trouble on the 30th of July; that they had been in constant communication with the military authorities, but that their efforts could not counteract the incendiary counsels of those who for sinister purposes had in end this very result in order to reap a political harvest." In December a committee appointed by the House of Representatives visited New Orleans, and having made a thorough investigation of the affair of July 30 reported on the 11th of February, 1867, that in the opinion of the majority of the committee "the condition of affairs in Louisiana requires temporary establishment of a provisional government." The reconstruction bill, which had been under debate during the entire second session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, passed on the 2d of March, 1867, and under its provisions Louisiana was joined with Texas to form the fifth military district. While domestic disturbances and disorders within the limits of Louisiana were by no means wholly suppressed during the following period, 1867-1868. three years, the changed conditions were so entirely The reconstruction novel in the experience of both the Federal and State governments that a different line of conduct was both necessary and expedient. The State being under military government, the military authorities were under obligations to preserve the peace at all times and under all circumstances, either with or without the concurrence of the civil officers. Among the first acts of General Sheridan, who had been assigned to the command of the Fifth Military District, was the summary removal of Attorney-General Herron, Mayor Monroe, and Judge Abell of the district court of New Orleans, all of whom he regarded as responsible for the riots of July 30, 1866. On the 3d of June he removed Governor Wells, as being an impediment to the faithful execution of the act of March 2, 1867, and appointed B. F. Flanders as his successor. Subsequently he removed the city treasurer, the chief of police, surveyor, attorney, and twentytwo members of the board of aldermen for similar reasons. As a result of this energetic policy, which was not in accord with that of the President, General Sheridan was relieved from the command of the Fifth Military District on the 17th of August and General Hancock appointed in his place. A constitutional convention in which the entire people were represented met at New Orleans on the 23d of November and continued in session until the 9th of March, 1868, and under its provisions an election took place on the 17th and 18th of April, at which the new constitution was adopted by a small majority, and Henry C. Warmoth, Republican, elected governor. In the meanwhile, General Hancock was relieved from the command and was succeeded by the senior officer in the department, Brevet Maj. Gen. R. C. Buchanan. On the 25th of June, 1868, the act of Congress for the a H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 68, Thirty-ninth Congress, second session, p. 14. readmission of the Southern States became a law, and Louisiana being restored to her status as it existed before the act of secession, this fact was announced to the people in orders from military headquarters, as follows: 2. The commanding general having been officially notified of the ratification of the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States by the legislature of the State of Louisiana on the 9th instant, it becomes his duty, under the act of Congress which became a law June 25, 1868, and the orders of the General of the Army, to announce to the people of the State and to the troops under his command that the provisions of the reconstruction acts of Congress cease to operate in Louisiana from this date. Military authority will no longer be exercised under the reconstruction acts in said State, and all officers commanding posts or detachments are forbidden to interfere in civil affairs, unless upon a proper application by the civil authorities to preserve the peace, or under instructions duly received from the commanding general of the district. Military law no longer exists; the civil law is The commanding general can not sever the relations heretofore existing between the State and himself without congratulating the people upon an event which fully restores Louisiana to her former position among the other States of the Union and to all her rights under the Constitution. Peace and quiet marked the late election, showing the softening influences of mutual forbearance. Should such forbearance animate the councils of the State, the era of kind feeling will return and the highest prosperity of the people will be attained. That this may be the result under the guidance of a merciful Providence is his devout and earnest prayer. May her restoration to the benefits of our beloved Union mark the commencement of a new era of prosperity and happiness for her people. * * * By command of Brevet Maj. Gen. R. C. Buchanan: THOS. H. NEILL, Major Twentieth Infantry, Brevet Brigadier-General, U. S. A., A. A. A. G. These pleasing anticipations, however, were not destined to be immediately realized. It was inevitable, in the disorganized condition of society which accompanied the violent transition through which these States had been passing for more than eight years, that intense partisan feelings should have developed and that the lawless elements should come to the surface. Scarcely had the felicitous congratulations of General Buchanan reached the communities to whom they were addressed, when information came from the upper parishes of outrages, assassinations, and destruction of property exceeding in horror and barbarity the worst days of the rebellion. On the 10th of July the governor received a petition from northern Louisiana for relief and protection, in which it was asserted that more than 50 murders had occurred during the past few days in Franklin County in Franklin County, alone. These papers he at once laid before the legislature, with the result that a resolution was passed calling upon the President of the United States for the assistance Outrages guaranteed by the Constitution, it being alleged that the courts were powerless to execute the laws in the disturbed districts. This was forwarded to Washington by a messenger, accompanied by a letter from the governor, in which he remarked: From the very best information, Mr. President, I have no doubt that 150 men have been murdered in Louisiana in the last month and a half. Startling as this statement is, letters of the most reliable character fully confirm it. It has now transpired that the mob which threatened the legislature some weeks since were only prevented from enacting it on the 30th of July, 1866, by the presence of United States troops. It was a deliberate determination of this secret organization to assassinate the lieutenant-governor and the speaker of the house of representatives for having decided questions, preliminary to the organization of the general assembly, in a manner obnoxious to them. There are military organizations on foot in this city under the auspices of this secret organization. They drill openly in our streets at night, or in halls, easily to be seen. In short, I fully believe that there is meditated a bloody revolution, certainly the fruit of which would be a long-continued if not hopeless confusion and disaster and ruin to the State. The presence of the United States troops, in my judgment, is necessary to prevent this. The organization of militia is of very questionable expediency, inasmuch as it will be, under the present excited state of mind, one political party armed to the support of the government against another. I wish to avert this, if possible, and respectfully request your Excellency to put two regiments of cavalry, a regiment of infantry, together with a battery of artillery, under the command of some competent officer, with orders to cooperate