Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1855-08-18
The Louisville Riots.

in that city. Here is the Journals version
| Of the transaction, which is condensed as
much as possible, without impairing the value
| of the narrative:
| We deeply regret to have to record the scenes
of violence, bloodshed, and house burning
which occurred in our city yesterday. ter
| rible responsibility rests upon those who have
melted the foreign population of the city to the
deeds of violence which were the commence
ment 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 Oft with unusual quiet with the excep-
ton of brutal outrage in the First Ward, of
which we shall speak presently, and some fight
ing at the Eighth Ward polls, in which no one
was much hurt. The riots were occasioned by
indiscriminate and murderous assaults COM
mitted by foreigners, chiefly Irish, upon in
offensive citizens, peaceably attending to their
own business at some distance from any of the
voting places.
All the circumstances connected with these
assaults strongly indicate that they were pre-
meditated and instigated by other parties than
those by whom they were actually committed
All the facts will probably be ascertained judi
cially and then the responsibility will rest
where it properly belongs The circumstances
as detailed to US, and the confessions of some of
the miserable wretches who were made the
victims of their insane folly and murderous
violence show that these assaults upon
offending and innocent native-born citizens
were premedtated, 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
all <t,$o
of boodshed was begun by foreigners. That
in every instance where mortal violence ensue1,
the beginning of the riots unprovoked
slaughter by foreigners of peaceabe Americans
while quietly passing in the streets at a dis
lance from the polls. This Infatuated the popu
lace, and prompt and terrible resort to mob
violence by which many foreigners were killed
and much property destroyed, was the conse
quence. In the First Ward, about 9 o'clock in
the morning while the election was proceeding
quietly at the polls, MIR. George Burge, res
pectable and quiet American citizen. was bru-
tally assaulted by party of Irishmen, on
jackson street, between Jefferson and Greene,
without having given any provocation he was
knocked down aud horribly beaten with stones
and clubs. He attempted to escape from the
fends by whom he was attacked and ran into
the alley of an adjoining house, where he was
followed by his bloodthirsty assaants, and cut,
stabbed, and beaten until he was supposed to
be dead, when one of the inhuman brutes deli
berately opened his knife and proceeded to cut
the throat Of the murdered man. When this
act of violence was made known, party of
Americans started in pursuit of the murderers,
who were subsequently arrested and lodged in
Jail by the Mayor and City Marshal
In the afternoon, between and o'clock,
several Americans were fired upon and severely
wounded while quietly riding or walking by
the German brewery, on Jefferson street, near
the Beargrass bridge. Among those were some
gentlemen from Jefferson county, and several
respectable citizens. One gentleman who was
fired at was riding in a buggy with his wife
seated by his side. About the same time a
perfect shower of shot and bullets were rained
upon every American passer-by from the win
dows of some houses occupied by Germans on
Shelby street, in the neghborhood of Madison
street.
AS 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 neighborhood of the brewery
and also on Shelby street An indiscriminate
slaughter of American citizens was apprehend-
ed. An immense crowd of excited, maddened,
Infatuated Americans assembled; they were
fired at from the windows of the brewery and
arrest these offenders 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 Eighth Warl the most serious dis
turbances occurred about o'clock in the after
noon. Mr.. Rhodes, in company with two
friends, all American citizens, was quietly
passing upon Main street, near Chapel. when
they were set upon by party of ten Irishmen,
who with horrible oaths swore they would clean
the streets of every American. Fifteen shots
were fired upon them. Rhodes was killed, and
both his companions badly wounded, one of
them seriously. The Irishmen then ran up
Chapel street. and being pursued took
refuge in house at the corner of Chapel and
Market streets, whence several shots were
fred by the inmates, by which several Ameri-
can citizens were wounded, and two were killed.
Mr.. Graham and Mr. Hobson. The firing
from this house continued for some half hour
The Irish were armed to the teeth with fire.
arms of every description, while the Americans
were almost entirely unarmed, and were obliged
to 60 to their homes to procure arms to defend
themselves and their friends from the mur-
derous fire of the insane wretches who had
made this attack upon them. Between and
o'clock, sufficient force had assembled to
capture the murderer of young Graham an
Hi'tuc " HUI, DuL We learn
that he is still living.
In the meantime a fusilade of shot guns and
rifles was kept up against any American pass
ing by the of houses at the corner of
Eleventh and Main, belonging to an Irishman
named Quinn, brother Of Father Quinn,
Roman Catholic priest; several Americans
were wounded by shots fred from these pre-
misses, and the attention of the crowd was
given to them. They were filled with Irishmen,
and with loaded arms, as the sequel proved,
beyond boubt. An attempt was made to
drive them out, and the houses were fired,
whether in the inside or outside we do not
know. While burning, the frequent reports
showed that they were we'll provided with fire.
arms; and the confessions of poor miserable
devil who was rescued by Capt. Stone proves
that they were filed with arms and contained
thirteen kegs of powder provided for the occa-
sion. The houses are still burning as we write,
and the riot is not yet subsidized.
We have neither space nor time to enter
into any particulars. We will attempt to do so
tomorrow number of Americans were
slain by the foreigners, and number of for
eigners met heavy retribution. We do not
know how many have been killed, but have
already heard of some twelve or fifteen in all,
and some twenty or thirty have been more or
less dangerously wounded.
From the same paper, of the 9Th, we gather