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Wade Hampton Hamilton (January-February 1862) is the son of Scarlett O'Hara by her first husband Charles Hamilton. He was conceived just after their wedding, and Wade's father died before he was born. As a result of growing up during the harsh years of the war, he has a troubled relationship with his mother.

Biography[]

Wade Hamilton was born in January or February 1862, after his father, Charles Hamilton, died in July 1861 of pneumonia and measles. His mother describes giving birth to him as "humiliating", an embarrasing ordeal that went very quick. She barely had time to get inside from the garden when her water broke. Wade was named after his father's general, Wade Hampton, as that was fashionable at the time. Similarly, his cousin was named Beauregard "Beau" Wilkes.

Shortly after his birth, Scarlett took him and their slave Prissy to Atlanta where Wade met with his Hamilton relatives, who were eager to raise him as he was now all they had left of his father and heir to the family's warehouses. He forms a friendship with his aunt Melanie Hamilton.

He is traumatised as a toddler by the invasion and subsequent burning of Atlanta, during which his aunt gives birth to his cousin Beau Wilkes. Afterwards, Rhett Butler steals a carriage to rescue Scarlett, Wade, Prissy, Melanie and newborn Beau and after he leaves them, Scarlett brings them to Tara. At Tara, Wade still has nightmares of the screaming and gunfire at Atlanta, but it's ignored by his mother whose main concern is feeding her entire family.

During this time, Wade's bond with his aunt and cousin grows as she has the time to give him attention, cuddle with him and tell him bed-time stories from her own sick-bed. Yankee soldiers return on multiple occasions to plunder Tara, burning all the cotton the family has left, and they almost take Wade's sword, which belonged to his grandfather, but Scarlett bargains for it on his behalf as he hides in her skirts.

Eventually, his mother seduces the relatively wealthy Frank Kennedy and takes over a lumber business, bringing him back to Atlanta with her. This means that Wade has a future once again, after his warehouses were burnt, and his mother intends on letting him study at a good university. She also gives birth to his half-sister Ella, whom he doesn't like too much as she's slow.

Wade's relationship to his first stepfather isn't mentioned much, and he dies after only two years after an attack with the Ku Klux Klan. Scarlett quickly remarries to Rhett Butler, who adores Wade and treats him as his own. On their honeymoon, Rhett and Scarlett bring back a Saint Bernhard dog for Wade.

Ella and Wade live at Butler House, where their half-sister Eugenia Victoria Butler is born, quickly renamed Bonnie. Wade worries about having even less attention from his parents, but Rhett assures him of his love. Wade worries about accepting him as a father and what that would mean for his own father who is loyal to (despite never having met him). Rhett assures him he can be loyal to both of them and hints at having another son, a reference to Tazewell Butler.

Wade spends time in the nursery with his sisters, Mammy and Prissy. He occasionally gets money from his stepfather to buy sweets, but he complains that other than his cousin Beau there are no boys to play with, because their parents won't let him given his mother's reputation.

Personality[]

Wade is shy, especially around his mother. He appears as timid, being scared of his mother and of granates. He is, however, very close to his step-father Rhett Butler and his Aunt Melly. He is a fan of animals, especially his Saint Bernhard dog and the insects he collects and frequently shows off to his aunt.

He doesn't like his half-sisters too much. Bonnie especially seems to be taking attention away from him. He is caught between loyalty for his birth father Charles (who he never knew) and his stepfather, but Rhett assured him he can be a loyal son to both. Wade originally wants to be a lawyer and a soldier when he grows up, like Charles, but Rhett convinces him to go to Georgia University rather than the "Yankee University" of Harvard, where Charles went.

Trivia[]

  • While Wade didn't appear in the film, in an original draft he was meant to. A paper doll set of him and his sisters Ella and Bonnie was made by the official studio as promotion material.
  • Out of all the O'Hara grandchildren he is the only one born during their grandmother Ellen O'Hara's lifetime.
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