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The Impeachment
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THE NEW ORLEANS MASSACRE
The Committee of Congress appointed to investigate the riot in New
Orleans on July 30, 1866, have lately presented a report, giving a full history of the
tragedy. It is shown by that record that the riotous attack upon the Republican
Convention, with its terrible results of massacre and murder, was planned and executed by
the Mayor of New Orleans, and that it had the countenance of President Johnson, without
which it would never have taken place. The report shows that the number known to have been
killed was 38, of whom 37 were loyal, and one disloyal; 48, all loyal, were severely
wounded; 98 slightly wounded, of whom 88 were loyal, and 10 policemen. Besides these there
was evidence, though not fully certain, that 10 more were killed and 20 wounded. Of those
known to be killed 34 were colored, of the severely wounded 40, of the slightly wounded
79. Preparations for the massacre were made under the shield of the municipal authorities
for some time before it took place. Fire-companies prepared and armed themselves; the
police were withdrawn from their posts, supplied with revolvers, and kept waiting at their
station-houses until the signal for the butchery was given, and then rushed to the bloody
work with a raging mob of rebel soldiers. The Mayor made no effort to stop the disorder,
and the military commander was misled as to the hour of the meeting, so that he could not
bring up his troops in time to repress the outrages. The spirit which dictated this terrible massacre of the Unionists
of New Orleans "will not down," but continues to inspire such fury in the breast
of the returned rebels as leads them to desire and plan another similar slaughter. The
rebel element in the State and city has dominated ever since the riot of July last, and
its influence and insolence has so rapidly increased as to threaten a second performance
of the same horrible character. An election, deemed a fitting occasion for such an
exhibition, was to have been held in New Orleans on March 11 last. So determined were the
returned rebels to provoke a second riot that General Sheridan was compelled, in order to
secure quiet and give protection to the Unionists, to forbid the opening of the polls, and
to order that "the day of election be postponed until a district commander under the
new military law shall have been appointed." General Sheridan has since been
appointed to this command, and the elections henceforth will be conducted by and under his
direction.
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HarpWeek
Commentary: Amphitheatrum Johnsonian Massacre of the Innocents at
New Orleans July 30, 1866 |
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This is one of the most important cartoons that Thomas Nast ever
drew. He probably was influenced by Jean-Léon Gérômes 1859 painting "Ave
Caesar"(now in the Yale University Art Gallery).
Andrew Johnson is
shown as a Roman emperor impassively observing Mayor John Monroe (on the horse) leading
the charge of his police against the black freedmen. Secretary of State William H. Seward
leans over him, while Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles leans over the rail. The man in
the Roman helmet and armor is General George Armstrong Custer, who accompanied Johnson on
his "Swing Round the Circle" and at least once hurled invectives at hecklers.*
1868 Democratic presidential candidate Horatio Seymour is peering between the wall
and the post at the top left.
General Ulysses Grant is at the
lower left, staying the sword of General Phil Sheridan, Military Commander of New Orleans.
Sheridan was away from the city on the day of the riot. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
is over Grant.
Other government figures include
Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch (over Sheridan); Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the
House and Grants Vice President from 1868-72 (over McCulloch); Senator James
Doolittle of Wisconsin, a strong Johnson supporter (to the right of McCulloch); and
Postmaster General Alexander Randall (right of Doolittle). Governor James Orr of South
Carolina and General Darius Crouch of Massachusetts (in Orrs lap) are below Johnson;
their arm-in-arm entry into the Johnson-supported National Union Convention in
Philadelphia in August 1866 represented North-South reconciliation and "filled the
hall with tears of joy."
Nast probably drew this picture in
1866, but saved it for an appropriate time; that turned out to be the March release of the
report from the Congressional Investigating Committee. Within a week of its appearance on
March 20, 1867, General Sheridan removed Mayor Monroe, Louisiana Attorney General Andrew
J. Herron and Judge Edwin Abell from office.
* Thanks to Professor Gregory Urwin
of the University of Central Arkansas for Custers identification. |
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Articles Related to the Initial Impeachment
Discussions:
The President Judged by Himself
August 25, 1866, page 530
Reconstruction and How
it Works (cartoon)
September 1, 1866, pages 552-553
Which Is The More
Illegal (cartoon)
September 8, 1866, page 569
The New Orleans Report
October 20, 1866, page 658
The New Orleans Massacre
IMarch 30, 1867, page 202
Text from Illustration of Andys Trip
October 27, 1866, pages 680-681
The Great Campaign of
66
September 29, 1866, page 610
What Next?
October 27, 1866, page 674
King Andy (cartoon)
November 3, 1866 page 696
Shall the President be
Impeached?
November 3, 1866, page 690
The Popular Will
November 24, 1866, page 738
Andy Makes a Call on
Uncle Sam, Who Rises to the Occasion (cartoon)
December 1, 1866, page 768
Impeachment and General
Butler
December 15, 1866, page 786
Congress
December 22, 1866, page 803
What Next?
December 29, 1866, page 818
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