The Coushatta massacre was an attack in August 1874 by members of the White League—a white supremacist paramilitary organization composed of white Southern Democrats—on Republican officeholders and freedmen in Coushatta, Louisiana. They assassinated six white Republicans and five to 20 freedmen who were witnesses.
The White League had organized to restore white supremacy by driving Republicans out of Louisiana, disrupting their political organizing, and intimidating or murdering freedmen. Like the Red Shirts and other "White Line" organizations, they were described as "the military arm of the Democratic Party."
Background
In the period after the American Civil War, Marshall H. Twitchell, a Union veteran from Vermont who had led United States Colored Troops, passed an administrative examination and moved to Red River Parish, Louisiana, to become an agent for the Freedmen's Bureau. He married Adele Coleman, a young local woman. Her family taught him about cotton farming. In 1870, Twitchell was elected as a Republican to the Louisiana State Senate. He appointed his brother and three brothers-in-law (the latter natives of the parish) to local positions, including sheriff, tax assessor and clerk of court. Twitchell worked to promote education and to extend public representation and civil rights to the former slaves, known as freedmen.
In Coushatta, the White League criticized Republican leadership. Members publicly accused Twitchell and his brothers-in-law of inciting what they termed "a black rebellion."
The attack
On the night of August 25, 1874, Thomas Floyd, an African-American farmer, was murdered in Brownsville. Members of the White League subsequently arrested several White Republicans and 20 freedmen, accusing them of plotting a "negro rebellion". Within two days, hundreds of armed Whites arrived in Coushatta.
Aftermath
Violence continued throughout the state. The Coushatta massacre was followed shortly by a large White League insurrection in New Orleans, where they hoped to install Democrat John McEnery as governor. He had been a contender in the disputed state election of 1872, in which both parties claimed victory. In the New Orleans "Battle of Liberty Place", 5,000 White League members overwhelmed 3,500 troops of the metropolitan police and state militia. After demanding the resignation of Republican Governor William Pitt Kellogg, the White League took control of Canal Street, city hall, statehouse and arsenal.
This armed rebellion finally forced President Ulysses S. Grant to respond to the governor's request for reinforcements to Louisiana. Then, within three days, Kellogg was back in office with the arrival of Federal troops. The White League disappeared before they came. More troops arrived within a month to try to tame the Red River valley.