PASSAGE OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACT OVER THE PRESIDENT'S VETOâPLACED IN
COMMAND OF THE FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICTâREMOVING OFFICERSâMY REASONS FOR
SUCH ACTIONâAFFAIRS IN LOUISIANA AND TEXASâREMOVAL OF GOVERNOR
WELLSâREVISION OF THE JURY LISTSâRELIEVED FROM THE COMMAND OF THE FIFTH
MILITARY DISTRICT.
The first of the Reconstruction laws was passed March 2, 1867, and
though vetoed by the President, such was the unanimity of loyal
sentiment and the urgency demanding the measure, that the bill became a
law over the veto the day the President returned it to Congress. March
the 11th this law was published in General Orders No. 10, from the
Headquarters of the Army, the same order assigning certain officers to
take charge of the five military districts into which the States lately
in rebellion were subdivided, I being announced as the commander of the
Fifth Military District, which embraced Louisiana and Texas, a
territory that had formed the main portion of my command since the
close of the war.
Between the date of the Act and that of my assignment, the Louisiana
Legislature, then in special session, had rejected a proposed repeal of
an Act it had previously passed providing for an election of certain
municipal officers in New Orleans. This election was set for March 11,
but the mayor and the chief of police, together with General Mower,
commanding the troops in the city, having expressed to me personally
their fears that the public peace would be disturbed by the election,
I, in this emergency, though not yet assigned to the district, assuming
the authority which the Act conferred on district commanders, declared
that the election should not take place; that no polls should be opened
on the day fixed; and that the whole matter would stand postponed till
the district commander should be appointed, or special instructions be
had. This, my first official act under the Reconstruction laws, was
rendered necessary by the course of a body of obstructionists, who had
already begun to give unequivocal indications of their intention to
ignore the laws of Congress.
A copy of the order embodying the Reconstruction law, together with my
assignment, having reached me a few days after, I regularly assumed
control of the Fifth Military District on March 19, by an order wherein
I declared the State and municipal governments of the district to be
provisional only, and, under the provisions of the sixth section of the
Act, subject to be controlled, modified, superseded, or abolished. I
also announced that no removals from office would be made unless the
incumbents failed to carry out the provisions of the law or impeded
reorganization, or unless willful delays should necessitate a change,
and added: "Pending the reorganization, it is, desirable and intended
to create as little disturbance in the machinery of the various
branches of the provisional governments as possible, consistent with
the law of Congress and its successful execution, but this condition is
dependent upon the disposition shown by the people, and upon the length
of time required for reorganization."
Under these limitations Louisiana and Texas retained their former
designations as military districts, the officers in command exercising
their military powers as heretofore. In addition, these officers were
to carry out in their respective commands all provisions of the law
except those specially requiring the action of the district commander,
and in cases of removals from and appointment to office.
In the course of legislation the first Reconstruction act, as I have
heretofore noted, had been vetoed. On the very day of the veto,
however, despite the President's adverse action, it passed each House
of Congress by such an overwhelming majority as not only to give it the
effect of law, but to prove clearly that the plan of reconstruction
presented was, beyond question, the policy endorsed by the people of
the country. It was, therefore, my determination to see to the law's
zealous execution in my district, though I felt certain that the
President would endeavor to embarrass me by every means in his power,
not only on account of his pronounced personal hostility, but also
because of his determination not to execute but to obstruct the
measures enacted by Congress.
Having come to this conclusion, I laid down, as a rule for my guidance,
the principle of non-interference with the provisional State
governments, and though many appeals were made to have me rescind
rulings of the courts, or interpose to forestall some presupposed
action to be taken by them, my invariable reply was that I would not
take cognizance of such matters, except in cases of absolute necessity.
The same policy was announced also in reference to municipal affairs
throughout the district, so long as the action of the local officers
did not conflict with the law.
In a very short time, however, I was obliged to interfere in municipal
matters in New Orleans, for it had become clearly apparent that several
of the officials were, both by acts of omission and commission,
ignoring the law, so on the 27th of March I removed from office the
Mayor, John T. Monroe; the Judge of the First District Court, E.