with me in repressing disorder and violence, arresting criminals, and protecting the officers of the law in trying them. The breaking up of all secret political organizations and a few examples of condign punishment of offenders will secure peace in the State as soon as the excitement attending the present campaign is over. As a result of this appeal, General Buchanan was instructed by General Grant to maintain such a disposition of his troops that they might be ready to act without delay on the receipt of the President's order, and calling his attention to the conditions under which the military forces of the United States may be employed to suppress insurrections and domestic violence against the government of any State, as expressed in section 4, article IV of the Constitution, as well as in the acts of February 28, 1795, and March 3, 1807. As a consequence of these instructions, General Buchanan, in orders of September 1, 1868, thus defined the official relations between military commanders and United States marshals and the sheriffs of parishes and counties and the conditions under which assistance was to be rendered them.62 The sheriff, being a State officer usually appointed for a particular county or parish, is restricted in the execution of his duties to the territorial limits of such county or parish. His right to require the assistance of the posse comitatus is supreme within such limits. He is therefore authorized, in cases of unlawful resistance to his authority clearly shown to exist, to require the assistance of any troops serving within his a Adjutant-General Townsend to General Buchanan, August 10, 1868. district. In such cases the military commander will be required to render the assistance called for; provided, that in the exercise of a sound discretion he is satisfied that the necessity for such service exists. . But should he not be thoroughly satisfied of this, he will decline to act until he can make a report to and receive special instructions from these headquarters in each case. The official relations of military commanders and United States marshals are to be defined as follows: The marshal, being a United States officer, is acting under the same authority as that which governs the military commander himself, and his district being ordinarily restricted to the limits of the State, his authority to call for the assistance of troops in cases arising out of a resistance to the laws of the United States is coextensive with the limits of such State. He will, therefore, have a right to call upon any military commander within his district for such assistance as the nature of the case may require, but the military commander will, as before indicated, exercise a sound discretion in deciding upon the necessity for the use of his troops. In no case is it deemed proper to consider a mere riotous demonstration as a case calling for the interposition of the military forces, which should not be displayed until it shall be absolutely necessary for them to act.a During the succeeding months several cases of riotous disturbances occurred both in New Orleans and in the interior parishes, and many calls were made for military assistance. On the night of the 12th of September all the troops within reach were brought into the city upon a requisition of Governor Warmoth to prevent an apprehended attack upon a political procession, and again on the 22d of that month another serious disturbance occurred in the streets of New Orleans, during which five persons were killed and a large building attacked and set on fire before the troops could be brought to the scene. occasioned the issuing of the following proclamation: This EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF LOUISIANA, I call upon the good people of New Orleans to at once repair to their residence and abstain from any exciting acts or conversation. The civil authorities are capable of suppressing any difficulties that may arise and arresting any offenders, or, if found inefficient, will be promptly assisted by the military. I call upon all political clubs to abstain from any display whatever for the present. On the 28th occurred the climax of an affair that had been brooding for some weeks in the parish of St. Landry between the hostile bands of extreme political partisans. Upon a rumor that the editor of the leading Republican paper had been murdered several bands of armed. negroes collected in the county and marched upon the town of Opelusas. The citizens went out to meet them, and a fight ensued in which several persons were killed on each side. Another similar affair occurred on the 26th of October in the parish of St. Bernard, in which a family of whites were murdered and their house burned, and in the resulting affray eight or ten negroes were killed and perhaps twice as many wounded. Conflicts in St. Landry and St. Bernard parishes. a Circular No. 2, Department of Louisiana, New Orleans, September 1, 1868. S. Doc. 209-10 Again were the State authorities compelled to admit their inability to preserve the peace or to bring the offenders to justice. On the 26th of October the governor made the following appeal to General Rousseau, who had succeeded General Buchanan in the command of the department: Maj. Gen. L. H. ROUSSEAU, Commanding Department of Louisiana: The evidence is conclusive that the civil authorities in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard are unable to preserve order and protect the lives and property of the people. The act of Congress prohibiting the organization of the militia in this State strips me of all power to sustain them in the discharge of their duties, and I am compelled to appeal to you to take charge of the peace of these parishes and use your forces to that end. If you respond favorably to my request, I will at once order the sheriffs and police forces to report to you for orders. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, HENRY C. WARMOTH, This was forwarded at once to Washington with request for instructions, and General Rousseau was informed that he was "authorized and expected to take such action as may be necessary to preserve the peace and good order and to protect the lives and property of citizens. The following two years were marked by comparative quiet throughout the State, so that the troops were gradually withdrawn, a strong force being maintained at New Orleans and the river forts. If this quiet was occasionally interrupted by the political quarrels that were constantly arising between two factions of the dominant party, the fact that they were encouraged by the minority party, as it would see in the situation, from time to time, an apparent advantage to itself, created a situation that prevented, for a time at least, any serious outbreak. In 1871 these factions were divided between the supporters and the opponents of the governor, H. C. Warmoth, and from the opening of the legislature, in January, there was more or less bad feeling, manifested principally by occasional affrays at New Orleans, in the interior parishes. In July the calling of a Republican convention, to be held at the custom-house in New Orleans on the 9th of August, was the occasion for the development of this feeling, which culminated in the organized assembling of large bodies of the factions at the capital for several days before the one appointed for the meeting. Early in the morning of the 9th of August from 3,000 to 5,000 excited whites and blacks, many of them armed, had collected about the custom-house, and so threatening was the situation that, in order to preserve the peace, the department commander (General Emory) ordered the troops from the barracks to march to the scene. Three companies of infantry, numbering perhaps 150 officers and men, with two Gatling guns, made their way Riots 1871-72. a Secretary of War Schofield to Brevet Major-General Rousseau, October 26, 1868. |