The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-08-02
Tho nIillionn Riot.

sc4a The 1Iillioan Riot.
THE ORIGIN OF THE BATT1E-THE KILL
ED AND woUNDED-How 1T ENDED.
A correspondent of the New Or
leans Times, writing from Houston,
Texas, on the 18th ultimo, gives the
following full report Of the Millican
riots:
For the past three days, our city
has been laboring under q great deal
of excitement, consequent upon
difficulty which began on the 18th
ult., between the whites and the
blacks, at the town of Millican, Brazos
County, on the Central Railroad,
and which is not yet fully quieted.
L learn from q perfectly reliable
source that the difficulty had its
origin as follows: A negro man,
whose name ] have not been able to
learn, went to the house of young
man. named Holiday, a short dis
tance from Millican, to settle some
business matters. Finding Holiday
absent, the negro demanded a settle
ment of his wife, who informed him
that she knew nothing about the
business, and consequently could
not do anything in the matter. This
seemed to enrage the negro, and he
began making threats and cursing
Mrs. Holiday, which so alarmed her
that she fed to a neighbor's and
informed the members of the family
of what had taken place, and request
ed some men to go to her house and
make the negro leave. Two or three
men Immediately went over and
arrested the negro and carried him
into Washington County, but short
distance from there, and turned him
over to the civil authorities.
Somehow or other-perhaps under
instructions from the Loyal League
a report was circulated among the
negroes in the vicinity that Holiday
and his friends had hung the negro,
and in an incredibly short space of
time they congregated force of
about sixty we'll armed negroes, and
marched through Millican in the
direction of Holidays house, breath
ing threats of vengeance. The me-
groes were assured that the negro
whose death they sought to avenge
was alive, and in charge of the civil
authorities in the neighboring Coun-
ty of Washington, but they would
not listen to any one. and kept stead
lily on in the direction of Holidays.
A party of about twenty white men,
under command of the deputy She
riff of Brazos County, Immediately
started after the negroes, with the
intention of preventing any harm
being done to Holiday or his fami-
ly. A short distance from town,
this party met the negroes returning
The negroes Immediately formed a
line and fred upon the whites,
slightly wounding one. The whites
then returned the fire, killing five
aud wounding several others, and
tL2 charged the negroes, completely
routing the party.
There being no telegraph Office at
Bryan, the sheriff seized the freight
train, on its arrival from Houston,
and Immediately despatched the
engines to Bryan, twenty miles dis
tant, for assistance. The engines
returned with cars containing about
seventy-fve men; but the negroes
made peace oyertures to the whites,
and the train returned to Bryan with
2most of the men that had come
lown. During the night the whites
placed picket guard around Mill
can, and the negroes assembled in
large numbers at short distance
from town, and two of their number,
well armed, attempted to enter the
town about 4 o'clock on the morning
of the 18th, and, being discovered
by the pickets, were fired upon and
one of them killed. After daylight
Mr.. Wheat, prominent Loyal
Lacquer, visited the negro camp, in
company with the Bureau agent, and
endeavored to reason with them, but
the negroes refused TO listen to them,
and even went 30 far as to threaten
their lives if they did not leave. The