Abell; and the Attorney-General of the State, Andrew S. Herron; at the
same time appointing to the respective offices thus vacated Edward
Heath, W. W. Howe, and B. L. Lynch. The officials thus removed had
taken upon themselves from the start to pronounce the Reconstruction
acts unconstitutional, and to advise such a course of obstruction that
I found it necessary at an early dav to replace them by men in sympathy
with the law, in order to make plain my determination to have its
provisions enforced. The President at once made inquiry, through
General Grant, for the cause of the removal, and I replied:
"HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT,
"New Orleans, La., April 19, 1867.
"GENERAL: On the 27th day of March last I removed from office Judge E.
Abell, of the Criminal Court of New Orleans; Andrew S. Herron,
Attorney-General of the State of Louisiana; and John T. Monroe, Mayor
of the City of New Orleans. These removals were made under the powers
granted me in what is usually termed the 'military bill,' passed March
2, 1867, by the Congress of the United States.
"I did not deem it necessary to give any reason for the removal of
these men, especially after the investigations made by the military
board on the massacre Of July 30, 1866, and the report of the
congressional committee on the same massacre; but as some inquiry has
been made for the cause of removal, I would respectfully state as
follows:
"The court over which judge Abell presided is the only criminal court
in the city of New Orleans, and for a period of at least nine months
previous to the riot Of July 30 he had been educating a large portion
of the community to the perpetration of this outrage, by almost
promising no prosecution in his court against the offenders, in case
such an event occurred. The records of his court will show that he
fulfilled his promise, as not one of the guilty has been prosecuted.
"In reference to Andrew J. Herron, Attorney-General of the State of
Louisiana, I considered it his duty to indict these men before this
criminal court. This he failed to do, but went so far as to attempt to
impose on the good sense of the whole nation by indicting the victims
of the riot instead of the rioters; in other words, making the innocent
guilty and the guilty innocent. He was therefore, in my belief, an
able coadjutor with judge Abell in bringing on the massacre of July 30.
"Mayor Monroe controlled the element engaged in this riot, and when
backed by an attorney-general who would not prosecute the guilty, and a
judge who advised the grand jury to find the innocent guilty and let
the murderers go free, felt secure in engaging his police force in the
riot and massacre.
"With these three men exercising a large influence over the worst
elements of the population of this city, giving to those elements an
immunity for riot and bloodshed, the general-in-chief will see how
insecurely I felt in letting them occupy their respective positions in
the troubles which might occur in registration and voting in the
reorganization of this State.
"I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"P. H. SHERIDAN,
"Major-General U. S. A.
"GENERAL U. S. GRANT,
"Commanding Armies of the United States,
"Washington, D. C."
To General Grant my reasons were satisfactory, but not so to the
President, who took no steps, however, to rescind my action, for he
knew that the removals were commended by well-nigh the entire community
in the city, for it will be understood that Mr. Johnson was, through
his friends and adherents in Louisiana and Texas, kept constantly
advised of every step taken by me. Many of these persons were active
and open opponents of mine, while others were spies, doing their work
so secretly and quickly that sometimes Mr. Johnson knew of my official
acts before I could report them to General Grant.
The supplemental Reconstruction act which defined the method of
reconstruction became a law despite the President's veto on March 23.
This was a curative act, authorizing elections and prescribing methods
of registration. When it reached me officially I began measures for
carrying out its provisions, and on the 28th of March issued an order
to the effect that no elections for the State, parish, or municipal
officers would be held in Louisiana until the provisions of the laws of
Congress entitled "An act to provide for the more efficient government
of the rebel States," and of the act supplemental thereto, should have
been complied with. I also announced that until elections were held in
accordance with these acts, the law of the Legislature of the State
providing for the holding over of those persons whose terms of office
otherwise would have expired, would govern in all cases excepting only
those special ones in which I myself might take action. There was one
parish, Livingston, which this order did no reach in time to prevent
the election previously ordered there, and which therefore took place,
but by a supplemental order this election was declare null and void.
