedmen, as they were called after the war.  Suddenly, two white men attempted to drive their horse-drawn carriage through the drilling troops.  Yelling and protests ensued from the Guard as the marching military formation was greatly disrupted.  Eventually, the charging carriage was allowed to pass and the troop column resumed its drill.  However, two days later the men in the carriage lodged a legal complaint alleging that the Guard was guilty of obstructing a public road.