Coushatta massacre
| Coushatta massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Reconstruction Era | |
| Location | Coushatta, Louisiana |
| Date | August 1874 |
| Target | Republicans and African Americans |
| Deaths | 6 Republicans and 5 to 20 freedmen |
| Perpetrators | White League |
| Motive | Enforce white supremacy |
The Coushatta massacre (1874) was an attack by members of the
The White League had organized to restore
Background
In the period after the
The
In Coushatta, the White League criticized Republican leadership. Members publicly accused Twitchell and his brothers-in-law of inciting what they termed "a black rebellion."
The attack
On the night of August 25, 1874, Thomas Floyd, an African-American farmer, was murdered in
After holding their hostages several days, the captors forced the officeholders to sign a statement saying they would immediately leave Louisiana. While travelling out of the region, six white captives were murdered by a band of armed whites led by Dick Coleman.[6]
Elsewhere in Coushatta and nearby, Whites attacked numerous African Americans, resulting in at least four deaths.[5] Levin Allen had his arms and legs broken before being burned alive.[6] Louis Johnson and Paul Williams, two of the freedmen arrested by the White League, were hanged by Dick Coleman and his mob.
Although twenty-five men were arrested for the massacre, because of lack of evidence, none were brought to trial.[1][7][8]
Aftermath
Violence continued throughout the state. The Coushatta massacre was followed shortly by a large White League insurrection in
This armed rebellion finally forced President Ulysses S. Grant to respond to the governor's request for reinforcements to Louisiana. Then, within three days, Kellogg was back in office due to the arrival of Federal troops. The White League disappeared before they came. More troops arrived within a month to try to tame the Red River Valley.[7] Grant's decision to send troops was probably too late to prevent further consolidation of Democratic power. In the 1876 election, white Redeemer Democrats gained a majority in the state legislature.
Two years later, when Twitchell returned briefly to Red River Parish, he was shot six times (two in each arm and one in each of his legs), perhaps by a local rival, James G. Marston or by Dick Coleman.[6] His remaining brother-in-law, George King, died in the attack. Although Twitchell survived, his injuries cost him the loss of both his arms.[1]
See also
- List of massacres in Louisiana
References
- ^ a b c d Danielle Alexander, "Forty Acres and a Mule: The Ruined Hope of Reconstruction", Humanities, January/February 2004, Vol.25/No.1. Her article says 20 freedmen were killed. Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 14 Apr 2008
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006, p.76-77. His book says five freedmen were killed.
- Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, New York: Perennial Classics, 2002, p.550
- ^ George C. Rable, But There Was No Peace: The Role of Violence in the Politics of Reconstruction, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984, p. 132
- ^ a b c On This Day: The Coushatta Massacre Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement, UNC at Chapel Hill
- ^ a b c d e Coushatta Massacre Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopedia of Louisiana
- ^ Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, New York: Perennial Classics, 2002, p. 551
- ^ One of the first accounts of the Coushatta masscre is found in Jimmy G. Shoalmire, Carpetbagger Extraordinary: Marshall H. Twitchell, 1840-1905, dissertation at Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, 1969
- ^ Nicholas Lemann, Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006, p.77.