Christopher Columbus Nash
Encyclopedia
Christopher Columbus Nash (July 1, 1838–June 29, 1922; still living in 1922, when he applied for a Confederate
pension through the state of Louisiana
) was a merchant
and a Democratic
sheriff
in Grant Parish
, Louisiana, who in 1873 led a company of white militia
men to regain control of the parish courthouse
in Colfax
, which had been seized by armed African-American
insurgents. Thereafter, the segregationist Nash formed the first contingent of the White League
in the American South during the second half of Reconstruction.
in western Louisiana, a son of Valentine Nash and the former Mary Anderson. He was married to the former Malinda Williams, a daughter of Richard B. Williams of Montgomery
in northwestern Grant Parish. With the outbreak of the American Civil War
, he volunteered with the Sabine Rifles and reached the rank of lieutenant in Company A, Second Louisiana Infantry in Virginia under General Stonewall Jackson
. He fought at Antietam
and Gettysburg
until he was captured in November 1863 and spent the last eighteen months of the conflict as a prisoner of war
on Johnson's Island
in Sandusky Bay
on the coast of Lake Erie
.
After the war, Nash apparently spent some time in New Orleans
before his arrival in Grant Parish. He directed the events in Colfax on Easter
, April 13, 1873, to regain control of the courthouse, an event known as the Colfax Riot on the historical marker, but called the "Colfax massacre" or "The Day Freedom Died" by Union
sympathizers. The riot occurred when the Republican
Governor William Pitt Kellogg refused to recognize Nash as the legitimate sheriff of Grant Parish. Nearly three hundred blacks were killed in the riot. A white man named Cruikshank was arrested and indicted for violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice
Morrison Waite
heard this case, United States v. Cruikshank
. The court held there are two kinds of citizenship: state and national. Protection against murder and other crimes is not guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, the court held, in effect stripping the Fourteenth Amendment and the Enforcement Acts
of their power. Home rule
hence returned to the American South, a process completed
by 1877, with removal of the last of the federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina
on order of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes
.
After the Colfax Riot, Nash led companies of white militia
s in the formation of the first unit of the White League
. The league defined its purpose as the defense of a "hereditary civilization and Christianity
menaced by a stupid Africanization."
Nash is interred at the historic American Cemetery in Natchitoches
, Louisiana, the first cemetery in the Louisiana Purchase
.
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
pension through the state of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
) was a merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
in Grant Parish
Grant Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 18,698 people, 7,073 households, and 5,276 families residing in the parish. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 8,531 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, Louisiana, who in 1873 led a company of white militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
men to regain control of the parish courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
in Colfax
Colfax, Louisiana
Colfax is a town in and the parish seat of Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town, founded in 1869, is named for the vice president of the United States, Schuyler M. Colfax , who served in the first term of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, for whom the parish is named. Colfax is part of...
, which had been seized by armed African-American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
insurgents. Thereafter, the segregationist Nash formed the first contingent of the White League
White League
The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political organizing. Its first chapter in Grant Parish, Louisiana was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the...
in the American South during the second half of Reconstruction.
Biography
Nash was born in Sabine ParishSabine Parish, Louisiana
Sabine Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Many. In 2010, the parish's population was 24,233....
in western Louisiana, a son of Valentine Nash and the former Mary Anderson. He was married to the former Malinda Williams, a daughter of Richard B. Williams of Montgomery
Montgomery, Louisiana
left|thumb|200px|First Baptist Church in MontgomeryMontgomery is a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded in 1712, even before New Orleans, Montgomery is situated on U.S...
in northwestern Grant Parish. With the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he volunteered with the Sabine Rifles and reached the rank of lieutenant in Company A, Second Louisiana Infantry in Virginia under General Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
. He fought at Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
and Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
until he was captured in November 1863 and spent the last eighteen months of the conflict as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
on Johnson's Island
Johnson's Island
Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, 3 miles from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Johnson's Island was the only Union prison exclusively for Southern...
in Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay
Sandusky Bay is a body of water situated in between Erie, Ottawa, and Sandusky counties in the U.S. state of Ohio and just to the south of Lake Erie. Sandusky Bay runs from Muddy Creek Bay to Cedar Point, which is part of Sandusky....
on the coast of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
.
After the war, Nash apparently spent some time in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
before his arrival in Grant Parish. He directed the events in Colfax on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, April 13, 1873, to regain control of the courthouse, an event known as the Colfax Riot on the historical marker, but called the "Colfax massacre" or "The Day Freedom Died" by Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
sympathizers. The riot occurred when the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor William Pitt Kellogg refused to recognize Nash as the legitimate sheriff of Grant Parish. Nearly three hundred blacks were killed in the riot. A white man named Cruikshank was arrested and indicted for violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Morrison Waite
Morrison Waite
Morrison Remick Waite, nicknamed "Mott" was the seventh Chief Justice of the United States from 1874 to 1888.-Early life and education:...
heard this case, United States v. Cruikshank
United States v. Cruikshank
United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 was an important United States Supreme Court decision in United States constitutional law, one of the earliest to deal with the application of the Bill of Rights to state governments following the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.-Background:On Easter...
. The court held there are two kinds of citizenship: state and national. Protection against murder and other crimes is not guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, the court held, in effect stripping the Fourteenth Amendment and the Enforcement Acts
Enforcement Acts
The Enforcement Acts in the United States were four acts passed from 1870 to 1871 that were meant to protect rights of all blacks following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as part of Reconstruction, which entitled freedmen and all others born in the United...
of their power. Home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
hence returned to the American South, a process completed
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Corrupt Bargain, refers to a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election and ended Congressional Reconstruction. Through it, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J...
by 1877, with removal of the last of the federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
on order of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
.
After the Colfax Riot, Nash led companies of white militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s in the formation of the first unit of the White League
White League
The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political organizing. Its first chapter in Grant Parish, Louisiana was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the...
. The league defined its purpose as the defense of a "hereditary civilization and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
menaced by a stupid Africanization."
Nash is interred at the historic American Cemetery in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
, Louisiana, the first cemetery in the Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
.