On this day in 1874, violence in Vicksburg, Mississippi, escalated into what became known as the Vicksburg massacre.
Estimates of the number of African Americans killed range from 75 to 300. The conflict grew out of efforts by White political organizations to remove Black elected officials during Reconstruction and to reassert control over local government.
The immediate crisis centered on Peter Crosby, a formerly enslaved man, Union Army veteran, and elected sheriff of Warren County. In early December, members of a White political movement known as the White-Line organization, aligned with the Democratic Party, demanded the resignations of Black county officials.
Crosby was forced at gunpoint to sign a resignation, which he viewed as a threat to his life. He then traveled to the state capital to seek support from Gov. Adelbert Ames.
Ames ordered local Whites to disperse and instructed a Warren County militia company to assist Crosby in regaining his office. Crosby also called for a posse. Black residents across the region mobilized quickly through churches and political clubs. On Dec. 7, several hundred African Americans marched toward Vicksburg in three columns. Crosby attempted to turn some groups back, but the mobilization was already underway. Armed White citizens opened fire. At least 29 African Americans were killed that day, and reports noted that many more were wounded.
For about ten days after the initial clash, armed White groups, including reinforcements from Louisiana, continued attacks in Warren County. Earlier accounts estimated that as many as 150 to 300 African Americans were killed during the broader period of violence, which extended into January 1875. White paramilitary activity kept county government firmly under their control, and Crosby was again compelled to resign. He was briefly held prisoner.
President Ulysses S. Grant agreed to send federal troops following appeals from Ames and the state legislature. A company of U.S. Army forces arrived in Vicksburg, restored order, and reinstated Crosby. His tenure did not last. On June 7, 1875, Crosby was shot in the head by his White deputy, J. P. Gilmer, after a dispute over carrying out orders. Crosby survived but never fully recovered, and a White official served the remainder of his term.
The Vicksburg massacre became an early demonstration of how coordinated White paramilitary action and targeted attacks on Black political leadership could overturn Republican majorities during Reconstruction.
These tactics spread through Mississippi in 1875 and helped return White Democrats to power in the state. A congressional inquiry into the Vicksburg violence took testimony from 115 witnesses. The majority report placed responsibility on the White attackers, and the minority report blamed the Black population.
Racial violence persisted in Vicksburg and Warren County into the 20th century. From 1877 to 1950, researchers recorded 14 lynchings of Black residents in the county, the highest number in the surrounding region.
