Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1866-09-05

suppressed until General Sheridan demanded their
publication in yindication of himself We give the
following extract from General Sheridsns first des-
patch, which had not hitherto been published having
been suppressed at Washington:
In the meantime, official duty called me TO Texas,
and the Mayor of the city, during my absence sup
pressed the Convention by the of the police force
and in So doing attacked the members of the Con-
vention and party Of two hundred negroes, with
fire arms, clubs and knives, in mannerso unneces-
sary and atrocious as 10 compel me to say that it
was murder.
From this it will be seen that General Sheridan
had in the garbled dispatch sent forth by the Pres
ident been represented as denouncing the Conven-
ton and sustaining the authorities.
We invite special attention to another suppressed
dispatch:
.. S. Grant, General, Washington, D. c.:
The more information obtain of the affair of the
3Oth, in this city the more revolving it becomes 1t
was no rot-it was an absolute massacre by the po-
lice which was not exceeded in murderous cruelty
by that of Fort Pillow. 1t was murder which the
Mayor and police of the city perpetrated without
the shadow of necessity. Furthermore, believe
it was premeditated and every indication points to
this. l recommend the removing of this bad man.
believe it would be hailed with the sncerest graf
ifcation by twothirds of the population of the city.
There has been feeling of insecurity the part of
the 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.
lSignedl 2. II. SHERIDAN,
Major General Commanding.
On the 4th of August the President addressed a
series of questions to General Sheridan, each of
which was intended to draw out facts to sustain his
interference in favor of Mayor Monroe and his
"thugs" to which the General replied the 9th
instant in the following lengthy dispatch:
New ORLEANS, Aug. 6, IL NJ, 1866
His EcceILeney Aaare,o johnson, President of the
United States:
l have the honor to make the following reply to
your dispatch of August A A very large number
of the colored people marched in procession on Fri
day night July %, and were addressed from the
steps Of the City Hall by DR.. Dostie, Ex-Governor
Haun and others. The speech Of Dostie was intem-
perate in language and sentiment The speeches of
the others, far as can learn, were characterized
by moderation. 1 have not given you the words of
Dosties speech the version published was denied,
| but what have learned of the man. believe they
were incorporate. The Convention assembled at
| u NJ. on the 90th, the timid members absenting
| themselves because the tone of the general public
was obvious of trouble. think there were about
twenty-six members present. In front of the Me-
chancs Institute, where the meeting held there
were assembled some colored men, women and chill
| dren-perhaps eighteen or twenty-and in the In
stitute a number of colored men-probably one hun
| dred and fifty. Among those outside and inside
there might have been pistol in the possession of
every tenth man.
| About / p NJ. q procession of say from sixty to
| one hundred and thirty colored men marched up
Burgundy street and across Canal street to avoid
| the Convention, carrying the American flag. These
men had about one pistol to every ten men, and
canes and clubs in addition. While crossing Canal
street row occurred There were many spectators
on the streets, and their manner and tone towards
the procession uRfriendly. A shot lcaS fired, By
coDt am rot able to state but belere ii to hare been
bv policeman at some colored the procession.
This led to other shots and rush after the process
sion.
On arriving at the front of the Institute, there
was some throwing of brickbats by both sides. The
police who had been held we'll in hand were vigor-
oursly marched to the scene of disorder The pro-
cesson entered the institute with the flag, about six
or eight remaining outside. \ row occurred be-
tween a policeman and Of these colored men,
and shot was again fired by one of the parties,
which led to indiscriminate fire on the building
and through the windows by the policemen This
had been going on for a short time, when a white
flag was displayed from the window of the Institute
whereupon the firing ceased and the police rushed
into the building. From the testimony Of wounded
men and others who were inside the building, the
policemen opened an indiscriminate fire upon the
audience, until they had emptied their revolTers,
when they retired, and those inside barrlcaded the
doors The doors were broken in and the firing
| again commenced, when many of the celored and
white people either escaped through the door were
passed out by the policemen inside but as they came
out the policemen who formed the circle nearest the
building fred upon them, and they were again fired
upon by the citizens that formed the outer circle
Many of those wounded and taken prisoners, and
others who were prisoners and not wounded, were
fired upon by their captors and by citizens. The
wounded were stabbed while lying on the ground
and their heads beaten with brickbats. In the yard
of the building whittier of the colored people
had escaped and partially secreted themselves, they
were fred upon and killed or wounded by police
men. Others were killed and wounded several
squares from the scene Members of the Conven-
ton were wounded by the policemen while in their
| hands as prisoners-some of them MORALLY.
| The immediate cause Of this terrible affair was
the assemblage of this Convention. TIE remote
cause the bitter and aratagonjStic feeling aohi;h
has been g2oCiHg this community since the adUent
of the present Mayor lrho IN the organization Of has
police force selected many desperate men, of them
k,,otCn DauTdeTerS People of clear views were over
awed by want of confidence in the Mayor and fear of
the Thugs" many of whom he had selected for his
police force. have frequently been spoken to by
prominent citizens on this subject, and have heard
them express fear and want of confidence in Mayor
Monroe. Ever since the intimaton of this last
! Convention movement l must condemn the course
/
articles the bitter feelings of bad men.
As to the merciless manner in which the Conven-
ton was broken up, feel obliged to confess strong
repugnance 1t is useless to attempt to disguise the
hostility that exists on the part of great many
/ here towards Northern men, and this unfortunate
affair has so precipitated matters that there is
test of what shall be the status of Northern men
whether they can live here without being in con-
slant dread whether they be protected in life
and property and have justice in the courts. Ii this
matter is permitted TO pass without thorough
and determined prosecution of those engaged in it,
! we may look out for frequent occurrences of the
same kind, not only here but in other places. No
steps have as yet been taken by the civil authorities
to arrest citizens who were engaged in this massacre
or policemen who perpetrated such cruelties. The
/ members of the Convention have been indicted by
the Grand jury and many of them arrested and
held to bail As TO whether the civil authorities
mete out ample justice to the guilty parties on both
sides, must say it is my opinion, unequivocally
that they cannot Judge Abel, whose course l have
closely watched for nearly year, / now consider
one of the most dangerous men we have here TO the
peace and quiet of the city. The leading men Of
the Concentrating, Cutler, Hahn and others
have been political agitators, and are bad men.
regret 10 say that the course of Governor Wells ha
been vacilating and that during the late trouble hi
has shown very little of the man.
P H. SHERIDAN
Major General Commanding.
Not one word of these very important dispatche
have been heretofore published but suppressed b.
the President of the United States that the infam,
of his friends, the rebels of New Orleans, might b
kept a secret from the American people. Will tn
two johnson papers in Knoxville publish them ?
( Ua nredif moi They will scarcely saw however