In April. I began the work of administering the Supplemental Law,
which, under certain condition of eligibility, required a registration
of the voter of the State, for the purpose of electing delegate to a
Constitutional convention. It therefore became necessary to appoint
Boards of Registration throughout the election districts, and on April
10 the boards for the Parish of Orleans were given out, those for the
other parishes being appointed ten days later. Before announcing these
boards, I had asked to be advised definitely as to what persons were
disfranchised by the law, and was directed by General Grant to act upon
my own interpretation of it, pending an opinion expected shortly from
the Attorney-GeneralâMr. Henry Stanberyâso, for the guidance of the
boards, I gave the following instructions:
"HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT.
"New Orleans, La., April 10, 1867.
"Special Orders, No. 15.
"....In obedience to the directions contained in the first section of
the Law of Congress entitled "An Act supplemental to an Act entitled
'An Act to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel
States'" the registration of the legal voters, according to that law in
the Parish of Orleans, will be commenced on the 15th instant, and must
be completed by the 15th of May.
"The four municipal districts of the City of New Orleans and the Parish
of Orleans, right bank (Algiers), will each constitute a Registration
district. Election precincts will remain as at present constituted.
"....Each member of the Board of Registers, before commencing his
duties, will file in the office of the Assistant-Inspector-General at
these headquarters, the oath required in the sixth section of the Act
referred to, and be governed in the execution of his duty by the
provisions of the first section of that Act, faithfully administering
the oath therein prescribed to each person registered.
"Boards of Registers will immediately select suitable offices within
their respective districts, having reference to convenience and
facility of registration, and will enter upon their duties on the day
designated. Each Board will be entitled to two clerks. Office-hours
for registration will be from 8 o'clock till 12 A. M., and from 4 till
7 P. M.
"When elections are ordered, the Board of Registers for each district
will designate the number of polls and the places where they shall be
opened in the election precincts within its district, appoint the
commissioners and other officers necessary for properly conducting the
elections, and will superintend the same.
"They will also receive from the commissioners of elections of the
different precincts the result of the vote, consolidate the same, and
forward it to the commanding general.
"Registers and all officers connected with elections will be held to a
rigid accountability and will be subject to trial by military
commission for fraud, or unlawful or improper conduct in the
performance of their duties. Their rate of compensation and manner of
payment will be in accordance with the provisions of sections six and
seven of the supplemental act.
"....Every male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old and
upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition, who has been
resident in the State of Louisiana for one year and Parish of Orleans
for three months previous to the date at which he presents himself for
registration, and who has not been disfranchised by act of Congress or
for felony at common law, shall, after having taken and subscribed the
oath prescribed in the first section of the act herein referred to, be
entitled to be, and shall be, registered as a legal voter in the Parish
of Orleans and State of Louisiana.
"Pending the decision of the Attorney-General of the United States on
the question as to who are disfranchised by law, registers will give
the most rigid interpretation to the law, and exclude from registration
every person about whose right to vote there may be a doubt. Any
person so excluded who may, under the decision of the Attorney-General,
be entitled to vote, shall be permitted to register after that decision
is received, due notice of which will be given.
"By command of Major-General P. H. SHERIDAN,
"GEO. L. HARTSUFF,
"Assistant Adjutant-General."
The parish Boards of Registration were composed of three members each.
Ability to take what was known as the "ironclad oath" was the
qualification exacted of the members, and they were prohibited from
becoming candidates for office. In the execution of their duties they
were to be governed by the provisions of the supplemental act. It was
also made one of their functions to designate the number and location
of the polling-places in the several districts, to appoint
commissioners for receiving the votes and in general to attend to such
other matters as were necessary, in order properly to conduct the
voting, and afterward to receive from the commissioners the result of
the vote and forward it to my headquarters. These registers, and all
other officers having to do with elections, were to be held to a rigid
accountability, and be subject to trial by military commission for
fraud or unlawful or improper conduct in the performance of their
duties; and in order to be certain that the Registration Boards
performed their work faithfully and intelligently, officers of the army
were appointed as supervisors. To this end the parishes were grouped
together conveniently in temporary districts, each officer having from
three to five parishes to supervise. The programme thus mapped out for
carrying out the law in Louisiana was likewise adhered to in Texas, and
indeed was followed as a model in some of the other military districts.
