They were killing each other in the streets.
In Vicksburg in December 1874, elected officials were accused of corruption; armed insurgents gunned one another down over who would lead; racial tension was at an all time high; Democrats and Republicans blamed each other.
In a way, the Vicksburg Troubles or Vicksburg Riots of 1874 embodied every major struggle Americans are facing today at home and abroad.
The Troubles, which left at least 31 and as many as 300 dead, is so tinged in racism and political jockeying that who was right is hard to discern.
So what could be responsible for all this violence?
The removal of Warren County’s first and only black sheriff, Peter Crosby.
In 1874, seven of the city’s aldermen, six of the eight school trustees, the city marshal, the cotton weigher, the wharf and harbormaster were all black as was Crosby. The county also had black officials, but they were not forcibly removed from office.
On Aug. 4, all the black city officials were ousted in an election in which only 84 ballots were cast by black voters.
All the blacks had run on the Republican ticket; most of the whites sided with the Democrats.
The Vicksburg Daily Herald declared it to be “the most ‘glorious fourth’ that Vicksburg has known since the war.”
After the chancery clerk and circuit clerk were indicted for embezzlement by a grand jury led by Dr. J.H.D. Bowmar, the newly formed government set its sights on Crosby, who also served as tax collector.
On Dec. 2, city and a “citizens committee” met to call for Crosby’s resignation, saying that his bond was not sufficient to serve as tax collector. Crosby went to Jackson to gain the support of Gov. Adelbert Ames, who quickly called for his return to office, calling the action of the committee “riotous and disorderly.”
The people didn’t listen and had already appointed Union Army veteran Anders J. Flanagan as sheriff.
Crosby, undeterred, drafted a handbill that was read in churches around the county on Dec. 6.
“My resignation was only caused by compulsion — the result of base coercion on the part of an armed mob of the most bitter and relentless of our enemies,” reads part of the handbill.
The next morning at the urging of Ames groups of black men planned to march into the city and restore Crosby to his office.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
A watchman on top of the courthouse spotted the first group marching in from Grove Street at about 9 a.m. Members of the all white citizens committee — both Democrats and Republicans — rushed to the courthouse to take arms. Led by former Confederate Col. Horace Miller, they met the group of black men near the city limits.
Its unclear who fired first, but when the smoke cleared at least six black men lay dead on Grove Street.
At 10 a.m., a second group was spotted marching up Old Jackson Road. The white militia rushed to meet them in the very spot where the surrender of Vicksburg had been negotiated. Again, reports differ on who fired first, but the body count is recorded. One white man and 25 black men were killed.
The slaughter continued south of the city, and by 11:30 a.m. the organized killing was through, though historians estimate that at least 150 and possible up to 300 blacks were killed later though Jan. 5 1875, when union forces under Gen. Phil Sheridan arrived to secure the city.
After their arrival, the special election was nullified, and Crosby was returned to office. The next year, Flanagan was overwhelmingly elected by a majority of white voters, and Crosby retired.
A congressional inquiry into the Vicksburg Troubles took two weeks, and Congressmen heard testimony from 115 witnesses.
The majority of the Congressmen found that the white militia was at fault and referred to them as an “insurgency” while admitting that the county has suffered though much misgovernment. There was, however, a dissenting report placing blame squarely on the blacks.