White League
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During Reconstruction, the White League was a paramilitary white supremacist organization. Although sometimes likened to the secretive Ku Klux Klan and Knights of the White Camelia, they in fact operated openly, without masks and in large numbers. They specialized in the intimidation of carpetbagger candidates and officeholders; the Coushatta Massacre was their work.
In 1874 the Metropolitan Police of New Orleans and supporting black militiamen attempted to intercept a shipment of arms to the League. In the subsequent Battle of Liberty Place, the League routed the police—whom they outnumbered two to one—and briefly occupied the State House and City Hall, until withdrawing ahead of the arrival of Federal troops and ships.
The League is sometimes mentioned in connection with the Colfax Massacre of 1873, but the organization as such does not appear under this name until 1874.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Wall, Bennett H., et al. (2002). Louisiana: A History, pp. 208-210. ISBN 0-88295-964-6.