Although Military Commissions were fully authorized by the
Reconstruction acts, yet I did not favor their use in governing the
district, and probably would never have convened one had these acts
been observed in good faith. I much preferred that the civil courts,
and the State and municipal authorities already in existence, should
perform their functions without military control or interference, but
occasionally, because the civil authorities neglected their duty, I was
obliged to resort to this means to ensure the punishment Of offenders.
At this time the condition of the negroes in Texas and Louisiana was
lamentable, though, in fact, not worse than that of the few white
loyalists who had been true to the Union during the war. These last
were singled out as special objects of attack, and were, therefore,
obliged at all times to be on the alert for the protection of their
lives and property. This was the natural outcome of Mr. Johnson's
defiance of Congress, coupled with the sudden conversion to his cause
of persons in the Northâwho but a short time before had been his
bitterest enemies; for all this had aroused among the disaffected
element new hopes of power and place, hopes of being at once put in
political control again, with a resumption of their functions in State
and National matters without any preliminary authorization by Congress.
In fact, it was not only hoped, but expected, that things were
presently to go on just as if there had been no war.
In the State of Texas there were in 1865 about 200,000 of the colored
raceâroughly, a third of the entire populationâwhile in Louisiana there
were not less than 350,000, or more than one-half of all the people in
the State. Until the enactment of the Reconstruction laws these
negroes were without rights, and though they had been liberated by the
war, Mr. Johnson's policy now proposed that they should have no
political status at all, and consequently be at the mercy of a people
who, recently their masters, now seemed to look upon them as the
authors of all the misfortunes that had come upon the land. Under these
circumstances the blacks naturally turned for protection to those who
had been the means of their liberation, and it would have been little
less than inhuman to deny them sympathy. Their freedom had been given
them, and it was the plain duty of those in authority to make it
secure, and screen them from the bitter political resentment that beset
them, and to see that they had a fair chance in the battle of life.
Therefore, when outrages and murders grew frequent, and the aid of the
military power was an absolute necessity for the protection of life, I
employed it unhesitatinglyâthe guilty parties being brought to trial
before military commissionsâand for a time, at least, there occurred a
halt in the march of terrorism inaugurated by the people whom Mr.
Johnson had deluded.
The first, Military Commission was convened to try the case of John W.
Walker, charged with shooting a negro in the parish of St. John. The
proper civil authorities had made no effort to arrest Walker, and even
connived at his escape, so I had him taken into custody in New Orleans,
and ordered him tried, the commission finding him guilty, and
sentencing him to confinement in the penitentiary for six months. This
shooting was the third occurrence of the kind that had taken place in
St. John's parish, a negro being wounded in each case, and it was
plain that the intention was to institute there a practice of
intimidation which should be effective to subject the freedmen to the
will of their late masters, whether in making labor contracts, or in
case these newly enfranchised negroes should evince a disposition to
avail themselves of the privilege to vote.
The trial and conviction of Walker, and of one or two others for
similiar outrages, soon put a stop to every kind of "bull-dozing" in
the country parishes; but about this time I discovered that many
members of the police force in New Orleans were covertly intimidating
the freedmen there, and preventing their appearance at the registration
offices, using milder methods than had obtained in the country, it is
true, but none the less effective.
Early in 1866 the Legislature had passed an act which created for the
police of New Orleans a residence qualification, the object of which
was to discharge and exclude from the force ex-Union soldiers. This of
course would make room for the appointment of ex-Confederates, and
Mayor Monroe had not been slow in enforcing the provisions of the law.
It was, in fact, a result of this enactment that the police was so
reorganized as to become the willing and efficient tool which it proved
to be in the riot of 1866; and having still the same personnel, it was
now in shape to prevent registration by threats, unwarranted arrests,
and by various other influences, all operating to keep the timid blacks
away from the registration places.
That the police were taking a hand in this practice of repression, I
first discovered by the conduct of the assistant to the chief of the
body, and at once removed the offender, but finding this ineffectual I
annulled that part of the State law fixing the five years' residence
restriction, and restored the two years' qualification, thus enabling
Mayor Heath, who by my appointment had succeeded Monroe, to organize
the force anew, and take about one-half of its members from ex-Union
soldiers who when discharged had settled in New Orleans. This action
put an end to intimidation in the parish of Orleans; and now were put
in operation in all sections the processes provided by the supplemental
Reconstruction law for the summoning of a convention to form a
Constitution preparatory to the readmission of the State, and I was
full of hope that there would now be much less difficulty in
administering the trust imposed by Congress.
