 | From April 30th through May 2nd 1866 Memphis experienced the worst race riot in the city's history. The rioters in this case were white and mainly Irish, often members of the police and fire departments. The reasons for the unrest are clear. Memphis had been an occupied city for 5 years, occupied by Union troops both black and white. During these final days of occupation the Union Army had left city mainly occupied by black soldiers. Many Union troops were disbanded at the end of April and most black soldiers mustered out with a discharge bonus of up to $500. At the end of the month de facto control of Memphis was transfered from military to civil authorities. The jobs that were taken by freed blacks had formerly been the property of poor Irish, many recent immigrants. That led to a bitterness between the two groups which was made much more volatile by virtue of Irish control of the police and fire departments. On the night of April 30th word went out that one or more Memphis police had been killed by black freedment or soldiers depending on the account. The truth seems to be that one white policeman died when his gun malfunctioned in his hand. Quickly word spread that whites everywhere should join together and rid the town of all the freedmen. General Stoneman who was still stationed nearby adjudged his current forces insufficient to handle a resurrection and ordered his troops confined to quarters. |
When the riot ended some 3 days later the toll was Some forty-six African Americans and two whites died during the riot. A Joint Congressional Committee reported seventy-five persons injured, one hundred persons robbed, five women raped, ninety-one homes burned, four churches and eight schools burned and destroyed, and seventeen thousand dollars in federal property destroyed. Hundreds of blacks were jailed, and almost all other freedmen fled town.
This incident led directly to Congressional Hearings which drove adoption of Republican Radical Reconstructionist policies in the South.
Below is a report from the Freedmen's Bureau written in late May of 1866:
Report of an investigation of the cause, origin, and results of the late riots in the city of Memphis made by Col. Charles F. Johnson, Inspector General States of Ky. And Tennessee and Major T. W. Gilbreth, A. D. C. To Maj. Genl. Howard, Commissioner Bureau R. F. & A. Lands.
The remote cause of the riot as it appears to us is a bitterness of feeling which has always existed between the low whites & blacks, both of whom have long advanced rival claims for superiority, both being as degraded as human beings can possibly be.
In addition to this general feeling of hostility there was an especial hatred among the city police for the Colored Soldiers, who were stationed here for a long time and had recently been discharged from the service of the U. S., which was most cordially reciprocated by the soldiers.
This has frequently resulted in minor affrays not considered worthy of notice by the authorities. These causes combined produced a state of feeling between whites and blacks, which would require only the slightest provocation to bring about an open rupture.