The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-08-09
From the LouisyiIle Journal.
The Louisville Riots.

burning which occurred IN our CITY yeSter-
day. We cannot now express our great alb
horrence of such things; nor can we find
space in which to say what we would
wish to say upon this subject. A ter
rible responsibility rests upon those who
have melted the foreign population of the city |
to the deeds of violence which were the COM
mencement of The riots in the First and
Eighth wards. We are confident that these
riots were not occasioned by anything that
Happened at any OF the several voting places
The election throughout the city, as far as
we can learn, had passed off with usu Al quiet,
with the exception of brutal outrage IN the
First ward, of which we shall speak presently, !
and some fighting at the Eighth ward polls,
in which no one was much hurt. The riots
were occasoned by ndiscriminate and muir
dercus assaults committed by foreigners,
chiefly Irish, upon noffensive citizens,
peaceably attending to their own business, at
some distance from any of the voting places.
A II the circumstances connected with these
assaults strongly indicate that they were pre-
mediated and instigated. by other parties than
those by whom they were actually commit
ted. We are not now prepared to say that
they were the consequences only of the in
cendiary appeals, for some time past, publicly
made to our foreign population by some of
/ the leaders of the Anu-American party, or
that they were instgated by direct instruc-
tions of men with fendish hearts who control
in great measure the passions, and are able
TO dictate actions to the Germans and Irish
who made these attacks. All the facts will
probably be ascertained iudicialy, aud then
the responsibility will rest where it properly
belongs. The circumstances detailed to
us, and the confessions of some of the miser
able wretches who were made the victims
of their insane folly aud murderous violence,
show that these assaults upon unotfendlng
and innocent native-born citizens were pre-
nediated, and that the blame attaches to
others who are as yet unnamed.
We have not now time to give details.
We assert however, and are sure that it will
be proved by respectable witnesses, tn at
every act Of bi6odshed was begun by foreign
ers. That iii every instance where mortal
violence ensued, the beginning of the riots
was an unprovoked slaughter by foreigners
of peacable Americans while Quietly passing
/ in the streets alta distance from the POLLS
, This Infatuated the populace, and prompt
and terrible resort to MOB violence by which
many foreigners were Killed and much prop
ettY destroyed was the consequence. In the
] wGrd about 8 O'Clock in the morning. while
the election was proceeding quietly at the
polls, Mr.. Geo. Burge, a respectable anC
quiet American citizen was brutally ASSAULTED
by party of frishmen on Jackson street
: between Jefferson and Greene, without hav
ing given any provocation, he was knocked
4 down and horribly beaten with stones ant
clubs. He attempted to escape from tbs
fends by whom he was attacked and raj
! into the alley of an adjoining house, wher'
9 he was followed by his bood-thirsty assail
o ants, and cut. stabbed, and beaten until hI
I. han. of fi,oa.
. linhuman brutes deliberately opened bis snif
and proceeded t9 cut the threat o. the @nr
n pursuit of the murderers, who were subse
o quently arrested and lodged in Jail by til.
, Mayor and City Marshal,
In the afternoon between three and foul
: O'Clock. several Americans were fred upon
q and several wounded while quietly riding 0.
, walking by the German Brewery on Jeffer
son streetnear the Beargrass bridge. Among
these were some gentlemen from jefferson
county and several respectable citizens.
!, One gentleman who was fired at was riding
in buggy with his wife seated by his side.
AboHt the same time a perfect shower OF
shot and bullets were rained upon every
American passer-by from the windows Of
some houses occupied by Germans upon
Shelby street, in the neighborhood of Madi-
lsoh- street.
Is soon as these occurrences were made
known it was ascertained that large bodies Of
foreigners, armed with shot guns and rifles
had assembled in the heighbotRood 6F the
brewery and also or SEslBy street. An
Eindiscriminate slaughter of American citizens
was appreEended. An immense crowd of
excited, madened, infruiateda Americans as
sembled, they were fred at from the windows
of the brewery and the houses on Shelby
afr Il i,o Al. n
ers several men were badly wounded and
the incensed and Infatuated mob burned the
brewery and sacked the houses from which
the Shots were fred.
| In the 9Th ward, the most serious dstur-
Dances occurred about O'Clock in the after
noon. a Mr.. Rhodes, in company with two
/ friends, all American citizens, was quietly
passing upon Main street, near Chapel, when
lthey were set upon by party Of ten Irish
men, who with horrible oaths swore they
would clean the streets of every American.
Fifteen shots were fred upon them. Rhodes
was killed, and both his companions badly
wounded, one of them seriously. The Irish |
men then ran up Chapel street, and on being
pursued took refuge in a house at the corner
of Chapel and Market streets, whence several
shots were fired bg the inmates, bv which
several American citizens were wounded and
two were killed, Mr. Graham and ar /
Hobson. The firing from this hcose con.
tinted for some half hour. The Irish w.
armed to the teeth with Firearms of go,
description. while the Americans ,gara -
most entirely unarmed, and were oblged -
go to their homes to procure arms tn Ssfang
themselves and their friends from the rnr-
derous fire of the insane wre.chas Who had
made this attack upon them. Between s
and O'clock, sufficient force had assem-.