The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-12-18
THE TRUTH OUT
AS to Who Did Really Shoot Up
Brownsville, Tex.
SHOOTER CoNFESsEs

SHOOTER C0NFESSES
TO Negro Detective, who Had Been
Employed to Work. the Case Up
by the War Department-A Dis.
chaged Negro Soldier Tells AL
About it.
Washington, Dec. 15.-President
Roosevelt sent to the Senate Tues
day q special message in reference
to the shooting up of Brownsville,
Texas, by battalion of negro sol
diers in the summer of 1906. In
cluded in the message is the general,
report of inspection by Herbert j..
Brown, a colored detective, who was
employed by the war department in
conjunction with Capt. w. G. Bald
win to probe the occurrence at
Brownsville. Brown submitted the
following to the detectives agency.
which he says is the confession of
Boyd Conyers, one of the discharged
negro soldiers, who now lives al
Monroe, Ca, and who helped shoot
up the Texas town in August, 1905.
In his confession to Brown Con-
yers says:
The rumors of trouble over tho
assignment Of colored troops to
Brownsville were circulated before
the troops left Fort Niobrara, and
preparations were made among the
men to "get even with the crackers, :"
so the whites were called. Some
cartridges were held out at range
practice, but more en- route to-
Brownsville. Pretence was made
that they were given away at sta
tions along the road. Some were,
but large number were secreted.
At inspection in Brownsville.
Lieut.. Lawrence, Company B, threat
ened punishment to the men who
were short of ammunition, but moth
ing was done about it, and the de-
fciency was supplied.
The friction with citizens of
Brownsville began at once. In
Boyd Conyers' language, "Whiskey
made all the trouble. II we hadn't
been drinking we wouldn't have had
the nerve to shoot up the town"
1t was agreed, as gathering of
a few men in the saloon of Allison,
the colored ex-soldier, on the after
noon of August 13, 1906, that the
raid should take place that night a.
~ o'clock 1t seems to have been
delayed a few minutes to let
Tamayo, the Mexican scavenger, get
away from the B barracks.
John Holloman, the money lend
er of Company B, was the chief con-
spirator and leader in the raid and
custodian and distributor of the
cartridges, but his plans could not
have been carried out had not Serg..
George Jackson, of Company B, in
charge of the keys to the gun racks
in B barracks, and Sergt. Reid, in
command of the guards, co-operatei
both before and after the raid.
The four men who led the raid
were John Holloman, John Brown,
Boyd Conyers and Carolina de
Saussure, all of. Company B (and
probably r. L. Collier, Of Company
c. Holloman was in barracks,
Brown in the bake shop, Gonyers
and de Saussure in the guard house.
The two latter were in the same
detail, and had been relieved at
about / o'clock, de Saussure on the
post at the guard house, and Con-
yers on No. 2, around the barracks
and facing the town. Holloman got
the party together. Conyers and de
Saussure slept on the same bunk in
the guard house, claiming that they
wanted to get under the MOSQUITO
net, and they had the trick of taking
their guns into the bunk instead of
placing them in the open rack, on
the excuse that they didn't rust so
badly under cover, but really so the
absence of the guns from the open
guard house rack would not attract
attention, and their own absence
would be ascribed to visit to the
closet, which was back of the guard
house. These two men slipped out
the rear door of the guard house,
passed through the sally port, and
Joined Holloman and Brown.
!The party crossed the wall Of
the fort down near the end OF A
barracks, went up the roadway t..
the entrance to the Cowen alley,
where the signal shots were fired.
These shote were Immediately tai
lied onto by the alarm shots of
Joseph B. Howard, guard on No. :.
: and formed the series testified to by
Mrs. Katie E. Leaby, of Brownsville.
Her testimony is further borne out
by the statement that not over thirey
seconds elapsed before a number Of
men of Company B swarmed out on
the upper gallery and opened fus-
illade on the town.
1t is an absolute certainty that it
would have been impossible for
Serget. Jackson to have opened the
gun racks, for the men to have as