The daily Mississippi clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1866, 1866-05-04

not exaggerated in the report. We
quote and condense from the Bulle-
tin: -.,-.
Between 5 and o'clock, P. NJ,
a negro was driving a wagon along
South street, which came into COLI
sion with another vehicle of which a
young man (~hite) was in charge
W ords passed between the pair as to
which was to blame for the collision:
and finding that they were unable to
settle the matter by words, an appeal
was made to their whips, which they
used most freely over each others
shoulders. Several negroes inter
fered, and policeman coming up at
tempted to seize the negro driver,
when pistol was levelled at him.
Two other policemen came up and the
riot beanie general, negroes fiocking
to the spot in great numbers, who
commenced firing at the policemen
and at citizens unfortunately, and
one of the officers, James Finn, fell
MORALLY wounded at the first volley,
being shot through the groin with
bullet from pistol in the hands Of a
negro only n few PAGES distant. The |
members of Fire Company ,. 2,
came to the assistance of the police
and the firing became general. Mr.. |
Henry Dunn, engineer of No. 2, was
shot through the head Many citizens
from the adjoining streets joined in,
and by well directed volleys several |
negroes, who had taken an active and |
early part in the riot, were slain in the |
| affray.
At six clock, the riot was at its
height, and Officers Slattery and Nal
Ion, the only policemen who had ar
rived on the ground, had fallen Sc
verely wounded In the meantime a
message had been dispatched to the
police Office for reinforcements, and
! fortunately Mr. Sheriff Winters hap
! pened to be in the office at the time
He got into a vehicle and drove down
at a rapid rate to the navy yard,
to solicit from Major General Stone
man, the General commanding this
district, the assistance of the troops
under his command, to quell the riot
| Sheriff Winters states that General
Stoneman replied, when he made the
request that as the citizens of Mem
phis had petitioned to have the troops
removed from the city, they would
have to protect themselves as best
they could, as he had no troops at his
disposal for that purpose. The duty
having dcvOlved on the sheriff to
Quell the disturbance, he took the
most prompt measures to do so. He
returned withOur delay to the station,
summoned all the policemen he could
procure, and accompanied by Captain
b. G. Garrett, Chief of Police, the men
E were marched to the scene of action.
AS they moved along the streets at
the '.double- quick" Sheriff Winters
summoned every citizen whom he met
, to take his place in the column. As
they passed along they met many af-
frighted citizens coming into the city
, for assistance, who reported the mob
of negroes to be of the most formida-
bic dimensions. Sheriff Winters and
, Captain Garrett gave orders to their
men to be prepared for any emergen-
t cy. RevOlvers were got out and
. when the officers reached the ground
, they found the negroes drawn up in
almost regular line of battle. All, or
, nearly all, were in uniform, and each
, one was armed with revolver. The
| officers were saluted with a volley on
their arrival which they quickly re-
} turned, doing some good execution
: A negro who seemed to act as ring
2 leader fell at /the first fire. This
UuuSeu general stampedp TO be made
| by the negroes, who were closely pur-
sued by the officers, firing rapidly.
e Sheriff Winters, with his posse, then
e | proceeded to scOur the streets with
5 the men under his command, and or
= dered all the negroes to return to their
t dwellings, which all did promptly,
e fearful of the consequences if they
dared to disobey the order. The riot,
/ hich had attained the most fOrmida-
e BILE dimensions, was thus promptly
+. quelled While the Sheriff and Cap
, tain Garrett were securing the streets
t with their forces, captain of the
regular army, with a portion of a
a company belonging to the Sixteenth
s regiment of regulars, arrived on the
: ground. One or two shots were fired
: by the negroes after the military made
: their appearance, but the sight of their
e fixed bayOnets, and the determined
+ bearing of the posse comitdtuS, caused
4 them to fly, without loss of time to
e their dwellings in the vicinity.
X The posse and the military kept pos
e session of the street till between eight
I and nine O'Clock, when they returned
to their quarters. The greatest ex-
: citement pervaded the city during the
e entire night, and the sight of a negro
n, on the street was the signal, the word
+ to make a sally for him
e Owing to the very great excitement
e which prevailed up to late hour, it
was almost impossible to ascertain the
Y real number who were killed and
e wounded. Many reports were current,
n but the number of casualties given
0 above may be fully relied on. The
n negroes reported killed were from
t seven to fifteen, but the latter number
It may be considered correct Several
e were wounded at the affray on South
e street, and also on other streets during
Y the evening. None of their names
e were known.
+ Since preparing the shove we have
conversed with gentleman who arriv-
a ed in our city yesterday from Mem
= phis and who participated in the fight,
: who gives us some additional particu-
: lars. On Wednesday the negroes
many of them in uniform, mastering
over five hundred strong held Fort
Pickering and had inaugurated per-
feet reign of terror. They came out
of the fort and advanced upon the
l citizens in regular line Of battle. The
citizens fell back to an embankment
and kept up Q 6risk hre IN the ad-
yanoig column, killing 70 or Z and
+ wounting numbers who were carried
back o the fort. 1T aboat noon
Wednesday $50 white regulars were
sent to teir assistance by Gen. Stone
man, When the negroes fell back to
the fort. .g
Wednesday evening the negroes had
established picket line upon the walls
of the fort, and the regulars had a
picket around it. Later intelligence
says that the negroes made sortie
from the fort during the night and
. were driven back with the loss of