During the two years previous great damage had been done the
agricultural interests of Louisiana by the overflow of the Mississippi,
the levees being so badly broken as to require extensive repairs, and
the Legislature of 1866 had appropriated for the purpose $4,000,000, to
be raised by an issue of bonds. This money was to be disbursed by a
Board of Levee Commissioners then in existence, but the term of service
of these commissioners, and the law creating the board, would expire in
the spring of 1867. In order to overcome this difficulty the
Legislature passed a bill continuing the commissioners in office but as
the act was passed inside of ten days before the adjournment of the
Legislature, Governor Wells pocketed the bill, and it failed to become
a law. The Governor then appointed a board of his own, without any
warrant of law whatever. The old commissioners refused to recognize
this new board, and of course a conflict of authority ensued, which, it
was clear, would lead to vicious results if allowed to continue; so, as
the people of the State had no confidence in either of the boards, I
decided to end the contention summarily by appointing an entirely new
commission, which would disburse the money honestly, and further the
real purpose for which it had been appropriated. When I took this
course the legislative board acquiesced, but Governor Wells immediately
requested the President to revoke my order, which, however, was not
done, but meanwhile the Secretary of War directed me to suspend all
proceedings in the matter, and make a report of the facts. I complied
in the following telegram:
"HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT,
"NEW ORLEANS, La., June 3, 1867.
"SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of
this date in reference to the Levee Commissioners in this State.
"The following were my reasons for abolishing the two former boards,
although I intended that my order should be sufficiently explanatory:
"Previous to the adjournment of the Legislature last winter it passed
an act continuing the old Levee board in office, so that the four
millions of dollars ($4,000,000) in bonds appropriated by the
Legislature might be disbursed by a board of rebellious antecedents.
"After its adjournment the Governor of the State appointed a board of
his own, in violation of this act, and made the acknowledgment to me in
person that his object was to disburse the money in the interest of his
own party by securing for it the vote of the employees at the time of
election.
"The board continued in office by the Legislature refused to turn over
to the Governor's board, and each side appealed to me to sustain it,
which I would not do. The question must then have gone to the courts,
which, according to the Governor's judgment when he was appealing to me
to be sustained, would require one year for decision. Meantime the
State was overflowed, the Levee boards tied up by political chicanery,
and nothing done to relieve the poor people, now fed by the charity of
the Government and charitable associations of the North.
"To obviate this trouble, and to secure to the overflowed districts of
the State the immediate relief which the honest disbursement of the
four millions ($4,000,000) would give, my order dissolving both boards
was issued.
"I say now, unequivocally, that Governor Wells is a political trickster
and a dishonest man. I have seen him myself, when I first came to this
command, turn out all the Union men who had supported the Government,
and put in their stead rebel soldiers who had not yet doffed their gray
uniform. I have seen him again, during the July riot of 1866, skulk
away where I could not find him to give him a guard, instead of coming
out as a manly representative of the State and joining those who were
preserving the peace. I have watched him since, and his conduct has
been as sinuous as the mark left in the dust by the movement of a
snake.
"I say again that he is dishonest, and that dishonesty is more than
must be expected of me.
"P. H. SHERIDAN,
"Major-General, U. S. A.
"Hon. E. M. STANTON,
"Secretary of War, Washington, D. C."
The same day that I sent my report to the Secretary of War I removed
from office Governor Wells himself, being determined to bear no longer
with the many obstructions he had placed in the way of reorganizing the
civil affairs of the State. I was also satisfied that he was unfit to
retain the place, since he was availing himself of every opportunity to
work political ends beneficial to himself. In this instance Wells
protested to me against his removal, and also appealed to the President
for an opinion of the Attorney-General as to my power in the case; and
doubtless he would have succeeded in retaining his office, but for the
fact that the President had been informed by General James B. Steadman
and others placed to watch me that Wells was wholly unworthy.
"NEW ORLEANS, June 19, 1867.
