LOUISIANA. 



rioting would have continued through the 

 negro quarters all night, and conclude that there 

 was a preconcerted plan and purpose of attack 

 upon this convention, provided any plausible 

 pretext therefor could be found. 



The views of Gen. Sheridan, in military com- 

 mand of the Department, are expressed in the 

 following dispatches : 



NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 1, 1866. 

 V. S. Grant, General : 



You are doubtless aware of the serious riot which 

 occurred in this city on the 30th. A political body 

 styling itself the Convention of 1864, met on the 30th, 

 for, as it is alleged, the purpose of remodelling the 

 present constitution of the State. The leaders were 

 political agitators and revolutionary men, and the 

 action of the convention was liable to produce breach- 

 es of the public peace. I had made up my mind to 

 arrest the head men if the proceedings of the con- 

 vention were calculated to disturb the tranquillity of 

 the Department, but I had no cause for action until 

 they committed the overt act. In the mean time offi- 

 cial duty_ called me to Texas, and the Mayor of the 

 city, during my absence, suppressed the convention 

 by the use of the police force, and, in so doing, at- 

 tacked the members of the convention and a party 

 of two hundred negroes with fire-arms, clubs and 

 knives, in a manner so unnecessary and atrocious as 

 to compel me to say that it was murder. About forty 

 whites and blacks were thus killed, and about ono 

 hundred and sixty wounded. Every thing is now 

 quiet, but I deem it best to maintain a military su- 

 premacy in the city for a few days, until the afiair is 

 fully investigated. I believe the sentiment of the 

 general community is great regret at this unnecessary 

 cruelty, and that the police could have made any 

 arrest they saw fit without sacrificing lives. 



P. H. SHERIDAN, 

 Major-General Commanding. 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 2, 1S66. 

 U. S. Grant, General, Washington, D. C. : 



The more information I obtain of the afiair of the 

 30th, in this city, the more revolting it becomes. It 

 was no riot; it was an absolute massacre by the 

 police, which was not excelled in murderous cruelty 

 by that of Fort Pillow. It was a murder which the 

 Mayor and police of the city perpetrated without the 

 shadow of a necessity; furthermore, I believe it was 

 premeditated, and every indication points to this. 

 I recommend the removing of this bad man. I be- 

 .ieve it would be hailed with the sincerest gratifica- 

 tion by two-thirds of the population of the city. 

 There has been a feeling of insecurity on the part of 

 :he people here on account of this man, which is now 

 so much increased that the safety of life and property 

 does not rest with the civil authorities, but with the 

 military. P. H. SHERIDAN, 



Major-General Commanding. 

 NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 3, 1866. 

 U. S. Grant, General, Washington, D. G. : 



I have the honor to report quiet in the city, but 

 considerable excitement in the public mind. There 

 is no interference on the part of the military with the 

 civil government, which performs all its duties with- 

 out hindrance. 



I have permitted the retention of the military gov- 

 ernor appointed during my absence, as it gives con- 

 fidence and enables the military to know what is 

 occurring in the city. He does not interfere with 

 civil matters. 



Unless good judgment is exercised, there will be 

 an exodus of northern capital and Union men which 

 will be injurious to the city and to the whole coun- 

 try. I will remove the military governor in a day or 

 two. I again strongly advise that some disposition 

 be made to change the present mayor, as I believe it 

 would do more to restore confidence than any thing 



that could be done. If the present Governor could 

 be changed also, it would not be amiss. 



P. H. SHERIDAN, 

 Major-General Commanding. 



On August 4th, the President addressed by 

 telegraph the following inquiries to General 

 Sheridan : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, D. C., Aug. 4, 1SG6. 

 To Major- General Sheridan, commanding, etc., Jfew 



Orleans, La. ; 



We have been advised here that, prior to the as- 

 sembling of the illegal and extinct convention elected 

 in 1864, inflammatory and insurrectionary speeches 

 were made to a mob, composed of white and colored 

 persons, urging them to arm and equip themselves 

 For the purpose of protecting and sustaining the con- 

 vention in its illegal and unauthorized proceedings, 

 intended and calculated to upturn and supersede the 

 existing State Government of Louisiana, which had 

 been recognized by the Government of the United 

 States. Further, did the mob assemble, and was it 

 armed for the purpose of sustaining the convention 

 in its usurpation and revolutionary proceedings ? 

 Have any arms been taken from persons since the 

 30th ult.j who were supposed or known to be con- 

 nected with this mob ? Have not various individuals 

 been assaulted and shot by persons connected with 

 this _mob without good cause, and in violation of tha 

 public peace and good order? Was not the assem- 

 bling of this convention and the gathering of the mob 

 for its defence and protection the main cause of the 

 riotous and unlawful proceedings of the civil author- 

 ities of New Orleans? Have steps been taken by the 

 civil authorities to arrest and try any and all those 

 who were engaged in this riot, and those who 

 have committed offences in violation of law ? Can 

 ample justice be meted by the civil authorities to 

 all offenders against the law ? Will General Sheri- 

 dam please furnish me a brief reply to the above in- 

 quiries, with such other information as he may be in 

 possession of? 



Please answer by telegraph at your earliest con- 

 venience. ANDREW JOHNSON, 



President United States. 



The reply of General Sheridan was as fol- 

 lows : 



NEW ORLEANS, La , August 6, 12 M., 1866. 

 His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President United 



States : 



I have the honor to make the following reply to 

 your dispatch of August fourth (4th) : A very large 

 number of colored people marched in procession on 

 Friday night, July twenty-seventh (27th), and were 

 addressed from the steps of the City Hall by Doctor 

 Dostie, ex-Governor Halm, and others. The speech 

 of Dostie was intemperate in language and senti- 

 ment. The speeches of the others, so far as I can learn, 

 were characterized by moderation. 1 have not given 

 you the words of Dostie's speech, as the version pub- 

 lished was denied ; but from what I have learned of 

 the man, I believe they were intemperate. 



The convention assembled at twelve (12) M. on the 

 thirtieth (30th), the timid members absenting them- 

 selves, because the tone of the general public was 

 ominous of trouble. I think there were but about 

 twenty-six (26) members present. In the front of 

 the Mechanics' Institute, where the meeting was 

 held, there were assembled some colored men, women, 

 and children, perhaps eighteen (18) or twenty (20), 

 and in the institute a number of colored men, proba- 

 bly one hundred and fifty (150). Among those out- 

 side and inside there might have been a pistol in the 

 possession of every tenth (10th) man. 



About one (1) P. M. a procession of, say from sixty 

 (60) to one hundred and thirty (130) colored men 

 marched up Burgundy Street and across Canal Street 

 toward the convention, carrying the American flag. 



