LOUISIANA. 



-i*MpI 



oUri 



the 14tl 



-ippi, and Arkansas, could be entirely re- 

 ', and conti.lriifi- mid t'air dealing established, 

 arrest and trial of the ringleaders ot tin- unm- ,1 

 les. If '.in t ;rc^j* would pans a bill de- 

 t ni-iu banditti, they could bo tried by military 

 ision. This bahditti, who murdered men lu re 

 e 14th of last September, also more recently at 

 il'inx', Miss., should, injustice to law and order, 

 tii.- p. -ace and prosperity of this Southern part 

 (.mushed. It is possible that, if 

 i.li-nt would issue a proclamation declaring 

 iditti, that no further action need be token, 

 ci-jit that which would devolve upon me. 

 I'.'H. Sill; Kl DAN, Lieut.-Generul U. 8. Army. 



The following communications also passed 

 etween General Sheridan and the Secretary 



WAR DEPARTMENT, | 



WASHINGTON, D. C.. January 6, 1875. J 

 . P. H. SHERIDAN, New Orleans: 

 Tin- President and all of us have full confidence 

 i and thoroughly approve your course. 



WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War. 



NEW ORLEANS, January 6, 1875. 

 "he Hon. W.W. BELKNAP, Sec'yofWar, Washington: 

 Tho city is very quiet to-day. Some of the ban- 

 ditti made idle threats lust night that they would as- 

 ate me, because I dared to tell the truth. I am 

 in >t afraid, and wijl not be stopped from informing 

 the Government that there are localities in this de- 

 partment where the very air has been impregnated 

 with uss:issinuti<m for some years. 



I*. II. SHERIDAN, Lieut.-General commanding. 



WASHINGTON, January 6, 1875. 

 To Gen. P. H. SHERIDAN, New Orleans, La. : 



I telegraphed you hastily to-day, answering your 

 dispatch. You seem to fear we will be misled by 

 biased or partial statements of your acts. Be as- 

 sured that the President and cabinet confide in 

 your wisdom, and rest in the belief that nil acts of 

 yours have been and will be judicious. This I in- 

 tended to sav in my brief telegram. 



WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War. 



The events of the 4th of January, and the 

 dispatches of General Sheridan immediately 

 following, caused an almost unparalleled ex- 

 citement throughout the country. The Presi- 

 dent was widely denounced for the part taken 

 by the military in Louisiana, and there was a 

 strong expression of indignation against the 

 alleged interference with the organization of a 

 State Legislature. Numerous indignation meet- 

 ings were called in Northern cities. Several 

 Governors addressed special messages to the 

 Legislatures of their States, and Legislative 

 resolutions were passed denouncing the course 

 pursued by the Federal Government. Amid 

 this general denunciation of the Government, 

 there were some who claimed that the course 

 pursued by President Grant was one of neces- 

 sity, and had been the means of averting vio- 

 lence and bloodshed. 



On the day following the eventful 4th of 

 January, the following address was issued to 

 the people of Louisiana by the chairman of 

 the Committee of Seventy : 



To the People of Louisiana : In the name of all that 

 men hold dear and sacred, I implore my fellow-citi- 

 zens to avoid by all means the traps which our ene- 

 mies and oppressors have deliberately set for us. 

 Our deliverance from political bondage depends upon 

 our prudence and forbearance, and a conflict with the 



soldiers or authorities would be the ruin of our hop. 

 u riveting of our chains. A little more of the hero- 

 ism, patience, and forbearance, which hav already 

 crowned you with imperishable honor, and aroused 

 the sympathies of the entire country in your favor, 

 and the usurpation and misrule to which you are 

 now subjected will have ceased, andyou will be once 

 more a free, a prosperous, and a happy people. 

 K. II. MARK, Chairman of the Com. of Seventy. 



On the same day Mr. McEnery addressed 

 the following to President Grant: 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., January 6, 1875. 

 To Hit Excellency U. b. GHAUT, President of the United 

 States: 



In the name of liberty and all lovers of liberty 

 throughout the United States, I do most solemnly 

 protest against the acts of the military forces of the 

 United States on yesterday, in the occupation of the 

 State-House ; in the forcible ejection by the troops 

 of members of the Legislature and the elected Speak- 

 er of the House, and the subsequent organization of 

 the House by the direct and forcible intervention of 

 the military. I affirm before the whole American 

 people, that the action on the part of the military in 

 this city yesterday is subversive of the republican 

 institutions of this free country. 



JOHN McENEBY. 



General Sheridan was also sharply criticised 

 for the dispatches which he had sent to Wash- 

 ington. Resolutions, denying the accuracy of 

 his statements were passed by the New Orleans 

 Cotton Exchange and other organizations, and 

 the following statement was published : 



AX APPEAL TO THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 

 To the American People : 



WJitreas, General Sheridan, now in command of 

 the Division of the Missouri, under date of the 4th 

 inst. .has addressed a communication to the Hon. 

 W. W. Belknap, Secretary of War, in which he rep- 

 resents the people of Louisiana at large as breathing 

 vengeance to all lawful authority, and approving ol 

 murders and crimes j and 



Whereas, He has given to that communication full 

 publicity : 



We, the undersigned, believe it our duty to pro- 

 claim to the whole American people that these charges 

 are unmerited, unfounded, and erroneous, and can 

 have no other effect than that of serving the interests 

 of corrupt politicians, who are at this moment mak- 

 ing extreme efforts to perpetuate their power over 

 the State of Louisiana. 



N. J. PEBCHE, Archbishop, New Orleans. 



J. P. B. WILMER. Bishop of Louisiana. 



JAMES K. GUTHEIM, Pastor Temple of Sinai. 



J. C. KEENEB, Bishop M. E. Church, South. 



C. DOLL, Rector St. Joseph's Church. 



And many others. 

 NEW ORLEANS,* January 5. 



General Sheridan, however, reaffirmed the 

 statements in his first dispatches, as follows: 



NEW ORLEANS, January 7, 1875. 

 To W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War, Washington : 

 Several prominent people here have for the last 

 few days been passing resolutions and manufactur- 

 ing sentimental protests for Northern political con- 

 sumption. They seem to be trying to make martyrs 

 of themselves. It cannot be done at this late day. 

 There have been too many bleeding negro and ostra- 

 cized white citizens for their statements to be be- 

 lieved by fair-minded people. Bishop Wilmer pro- 

 tests against my telegram of the 4th inst., forgetting 

 that on Saturday last he testified under oath before 

 the Congressional Committee that the condition of 

 affairs was substantially as bad as reported by me. 

 I shall soon send you a statement of the number of 