"ANDREW JOHNSON, President United States,
"Washington City:
"Lewis D. Campbell leaves New Orleans for home this evening. Want of
respect for Governor Wells personally, alone represses the expression
of indignation felt by all honest and sensible men at the unwarranted
usurpation of General Sheridan in removing the civil officers of
Louisiana. It is believed here that you will reinstate Wells. He is a
bad man, and has no influence.
"I believe Sheridan made the removals to embarrass you, believing the
feeling at the North would sustain him. My conviction is that on
account of the bad character of Wells and Monroe, you ought not to
reinstate any who have been removed, because you cannot reinstate any
without reinstating all, but you ought to prohibit the exercise of this
power in the future.
"Respectfully yours,
"JAMES B. STEADMAN."
I appointed Mr. Thomas J. Durant as Wells's successor, but he
declining, I then appointed Mr. Benjamin F. Flanders, who, after I had
sent a staff-officer to forcibly eject Wells in case of necessity, took
possession of the Governor's office. Wells having vacated, Governor
Flanders began immediately the exercise of his duties in sympathy with
the views of Congress, and I then notified General Grant that I thought
he need have no further apprehension about the condition of affairs in
Louisiana, as my appointee was a man of such integrity and ability that
I already felt relieved of half my labor. I also stated in the same
despatch that nothing would answer in Louisiana but a bold and firm
course, and that in taking such a one I felt that I was strongly
supported; a statement that was then correct, for up to this period the
better classes were disposed to accept the Congressional plan of
reconstruction.
During the controversy over the Levee Commissioners, and the
correspondence regarding the removal of Governor Wells, registration
had gone on under the rules laid down for the boards. The date set for
closing the books was the 3oth of June, but in the parish of Orleans
the time was extended till the 15th of July. This the President
considered too short a period, and therefore directed the registry
lists not to be closed before the 1st of August, unless there was some
good reason to the contrary. This was plainly designed to keep the
books open in order that under the Attorney-General's interpretation of
the Reconstruction laws, published June 20, many persons who had been
excluded by the registration boards could yet be registered, so I
decided to close the registration, unless required by the President
unconditionally, and in specific orders, to extend the time. My
motives were manifold, but the main reasons were that as two and a half
months had been given already, the number of persons who, under the
law, were qualified for registry was about exhausted; and because of
the expense I did not feel warranted in keeping up the boards longer,
as I said, "to suit new issues coming in at the eleventh hour," which
would but open a "broad macadamized road for perjury and fraud."
When I thus stated what I intended to do, the opinion of the
Attorney-General had not yet been received. When it did reach me it
was merely in the form of a circular signed by Adjutant-General
Townsend, and had no force of law. It was not even sent as an order,
nor was it accompanied by any instructions, or by anything except the
statement that it was transmitted to the 11 respective military
commanders for their information, in order that there might be
uniformity in the execution of the Reconstruction acts. To adopt Mr.
Stanbery's interpretation of the law and reopen registration
accordingly, would defeat the purpose of Congress, as well as add to my
perplexities. Such a course would also require that the officers
appointed by me for the performance of specified duties, under laws
which I was empowered to interpret and enforce, should receive their
guidance and instructions from an unauthorized source, so on
communicating with General Grant as to how I should act, he directed me
to enforce my own construction of the military bill until ordered to do
otherwise.
Therefore the registration continued as I had originally directed, and
nothing having been definitely settled at Washington in relation to my
extending the time, on the 10th of July I ordered all the registration
boards to select, immediately, suitable persons to act as commissioners
of election, and at the same time specified the number of each set of
commissioners, designated the polling-places, gave notice that two days
would be allowed for voting, and followed this with an order
discontinuing registration the 31st of July, and then another
appointing the 27th and 28th of September as the time for the election
of delegates to the State convention.
