The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-02-13
A TRUE STATEMENT OF THE
COLFAX AFFAIR.

|
cate, to some extent, the parties charged il
the Colfax matter against the grossly err
roneous and false statements made by the Re
publican leaders, especially those of Judge
Wood and President Grant.
The negroes organized and armed more
than two weeks before the fight. They tocl
armed possession of the town of Coltax, and
forced every white family to leave the town
They numbered between . two hundred and
fifty and five hundred men at different times
during the two week they had possession.
They We're all armed and drilled regularly.
They threatened to kill all the white men
and take the women, and that if gun was
fired they would show no quarter. Most Of
the white families in the country within
fifteen miles of Colfax left their homes fol
fear of the negroes.
They kept armed possession of the town,
and no white man was permitted to enter with
out pass for the period of two weeks. The
negroes made a fort of the brick court house
and made breastworks around the town
There was an offer by the whites about a week
before the fight to compromise, and while the
two parties were consulting some armed
negroes from the town rushed on the whites
and, drawing their guns, would have fired on
the white delegates, but for the interference
of some others present.
Up to the day before the fight the negroes
acted always on the aggressive and drove the
white men of Grant parish several miles from
| town.
On the day of the fight the whites men had
1873 in all The negroes, according to their own
statement, had been $50 and 300 men. The
negroes were within the breast-works, some
being in the courthouse before the fight be-
gan. The whites offered to disband in case
the negroes would abandon the town and go
home. This offer was met by demand for a
| fight.
The whites then offered one hour to remove
the women and children from the town. This
was answered by the negroes that they only
wanted hat an hour, and at the end of the
half hour they fired into the whites. This
was the first shot. The town was occup led
by armed negroes alone, except two white
leaders and white prisoner, and not a
woman or child (white or black was in the
! the town when the fight began, and none but
those who took part in the fight were even in
jured.
The whites had to advance about six hun
dred yards through an open field to the
breast-works. While advancing the negroes
kept up constant fire, but did bad shoot
ing When the whites got inside the works,
the mounted negroes broke down the river,
and instantly fell back into the courthouse
By this time several were killed and about
nine white men had been wounded. In
about half an hour the court house was on
fire and then the negroes asked for quarter.
In short time firing entirely ceased, and
when the whites approached the door of tn e
courthouse to communicate with the negroes
there was not gun fired AS soon as some
of the whites got inside the door the firing
commenced again, and the whites who en-
tered the door rushed out, some falling out of
| the door.
| This is where Hadnot and Harris were shot
There is no doubt but that the negroes fred
| first. The firing then became general and
the result is known. That excuses were
committed we do not deny but we do say
that the negroes provokedit in every instance,
and had it MOI been for their threats against
the lives of all the white men, and the honor
of the ladies', together with their insolent
| no %u,n how, ha1J
session of the town, with their treacherous
| firing on the men who met them at the door
of the courthouse, under the white flag held
out by the negroes themselves, there would
not have been the excuses which the Repub-
licans SO loudly denounce.
There seems to be strange error as to
the number of whites killed and wounded
Judge Wood and President Grant state in
their public and official capacity that only
two white men were injured in the whole
affair." and this to sustain the slanderous
charge against us, that we committed butch
cry of citizens, according to the President,
and cold-blooded massacre, according to
the Republican leaders, all saying that it must
Uc SO, VI WHY tuCIc Dut TWO Wulte men
killed in fight with two hundred and fifty
armed negroes, in which more than half were
killed?
The facts are that four white men were
killed, ten severely wounded and some
slightly. The wounded are all indicted,
which prevents me from naming them. The
killed were: Parish, who was buried the
morning after the fight, on the Cahoon plan
tation, about two miles from Colfax one
named Thompson, who died in Catahoula a
few days after, and Hadnot and Harris, who
died some days after.
That there was a great disproportion in
the number killed on the two sides is true,
but that is owing in part to the random firing
of the negroes, as they fired enough to have
killed all the whites. Besides this, most of
their leaders ran away when the whites