This Day in Republican History 09/28/05

September 28, 1868 Democrats in Opelousas, Louisiana murder nearly 300 African-Americans who tried to prevent an assault against a Republican newspaper editor This is very strange. While researching this event, I went to the official Website of the city of Opelousas. Here's what it had to say.

"Between 25 and 50 blacks are victims of a riot at Opelousas in September. It is cited as one of the worst examples of Reconstruction violence in south Louisiana."

"Twenty-five to 50 blacks are victims of a "riot." Somehow, in the last 137 years, nearly 300 becomes 50 and a massacre becomes a "riot." That set off a bell. Where had I heard that before? I looked back in my blog and found this entry. Huh, another massacre of blacks by Democrats that was called a "riot." As an aside, the city of New Orleans did not even have a monument marking the incident. So, I started digging deeper and was amazed to find how little accurate information there is on the Internet about these "riots." Historians have done an excellent job of covering the Democrats' tracks. It seems these "riots" were fairly common during the reconstruction era. During the war itself, the Confederacy was enraged that blacks were fighting on the union side. They considered blacks savages who had no concept of the ethics of warfare. Many Confederate units adopted a "no prisoners" policy and executed every black wearing a union uniform along with their white officers. For instance, in the Battle of Fort Pillow in April of 1864, 200 U.S. Colored Troops were slaughtered after Confederates overran the union fort. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of the black troops, and that controversy continues today. The Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow that evening, so they gained little from the attack. The Fort Pillow Massacre became a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion. At the Battle (massacre) of Poison Spring, Arkansas. There were 438 officers and men from the 1st Kansas Colored infantry. More than 182 men of the 1st Kansas were killed and then the wounded were coldly executed as a result of the Confederates' refusal to take black prisoners in that ambush. Confederate Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke with 3,600 cavalry deployed for battle at Poison Spring with 786 Missourians, 1500 Arkansans, in brigades led by Brig. Gen. William Cabell and Col. William A. Crawford; and 655 Texans and 680 Choctaw Indians in a division brought from Indian Territory by Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Maxey. It was known that of all those who participated in the homicidal frenzy at Poison Spring, the Choctaws were the most ferocious. Led by Col. Tandy Walker, the Choctaws scalped some and nearly stripped all of the black troops and took no prisoners. The Confederates continued their racially motivated massacres at Mark's Mills, Jenkins Ferry, Princeton and Flat Rock, which altogether, may have exceeded in numbers, the massacre at Fort Pillow. Funny, I don't recall hearing about any of this during my grade school and high school history classes. And I went to school when American history was still taught. Sounds like there has been a lot of -- you should excuse the expression -- whitewashing going on.