In accomplishing the registration there had been little opposition from
the mass of the people, but the press of New Orleans, and the
office-holders and office-seekers in the State generally, antagonized
the work bitterly and violently, particularly after the promulgation of
the opinion of the Attorney-General. These agitators condemned
everybody and everything connected with the Congressional plan of
reconstruction; and the pernicious influence thus exerted was
manifested in various ways, but most notably in the selection of
persons to compose the jury lists in the country parishes it also
tempted certain municipal officers in New Orleans to perform illegal
acts that would seriously have affected the credit of the city had
matters not been promptly corrected by the summary removal from office
of the comptroller and the treasurer, who had already issued a quarter
of a million dollars in illegal certificates. On learning of this
unwarranted and unlawful proceeding, Mayor Heath demanded an
investigation by the Common Council, but this body, taking its cue from
the evident intention of the President to render abortive the
Reconstruction acts, refused the mayor's demand. Then he tried to have
the treasurer and comptroller restrained by injunction, but the city
attorney, under the same inspiration as the council, declined to sue
out a writ, and the attorney being supported in this course by nearly
all the other officials, the mayor was left helpless in his endeavors
to preserve the city's credit. Under such circumstances he took the
only step left himârecourse to the military commander; and after
looking into the matter carefully I decided, in the early part of
August, to give the mayor officials who would not refuse to make an
investigation of the illegal issue of certificates, and to this end I
removed the treasurer, surveyor, comptroller, city attorney, and
twenty-two of the aldermen; these officials, and all of their
assistants, having reduced the financial credit of New Orleans to a
disordered condition, and also having made effortsâand being then
engaged in suchâto hamper the execution of the Reconstruction laws.
This action settled matters in the city, but subsequently I had to
remove some officials in the parishesâamong them a justice of the peace
and a sheriff in the parish of Rapides; the justice for refusing to
permit negro witnesses to testify in a certain murder case, and for
allowing the murderer, who had foully killed a colored man, to walk out
of his court on bail in the insignificant sum of five hundred dollars;
and the sheriff, for conniving at the escape from jail of another
alleged murderer. Finding, however, even after these removals, that in
the country districts murderers and other criminals went unpunished,
provided the offenses were against negroes merely (since the jurors
were selected exclusively from the whites, and often embraced those
excluded from the exercise of the election franchise) I, having full
authority under the Reconstruction laws, directed such a revision of
the jury lists as would reject from them every man not eligible for
registration as a voter. This order was issued August 24, and on its
promulgation the President relieved me from duty and assigned General
Hancock as my successor.
"HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT,
"NEW ORLEANS, LA., August 24, 1867.
"SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 125.
"The registration of voters of the State of Louisiana, according to the
law of Congress, being complete, it is hereby ordered that no person
who is not registered in accordance with said law shall be considered
as, a duly qualified voter of the State of Louisiana. All persons duly
registered as above, and no others, are consequently eligible, under
the laws of the State of Louisiana, to serve as jurors in any of the
courts of the State.
"The necessary revision of the jury lists will immediately be made by
the proper officers.
"All the laws of the State respecting exemptions, etc., from jury duty
will remain in force.
"By command of Major-General P. H. SHERIDAN.
"GEO. L. HARTNUFF, Asst. Adj't-General."
Pending the arrival of General Hancock, I turned over the command of
the district September 1 to General Charles Griffin; but he dying of
yellow fever, General J. A. Mower succeeded him, and retained command
till November 29, on which date General Hancock assumed control.
Immediately after Hancock took charge, he revoked my order of August 24
providing for a revision of the jury lists; and, in short, President
Johnson's policy now became supreme, till Hancock himself was relieved
in March, 1868.
My official connection with the reconstruction of Louisiana and Texas
practically closed with this order concerning the jury lists. In my
judgment this had become a necessity, for the disaffected element,
sustained as it was by the open sympathy of the President, had grown so
determined in its opposition to the execution of the Reconstruction
acts that I resolved to remove from place and power all obstacles; for
the summer's experience had convinced me that in no other way could the
law be faithfully administered.
The President had long been dissatisfied with my course; indeed, he had
harbored personal enmity against me ever since he perceived that he
could not bend me to an acceptance of the false position in which he
had tried to place me by garbling my report of the riot of 1866. When
Mr. Johnson decided to remove me, General Grant protested in these
terms, but to no purpose:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,
"WASHINGTON, D. C., August 17, 1867
"SIR: I am in receipt of your order of this date directing the
assignment of General G. H. Thomas to the command of the Fifth Military
District, General Sheridan to the Department of the Missouri, and
General Hancock to the Department of the Cumberland; also your note of
this date (enclosing these instructions), saying: 'Before you issue
instructions to carry into effect the enclosed order, I would be
pleased to hear any suggestions you may deem necessary respecting the
assignments to which the order refers.'
