[ Autographs ] BLACK TROOPS AND KLAN ACTIVITIES IN OCCUPIED LOUISIANAA fascinating partial letterbook, 20pp. 4to., Opelousas, La., May to July of 1869, the a retained copy of letters sent by Frank Cone, Capt. of the 25th U.S. Colored Infantry, to the headquarters of the occupation forces in Louisiana. Though not a complete daybook, the letters copied, and apparently signed by Cone, stand on their own merit as is, providing valuable information on the state of reconstruction in Louisiana at that time, and on the attitude of the populace towards black soldiers. In part: "...May 8...the Parish of St Landry...is laboring under great political agitation...the democrats ex-rebels as they generally prove to be) evince open hostility to the reconstruction acts ... the so called "Regulators" or `Klan' have committed, and if not restrained, would repeat acts of violent outrage...Mr. Emerson Bentley, prospective editor of the Opelousas Herald ...sought protection in my camp, where he still abides...tidings from theFreedmen of concerted attacks upon our camp by organised `regulators' ..Today, I have authenticated information that a band of fifty to one hundred outlaws...assembled in the woods...and passed death sentence upon Bentley ...May 16...My efforts thus far in eliciting information concerning the St. Landry riots ... difficulties in the way are almostinsuperable. Many persons...afraid to become informants...a formidablereign of terror has subdued the spirit of the people...There are many graves here which tell mute stories of rapine and murder ...May 21... Last night...the Apt. Assessor of Internal Revenue, was attacked and seriously wounded...by two successive pistol shots...the recently appointed sheriff lacks either stamina or inclination to check any disturbance...Mr. Tucker [the Internal Revenue agent] ...received a ..subpoena to appear before the Congressional Committee ...was yesterdaythreatened that he would not live to testify against the community... June 28...I granted permission to a sergeant, corporal, musician, and private of my company to attend a festival and dance held in a public hall by colored citizens. One of the men was accosted in a saloon by the proprietor ...who told him that `No damned nigger soldiers were allowed in his store' ...he was beaten with a club...discovered a party following him ...overtook him and renewed the attack. Amongst the assailants was Capt. May, a notorious and desperate character ... May drew a revolver and presented it to the head of one of the soldiers, saying `you nigger son of a bitch, no damned United States uniform can protect you here. We are going to clean you all out ... July 29...Outrages upon loyal whites and the freedman, estimated at hundreds, have never been investigated through the perpetrators are known to the officers of the law, and are at large in the community ..". Contemporary material such as this, describing the mechanics of thereconstruction, is virtually unobtainable. Very good to fine condition