Harper’s Weekly October 3, 1874
According to Eric Foner in Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, every election in Louisiana “between 1868 and 1876 was marked by rampant violence and pervasive fraud.” The results of the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election were highly disputed. Both carpetbagger Republican William P. Kellogg and Democrat John McEnery initially claimed victory. Eventually the federal government certified Kellogg as the winner of the election, but the Democrats were bitter about the situation. McEnery still believed he was the rightful governor. He organized his own militia, which in March 1873 attempted but was unable to take control of New Orleans police stations. During the Colfax Massacre in April 1873, “An estimated 62–153 Black militia men were murdered while surrendering to a mob of former Confederate soldiers and members of the Ku Klux Klan. Three White men also died during the confrontation.”
In 1874 the White League was formed. The League was “openly dedicated to the violent restoration of white supremacy. It targeted local Republican officeholders for assassination, disrupted court sessions, and drove black laborers from their homes.” In August the League killed six Republican officials in Red River Parish. The next month the White League started an insurrection in New Orleans with the goal of installing McEnery as governor. On September 14th, “3,500 leaguers, mostly Civil War veterans, overwhelmed an equal number of black militiamen and Metropolitan Police under the command of Confederate Gen. James Longstreet, and occupied the city hall, statehouse, and arsenal.” The insurrection ended when President Grant sent in more federal troops.
Harper’s Weekly provided some coverage about the Battle of Canal Street (or the Battle of Liberty Place) in each of its October 1874 issues. Here’s a summary of events from the October 3rd paper:
cast of characters
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.
On September 14 a mass-meeting of the citizens of New Orleans was called to protest against the recent seizure of arms intended for the White League. A large concourse of men gathered in Canal Street, and adopted resolutions calling upon Governor Kellogg to “abdicate.” The Governor refused to accede to the demand. Mr. D.B. Penn, who had been Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor at the last State election in Louisiana, then issued a proclamation, in which he charged Kellogg with having usurped the government, and called upon “the militia of the State, embracing all males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, without regard to color or previous condition, to arm and assemble under their respective officers for the purpose of driving the usurpers from power.” In response to this appeal crowds of armed men took possession of the city, erected barricades, defeated and dispersed the Metropolitan Police under General Longstreet, and compelled Governor Kellogg to seek the protection of the United States troops stationed at the Custom-house. Six or eight of the insurgent citizens and twenty or thirty of the police were killed during the fighting, and quite a large number were wounded on both sides. General Badger was severely wounded. Immediately on receiving official intelligence of this outrage, President Grant issued a proclamation, September 16, commanding the disturbers of the peace to disperse within five days. A concentration of United States troops at New Orleans was also ordered, under General Emory, commanding at that place. The firm attitude of the general government had its effect on the White Leaguers. They knew they had to deal with a man of stern resolution, and on the 18th, two days after the issue of the President’s proclamation, General Emory reported to Governor Kellogg the surrender of the insurgents and the re-establishment of order. There was no conflict between the insurgents and the United States troops.
another Fort Sumter? (Harper’s Weekly October 3, 1874)
Harper’s Weekly October 17, 1874
Harper’s Weekly October 3, 1874
“A Day of Riot and Blood”
There is a lot of information about the battle available. For example, the September 15, 1874 issues of the New Orleans Republican and The Chicago Daily Tribune are available at the Library of Congress. Also at the Library is the September 15th issue of The New Orleans Bulletin, which seems to take a more pro-White League position but is hard to read.
In an editorial in its September 16, 1874 issue, the Richmond Daily Dispatch said that the White Leaguers should have realized that the federal government would step in to support Governor Kellogg and his administration because the federals recognized Kellogg as the winner of the election. The federal army kept the “usurper” Kellogg, “a man who ought to be hung, a villain, a traitor to his State, his country, and his race,” in office – the same thing could happen in Virginia. “The people of Louisiana could easily get rid of Kellogg if the President would keep his bands off.” States were losing their rights and becoming mere “satrapies” under the government in Washington, D.C.
In its October 3, 1874 issue Harper’s Weekly agreed that William Kellogg was a usurper, thought the federal government should have done more to try to remedy the situation before the insurrection, and wanted the U.S. to put down the uprising promptly.
The Chicago Daily Tribune September 15, 1874
Daily Dispatch September 16, 1874
Harper’s Weekly October 3, 1874
I hadn’t heard about the Battle of Liberty Place (or Battle of Canal Street) until I read Allen C. Guelzo’s review of Elizabath R. Varon’s Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South (National Review January 2024 page 54):
… Longstreet’s embrace of Reconstruction policies from 1867 to 1875 earned him abuse that he braved with soldierly steadfastness, and it even involved commanding a multi-race Louisiana militia in a pitched battle against the White League in the Canal Street coup of 1874. But it also earned him state and federal patronage appointments, and there were wide suspicions that patronage, not principle, was his guiding star. When Reconstruction in Louisiana was overthrown, Longstreet relocated to northern Georgia, but he still fished energetically for Republican favors. …
You can read a good summary of the battle at Boston Rare Maps and, at this time, see a map of the battle. More information is available at The Law Library of Louisiana and The Reconstruction Era
I googled/wikipediaed some of the participants in the battle and aftermath. In addition to Longstreet, McEnery and Penn served in the Confederate army; Kellogg, Badger, and Emory served in the Union army during the Civil War.
Canal Street c1891
Three of the quotes in the top two paragraphs in this post are from Eric Foner, [Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. New York: HarperPerenial ModernClassics, 2014. Page 550-551.]. Most of the other information is from the same place. Boston Rare Maps says, Kellogg was “awarded victory by a Federal court.”
All the October 1874 Harper’s Weekly content is at HathiTrust.
From the Library of Congress: the September 16, 1874 issue of the Richmond Daily Dispatch – the editorial is on page 2, the reporting from New Orleans is on page 3; the September 15, 1874 issue of The Chicago Daily Tribune; the September 15, 1874 issues of the New Orleans Republican and The New Orleans Bulletin; Canal Street, c1891 and 1943; Carol M. Highsmith’s photograph of Canal Street between 1980 and 2006.
Canal Street 1943
Canal Street between 1980 and 2006