"I am pleased to avail myself of this invitation to urgeâearnestly
urgeâurge in the name of a patriotic people, who have sacrificed
hundreds of thousands of loyal lives and thousands of millions of
treasure to preserve the integrity and union of this countryâthat this
order be not insisted on. It is unmistakably the expressed wish of the
country that General Sheridan should not be removed from his present
command.
"This is a republic where the will of the people is the law of the
land. I beg that their voice may be heard.
"General Sheridan has performed his civil duties faithfully and
intelligently. His removal will only be regarded as an effort to
defeat the laws of Congress. It will be interpreted by the
unreconstructed element in the Southâthose who did all they could to
break up this Government by arms, and now wish to be the only element
consulted as to the method of restoring orderâas a triumph. It will
embolden them to renewed opposition to the will of the loyal masses,
believing that they have the Executive with them.
"The services of General Thomas in battling for the Union entitle him
to some consideration. He has repeatedly entered his protest against
being assigned to either of the five military districts, and especially
to being assigned to relieve General Sheridan.
"There are military reasons, pecuniary reasons, and above all,
patriotic reasons, why this should not be insisted upon.
"I beg to refer to a letter marked 'private,' which I wrote to the
President when first consulted on the subject of the change in the War
Department. It bears upon the subject of this removal, and I had hoped
would have prevented it.
"I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,
"U. S. GRANT,
"General U. S. A., Secretary of War ad interim.
"His Excellency A. JOHNSON,
"President of the United States."
I was ordered to command the Department of the Missouri (General
Hancock, as already noted, finally becoming my successor in the Fifth
Military District), and left New Orleans on the 5th of September. I
was not loath to go. The kind of duty I had been performing in
Louisiana and Texas was very trying under the most favorable
circumstances, but all the more so in my case, since I had to contend
against the obstructions which the President placed in the way from
persistent opposition to the acts of Congress as well as from antipathy
to meâwhich obstructions he interposed with all the boldness and
aggressiveness of his peculiar nature.
On more than one occasion while I was exercising this command, impurity
of motive was imputed to me, but it has never been truthfully shown
(nor can it ever be) that political or corrupt influences of any kind
controlled me in any instance. I simply tried to carry out, without
fear or favor, the Reconstruction acts as they came to me. They were
intended to disfranchise certain persons, and to enfranchise certain
others, and, till decided otherwise, were the laws of the land; and it
was my duty to execute them faithfully, without regard, on the one
hand, for those upon whom it was thought they bore so heavily, nor, on
the other, for this or that political party, and certainly without
deference to those persons sent to Louisiana to influence my conduct of
affairs.
Some of these missionaries were high officials, both military and
civil, and I recall among others a visit made me in 1866 by a
distinguished friend of the President, Mr. Thomas A. Hendricks. The
purpose of his coming was to convey to me assurances of the very high
esteem in which I was held by the President, and to explain personally
Mr. Johnson's plan of reconstruction, its flawless constitutionality,
and so on. But being on the ground, I had before me the exhibition of
its practical working, saw the oppression and excesses growing out of
it, and in the face of these experiences even Mr. Hendricks's
persuasive eloquence was powerless to convince me of its beneficence.
Later General Lovell H. Rousseau came down on a like mission, but was
no more successful than Mr. Hendricks.
During the whole period that I commanded in Louisiana and Texas my
position was a most unenviable one. The service was unusual, and the
nature of it scarcely to be understood by those not entirely familiar
with the conditions existing immediately after the war. In
administering the affairs of those States, I never acted except by
authority, and always from conscientious motives. I tried to guard the
rights of everybody in accordance with the law. In this I was
supported by General Grant and opposed by President Johnson. The
former had at heart, above every other consideration, the good of his
country, and always sustained me with approval and kind suggestions.
The course pursued by the President was exactly the opposite, and seems
to prove that in the whole matter of reconstruction he was governed
less by patriotic motives than by personal ambitions. Add to this his
natural obstinacy of character and personal enmity toward me, and no
surprise should be occasioned when I say that I heartily welcomed the
order that lifted from me my unsought burden.