The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1873-05-21
Louisiana.
,,r.Nr TESTIMONY CONCERNING
THE CoLFAx MASSACRE.

NEW OhhHh'' A' f' ~, Ao'o'
had an interview to-day with a
.,1aman from Rapides parish, which
s G";us Grant. He is man of wealth,
gbi r1l social position, well known
i ,."ncon, the State, and possessing
'p, .a, influence. Every word he SAYS
GRIN he relied upon, and his statements
"a" untitled to additional weight, when
:. sneaks favorably for the R-pnbli-
| " ,s Of Colfax, from the fact that he is
aoM STAKEHOLDER, secessiOnist and Il
% a,our Democrat to day. He desires
s' name to be withheld for the present
y. = he will soon he required to give tes-
FANNY in the Investigation which is to
@ ns,e His description Of the condi-
Wv, ."n If affairs npoh the R d river should
s"bpa,d to he appreciated. can give
w, faint idea of what he so grapli-
ally described.
ga Ssid he: ''The Republican officers on
no, side of the river are either rascals
towards. They refuse, either be-
n ,anse they dare not, or, more often, be-
..nse they will not, to execute war
snts or serve wits. TO my knowl-
1 'dce there are over fifty warrants in
AS hands of the Officers of Rapides
'srsh which they refuse to execute.
! s0me Of them are two years old. Any
man can commit any crime with i'm
nnuitr, The law guards no man; his
avn cnarils are his revolver and bowie.
W. haze been twent, months without
,nurt of any kind. The judges, sh-r
iHs etc., appointed by the Republicans
are all of piece. They refuse to
hrnr an offender of any kind to trial.
Let them tnrn ont these rascals, and
~ud us men, black or white, Republic
| cans or Democrats, we care not, SO long
| ashley will enforce the laws and at
| pud to their duties. BY appointing
and keeping in power such officers as
these, the Republicans have tlore much
nbring on the troubles in Grant.
/ ATn the first week in January the
4 Fsinnists took possession of the Offices
| in Grant parish by force. The offense
| for which the Republicans were mr.
drrd at Colfax was in retaking them
BIZ thp SANE means. ~ ....
| "After Nash and the other McEnery
oAferrs had been dispossessed of their
/ places they set about to accomplish
| their revenge. Shaw, the Kellogg
sheriff. fearing trouhle, enrolled a posse
amitatHs, consisting, necessarily Of ne
| gops mostly, as they form the n,aiori-
| Tofthe population. FINLAND, Hadnot,
/ the fusion member of the House from
Grant parish, aud Nasi, raised a gang
ofmrn from Grant and other parishes,
and began TO scour the country around
Celhx, committing all sorts of depre-
daiiaas, numbering the negroes, barn
Ing their houses and driving off their
stock. Every day the people flocked
nhe courthouse at Coifax for protec-
ton, until nearly al! the population
was gathered there. The men as they
came in were promptly ordered to join
the posse, until it numbered between
three and four hundred men. Armed
nrn rode into the town occasionally,
aud several fights took place. The ne
gross threw up breastwork around
tue courthouse and prepared them
selyes for defense as best they could.
1 The negroes were all from Grant par
ish aione. Those attacking them were
gathered from dozen different parisl,es
some coming from fifty miles away,
and It is asserted that there were men
frpm New Orleans in the ranks.
1 1.-THE morning of Easter Sunday
Hadnot and Nash, at the head of their
crowd, rude into Cnlfax and told Shaw
that he could have thirty minutes to
GET tue women and children out of the
i way. They were seut our, and the
4 n1s't began. 1t lasted until near sun
gown. | know that many white men
were killed aud wounded. The ne
sroes stoutly contested the struggle
and Old soldiers who were with Lee
's'a ME it was the hottest fighting
'ney were ever in. At last Rutland's
cannon was opened upon the negroes,
ana panic stricken they fed to the
courthouse. The besiegers forced
negro I" 60 up under their guns and
sr' IRE h the cypress single, roof,
Naleii could he easily reached from the
oass'de. As Thu fire burned down into
i"e 'errror-stricken, struggling Shrek
lus cfnWd of negroes, the half-roasted
"eiclies broke from the building,
smuggling hankerclliefs, pieces of their
''l'ts' or any thing Of the kind they
.ou'd lay their hands on, in token of
'mneDder. The whites formed in font
1 " Tue building and pO,lre,l in a steady