The Republicans occupied the courthouse, refusing to leave. A number of black inhabitants joined them at the courthouse. The white Fusionists wanted them out. They called for armed whites from neighboring areas to come and help. Negotiations began.
On April 5, farmer Jesse McKinney was in his front yard. A group of white horsemen rode up. One white rider shot McKinney in the head. His wife and child were there on the front porch. The riders galloped off. As news of the murder spread, more black citizens flocked to the courthouse for safety.
The Colfax courthouse was defended by men armed mostly with scatter guns. Half did not even have these. Around part of the courthouse they had dug a shallow attempt at a trench, which barely offered any protection. The white forces surrounding them were armed with shotguns, pistols, rifles, and a small cannon. Around half of them were former Confederate officers and soldiers. On the morning of Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, about 140 of them rode in to the attack.
During a brief parley, Christopher Columbus Nash, the leader of the white group and Sheriff candidate, demanded that the black men put down their arms and leave. They refused. The women and children fled, as did the few white Republicans present.
At noon, the white force advanced, supported by fire from their small cannon. After two hours of little success, a group from the white force moved the cannon to the unguarded riverside rear of the defenders, and began firing as the rest charged. The defenders fell back to the courthouse; others ran for the woods.
Nash's group made a torch and forced a black man to carry it to the courthouse to set the roof ablaze. Many defenders were shot as they left the burning building. Nash's group fired so wildly that even two of their own were hit. The survivors were captured and held prisoner. Later that night, men led by Bill Cruikshank executed the prisoners. At least sixty black men were killed.
No. 28.] AN ACT
To provide for supplying the loss of the public records and other papers consumed by the burning of the courthouse in the town of Colfax, parish of Grant, State of Louisiana, or in any other manner, on the thirteenth day of April, A. D. 1873.
Image published in Harper's Weekly, May 10, 1873, taken from Wikimedia commons