How I spent my summer vacation or "Murdered in Texas Since the War"

Military Images, Mar/Apr 2000 by Valentine, Scott

Smith was imprisoned in Jefferson under a civilian guard. Major Curtis, sensing foul play, sent a dispatch for reinforcements to the commander of the military sub-district, Gen. Julius Hayden; Hayden was convinced by the editor of two local newspapers that Smith would be safe in civil custody and reinforcements would not be necessary. As a result, Hayden denied the request of Major Curtis. To his credit, Major Curtis sent 16 soldiers to assure the safety of Smith.

In spite of these precautions, on Sunday, October 5th, the jail guard was overwhelmed by a crowd of 70 to 80 townsmen and members of the Knights of the Rising Sun, a local klan-like organization. The lynch mob murdered two blacks confined in the jail before turning their full fury on Smith. The mob grabbed the cell key and crowded around the door to Smith's cell. The first man to enter the cell was so beaten by Smith that he had to be dragged feet first from the cell. The mob then fired into the cell, fatally wounding Smith. Surging into the cell as Smith fell, they fired repeatedly into his lifeless body.

Soon after the murder of Smith, a military commission was convened to investigate the slaying. Thus began the infamous "Stockade Case" in which thirty-six townsmen were incarcerated in a military stockade in Jefferson as part of the investigation. Twenty-four of the townsmen were subsequently tried by a military commission. After hearing 176 witnesses and 71 days of testimony, the verdict was delivered on August 23, 1869.

The commission found three men guilty of murder, overpowering a military guard (a federal offense) and civil rights violations. Four others were found guilty of threatening the life of a local judge. The remainder of the prisoners were found not guilty and were released from custody.

In the end, George Washington Smith was condemned by Southern Democrat newspapers as a nefarious carpetbagger who sought to elevate former slaves over their former masters. In counterpoint, Radical Republican newspapers portrayed Smith as a brave, true-hearted man whose only offenses were that he loved the cause of liberty and was the friend of the poor black freedmen.

Wow! And my wife says this hobby is boring!