Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-09-24
The Radical EsiOt and Murder at
d Indi,l nnpOIis--- Sta tement of Gen.
Custar. .." '''.' ."h

A IndiiannpOiis---StatementO of Gen.
Custar. ... '.'.," "n
CINCINNATI, ONO, Sept. II, 1866. ,
., To Gen. s. MeTedah--DEAR SIR lneom-f
pliance with your request. and to correct
Misrepresentation already published, /
give you he following statement of what |
saw relating to the disgraeefIll riot which
occurred in Indianapolis on the evening of
the Presidents reception at that city. had
returned to my room from the supper table,
where had left the President and most of
the party. Thestreets about the hotel we're
densely packed by the crowd waiting TO
see and hear the President. Loud and con-
tinuous calls were made for Johnson, Sew
ard, Grant, Farragut and others. | was
seated in the window of my room, which
was in the second story of the Bates House
and Immediately overlooking the crowd in
the Street. Several hundred torches and
transparencies borne among the crowdren-
dered the scene as light as midday, so that
! could see and distinguish the faces of
every person in the crowd below. / am
thus minnie in details in order to prove to
| you that could see all that was transpir-
] ing. Nothing of a disorderly character
occurred until one of the Marshals of the
day was seen making his way on horseback
| through the crowd to the point where torch
bearers werelocated. After apparently re-
ceiyiug directions to that effect, they began
to move off in column. This was the sig
nal tor an attack by the crowd, which was
| begun by knocking down torches and
transparenries with clubs, and in some in
| stances wrestling them from the hands OF
| holders. This continued without resistance
for tue space OF probably two minutes, al
though several in the procession had been
struck aud beaten over their heads A rush
was finally made, by the. crowd, and
several torches fOrcibly thaken from the
procession, and the handles used as
weapons against the procession.
The transparency bearing the motto
Irish American. Citizens Welcome the
President of the United States" seemed to
be special object OF attack, aud was sseized
and attempted tO be tralnpled under foot.
The attempt failed, ana the bearer resisted
| by using his Transparency as club. This
was the signal for Il general attack by thC
crowd At this moment the first shot was
fired, and as AN effort has been made to at.
tach the blame and responsibility of this
disgraceful proceedingof that occasion up
on innocent parties, and being in possess
| sion of facts which enable me to fix guilt
where it belongs, | hereby state that
plainly saw the man. who fired the first
fshot, and saw him at the moment he fired
He was one Of the attacking party belong
ing to the crowd, and his aimJwhen firing
was directed into the procession and APP
parently at the bearer of the transparency
referred to above. This was a signal for
other shots, and it was not long before {
dozen or so shots were fired by the attack.
ing party that any was returned by those
belonging to the procession, when a single
man left the procession, stepped int
the open space which had been cleared bv
the firing, and deliberately aimed and tireC
twice at one of the mob, who was SOM
twenty yards distant and who was still
firing towards the torch-bearers. Thi
closed the disturbance for the time being
The facts as | have related them, wert
witnessed by Mr.. Spofford, of Boston, Mr.
McGinnis, of Chicago, and two ladies, al
of whom are members of the Presidents
party; who were in my room at the time
General Grant also witnessed them frou
another window, and Informed the Presi
dent of what he had seen, a few moment
after it TRANSFERRED After the Presiden
returned to his room facing the balcony
\ the crowd again assembled in front, whel
another disturbance arose. l was standing
with the president -ins his room when
heard two or three shots fired. looket
out of the window just in- time, to see,i
man fire pistol atanother, standing nea
him. The wounded man fell and wa
spon after picked up and carried int
drug store on the lower floor. No nor
} Shots were fired, General Grant
after twice appearing on the balcony, an'
requesting the crowd to disperse and g
J home, induced respectable persons to do SO
|, About 150 or more of the roughs and thug
of the city, aud who probably began ant
} upheld the riot, remained in front OF th
hotel, indulging in vile epithets until
: late hour, To use the words Of Secretary
Seward on that occasion, the loyal inhabit
ants had retired to their homes, while tn
disloyal remained in the strseti i,.,uL gGt
4 / The undersigned, eye-witnesses of tn
, riot at indianapolis on the evening, of Sep
t lJtember 10, do hereby bear unqualified ties
: Itimony to the accurate and truthful de
! scription thereof contained in the forego
5 ing letter of Maj. Ger. l.. Lustar.l e,.i .,.,-f'
~ ynta li Ing NuyR. SPoFFoRD, 4.ar
9 ss5am as,1 ads l,yNo. MeGiNNIs, JR.i
r IT is said that, Brownlow, in one Of hi
{, harangues, uttered the following horribl
q sentiment !; III l have, after death, 70 go 6
: either, hell or heaven, shall prefer 70 3
with loyal negroes to hell, than with whit
"a fNhfc te ltfani