Violence Starts Early in Texas

On the 7th of September in 1867 the Assistant Commissioner for the state of Texas wrote a letter to his commander detailing a list of incidences of violence and murder against the freed people in the State.  He considered it an honor that he has only be at his post for a little over a month since his commander first communicated with him.  He goes on to state that there is no official record for the many instances of murder in his county other than what he has done.  In his letter since his post he details that there has been four confirmed murders, one person missing suspected dead and one woman whose injuries are so severe she is expected to die.  He also states how that the attitude among the locals against "Yankee's" grows steadily worse and that he fears it will be unsafe to remain when troops are removed from the area.

His experience is not unique among military commanders across the South who worked with the freedmen's bureau.  It is clear upon looking at several of the sources that throughout the South the local population was not one of a broken spirit but one still in open rebellion.  In his report he states that the people responsible for the murders were always missing when he sent troops to capture them.  Yet he received reports that after the troops left that they would return to their dwellings and continue living their lives as they had been. This would not have been possible without a community willing on such a systematic level to warn the guilty, shelter them and then tell them when it was safe to return.

It was interesting that even as early as 1867 a mere two years after the end of the Civil War, that commanders in a far flung areas such as Texas could see that without troops their position and freedmen were unsustainable.  Violence was far flung and military commanders across the South were unable to effectively enforce laws or keep people safe due to Southern Whites and their campaign of murder and intimidation.

Source: http://www.freedmensbureau.com/texas/millicanoutrages.htm