New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-25
General Shaler's Report.
A New York dispatch saws:

| n New Iorh ulSpatch says:
Major General Shaler, who commanded
all the troops on the day of the riot, ha:
made an official report. He states the total
number on duty was 1892 rank and file
After detailing the positions of the regi
ments during the day, and repeating the
| circumstances of the riot, which differ little
| from previous reports, the general sums up
by praising the militia for the promptitude
with which they turned out, and the num-
bers that appeared in the ranks, in some
regiments the increase being fifty per cent
more than usual on parade. He continues:
Their conduct during the successive
hours of service was in the highest degree
commendable. A very small portion of the
| pubic press, and few persons with biased
and prejudiced minds, endeavored to create
| the impression that some regiments acted
| hastily on Eighth avenue, but by careful
perusal of the official reports of all the prin-
clpal commanding officers engaged, and
statements of citizens residing in the neigh
bOrhood as to the circumstances attending
the melee, | have failed to discover sufficient
cause for the statements made.
The testimony is abundant to show that
long before the troops retaliated firearms
were discharged and missiles of all kinds
thrown at them from sidewalks, windows
and housetops; and it was not until an Off
Ger of the Eighty fourth had been struck by
ID.
the men had been shot in the head, and
another had received a flesh wonnd, two
men of the Ninth had been killed outright
and number wounded, and three of the
Sixth wounded, that the fire was opened on
the mob.
''It is the opinion of the most experienced
officers OF the police, fire, and military pre-
sent, that the troops did not fire any too
soon, but that, in very few minutes more,
il would have been difficult if NOT imnossi-
sible, to oyerpower the mob, and that the
lives lost at Eighth avenue and Twenty
fourth street, saved the sacrifice of much
greater number at some other point. The
extremely delicate service of General
Varian in commanding the escort to the pro-
cessiOn was performed in highly credita-
BILE manner and to my satisfaction.
1.-The commander of the escort acted with
GOODNESS and discretion. The officers and
men under them discharged their duty un-
der circumstances calculated to excite and
aggravate the most experienced troops, and
are entitled, therefore, to the commendation
of their superior officers. The orders issued
from time to time were obeyed by all the
commands on duty with an alacrity rarely
witnessed"
The report concludes by commencing the
bodies for their gallant conduct. 1t says:
Their alacrity, courage and dash in
attacking the mob, as well as the patience
and coOlness in bearing with its abuse and
assaults, is cheerfully testified to by all
officers of the National Guard who wit
messed their movements, and they are de-
clared entitled not only to the respect of
their superiors, but to the confidence of the
public at large"
General Varian, in his report which
accompanies this, states that he gave the
troops specific orders to fire if fired upon.