The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-09-27
Attack Force of County Off,
GERS in Atlanta Suburbs.
DEATH LIST WAS FIVE
One Policeman and Four Negroes Vic.
TINS of Fierce Fighting in the
Dark-The Officers Were
Ambushed.

ing and AFTERNOON, and it was not un-
til the coming of night and the out.
break Of the negroes on the outskirts
that the city grew excited again.
During the day there was little law
lessness. Then it was the blacks near
the outskirts who kept the trouble
alive and the citizens on the qui vive,
fearing that their lives and the lives
of their families might be endangered.
A battle in the dark between officers
of the law and negroes was fought
Monday night at Brownsville, a negro
town two miles to the south Of the
city, and near Clark university.
The officers with their prisoners
were ambuscaded and the fight was
to the death.
When the battle was at it's height,
one policeman, James Heard, fell
dead, and his companion, Policeman
Jordan, knowing that the officer be-
side him was dead, used the dead
body as a shield as ne poured show
er of lead into the crowd Of negroes.
He fred three rounds, and they were
with telling effect, for from the most
reliable reports at least a dozen ne
groes lay dead when the battle was
over.
n,,.a. u.oe oot evan . 1iohf of the
stars to throw a ray upon the battle
ground It was cloudy, and the officers
and their assailants were in total
darkness.
The negroes were holding an in
kcendiary meeting. One of them was
making a speech, denouncing the
white people and advising the ne
grces 20 take their revenge for the
killing of negroes in the city on Sat
urday night. Lieutenant Poole Of the
county police force organized a posse
of nire county policemen and two
citizens and advanced upon the meet
ing. The negroes were ordered to de-
sist, AID they refused to disperse.
Ten negroes were arrested, and the
officers were On their way to take a
trolley car 10 the city when the battle
occurred. The officers were fired upon
from rhe dark, and they returned tne
fire. At least hundred shots were
fired en- both sides. The negroes had
gone ahead of the officers and waylaid
them.
At the first yolley Officer Heard fell
dead. He had been shot b. a negro
who had a single barrel gun loaded
with bucksEoe.
The negroes continued to fire after
Heard had fallen, and then it was
that Officer Jordan fired three rounds
behind the dead body of his friend.
The negroes at last turned and fed
to the woods, and the battle was
over.
While accurate reports were i'm.
POSSIBLE, tie number of negroes killed
in the fight was reported by many
as reaching twelve. DR.. o. N. Harden
stated that he saw bodies lying all
over tie ground. 1t IS certain, how
ever, that io"r negroes were killed.
A short time after the fight had
ended. two negroes, Sam McGruder
and Wiley Brooks, both about 30 years
of age, were shot to pieces on the
front porch of Park Commissioner
Robert H. Mapley, 491 Crew street,
having been taken from an incoming
Lakewood car, on which county off,
GERS were holding them on the charge
of having been members of the band
which mad killed Policeman Heard.
By far the most dramatic incident
of the night was the tragic death Of
Mrs. Robert c. Thompson of 495 Crew
street, who was frightened to death,
dying of heart failure, when the two
negroes we're shot to pieces on the
porch ,of the Manley home, next
door. .
Mrs. Thompson, who was soon to
become mother, wac IS years Of
age, and in addition to her husband
is survived by two sons, 7 and 10
years old.
By a forced march, the seventeenth
infantry, United States army, which
has been spending the summer at
Camp Chicamauga, reached Fort Nc
Pherson Monday night, and reported
ready to give aid to the state troops
should that ever become necessary.
Colonel Van Orsdale, commanding
the regulars. communicated at onco
with Colonel Anderson of the fifth
Georgia infantry, and reported the
arrival of his regiment, offering their
services for the protection of the city
should they be needed.