A Brief History of the Original Ku Klux Klan: 1865 - 1869

A Brief History of the Original Ku Klux Klan: 1865 - 1869.
"Adventurers swarmed out of the North, as much the enemies of one race as of the other, to cozen, beguile and use the Negroes. The White men were aroused by a mere instinct of self preservation until at last there sprang into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, a veritable Empire of the South, to protect the Southern Country." - Woodrow Wilson (of New Jersey) President of the United States, in his "History of the American People."
In April 1865, the war of Southern secession came to its bitter end. For the last time the Confederate armies assembled themselves before the Union forces, not to do battle, but to stack arms, surrender, and go home. But what did they go home to? After four years of bitter conflict the South was devastated. Its economy was shattered. Its countryside was ravaged. Its cities lay in ruins and most bridges and ferries were destroyed or damaged.
With the collapse of the Confederate government, Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, did not want to grant even a shadow of legality to Southern civil authority. He declared that all police power in the South had reverted to the United States Army. Individuals who held local civil positions had to report themselves to the military authorities. Anyone who violated these instructions was liable to trial before a military tribunal. Civil authority thus fell into a void. Lawlessness abounded. Millions of emancipated Negroes roamed about. They had no education, no work, no homes, and no money. To avoid starvation they raided and stole whatever they could. Poor whites who owned small family farms were defenseless against large roaming gangs of desperate hungry Negroes. Rape and murder became commonplace.
The collapse of the Confederate armies alone guaranteed an upsurge in crime as half starved veterans began their long march back to their homes. In desperation they scrambled for handouts and resorted to petty thievery. General Johnson noted he could do nothing as Lee's veterans passed through the lines of his still intact army in late April, stealing mules and horses as well as clothes hung out to dry. A week earlier Thomasville, Georgia had been the scene of three days of disorder as disbanding soldiers passed through the town. On the night of May 6, more then fifty armed men stole eighty nine mules and seven horses from the loosely guarded Confederate depot. On May 8, four hundred former soldiers attacked the Confederate storehouses. At the commissary they broke into two warehouses and carried away 125,000 pounds of corn. They also destroyed all books, papers, and office furniture they could find. Such riots were widespread in the deep South following the war's end.
When a group of paroled soldiers arrived in Houston, to find that the Confederate storehouse had already been looted, they threatened to burn the Texas town. Frightened citizens hastily provided food and accommodations for the ex-soldiers. The sanctity of private property had already been severely undermined by the wartime foraging practices of Union and Confederate forces. By war's end bands of outlaws had deserters roamed from county to county plundering the scanty stores of the distressed and impoverished people.
More than a year after the end of the war one newspaper editor noted that it was impossible for Southerners to pick up a local newspaper without being horror stricken with the details of some terrible atrocity, robbery, rape, or murder. Before the war these were rare occurrences. Observers often differed as to which area of the South was most crime ridden. On top of all this, Southern Unionists shared a blood thirsty desire for revenge. Later, the Radical Republicans transformed vengeance into a state religion and exemplified the bitterness of Southern Unionists who had been persecuted during the war.
In the summer of 1865, Gov. Brownlow of Tennessee, declared that persecutors of Union men had forfeited all rights to protection and life. That same year one delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention stated that the only right the Rebels had was to be hung. There is ample documentation of cases in which Unionists, seeking revenge for wartime harassment, used their new positions to jail their old enemies on trumped up charges. On the vaguest rumors and hearsay, cavalry units calmly put the torch to the homes of citizens. Vengeful Unionists formed the Loyal League, ostensibly to suppress crime, keep order, and maintain discipline among the Negro population. In fact the Loyal League acted to intimidate political opponents and ex-Confederates.
Worsening the post war situation were the infamous Carpetbaggers and Scalawags, who sought personal profit and political power by exploiting the plight of both the freed Negroes and conquered Whites. The Radical Republicans declared the Southern States would have to be re-constructed before they could be re-admitted into the Union. Until then, the ex-Confederates had no rights of citizenship. Southern whites were completely disenfranchised with no legal standing. They could not vote, hold public office, or petition for the redress of grievances. In an effort to stop the lawlessness, the South was divided into five military districts and marshal law declared. Through out the South, freed Negroes formed the Union League and Black Militias and in most areas were given the task of enforcing marshal law. Led by corrupt officers and self serving politicians, the Union League became the most violent and murderous arm of the reconstruction to Blacks and Whites alike.
It was amid this atmosphere that John Lester, James Crowe, John Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard Reed, and Frank McCord met in a law office in Pulaski, Tn., on Christmas Eve, 1865 and, innocently enough, decided to form a social club for the purpose of mutual entertainment. The club adopted the style of the college fraternities in vogue at the time. They would dress up in weird costumes and play practical jokes on unsuspecting people. To create an aura of mystery they invented an unusual name and called their social club: the Ku Klux Klan. The name came from the Greek word, kuklos, which means circle, wheel, or band, and clan, which means family.
In 1866, the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan grew through out Tennessee and beyond. At the same time depredations committed by renegade Blacks and Whites, coupled with the absents of constitutional law and vengeance seeking Radical Republicans, made life in the South become all but unbearable. Quite by accident the nocturnal pranksters of the Ku Klux Klan discovered that their costumes and highjinks had a startling effect on the superstitious Negroes. The Negroes thought they were seeing ghosts whenever a group of Klansmen were seen going about at night. The Klan was quick to realize that their newly discovered ghostly image could be used to control bands of unruly Negroes. At first the night riders went out unarmed. Not intending to hurt anyone, they believed that anyone they met would be too frightened to try to harm them. Things were soon to change.
When the Carpetbagger and Scalawag politicians noticed that renegade Negroes were beginning to behave themselves and crime went drastically down in areas where a Den of the Klan had been established, they reacted swiftly. Carpetbaggers and Scalawags were manipulators. They thrived in the violent post Civil War period where they could take advantage of people's fears to increase their own fortunes and political powers. The Loyal League and Union League made willing allies. The Klan was, for the most part, made up of ex-Confederates who were hated by the Loyal League and if crime and violence went down, no one could justify the expense of maintaining the Negro Militias. The Loyal League and Union League began night patrols in the name of protecting the terrified Negro population. These patrols did not hesitate to open fire on the Klansmen, who, up to that point, were guilty of nothing worse then Halloween tricks. The Klan responded in kind. Soon skirmishes broke out when night patrols of each side would chance encounter each other.
By early 1867, the Klan was spreading through out large sections of the South. It was still largely unstructured and unorganized. By the same token, the Reconstruction Acts of Congress were very organized and well structured . In short, the White South had no constitutional or legal rights at all. The freed Negroes, however, were given full rights. The end result was Negro rule through out most of the South, enforced by Union bayonets. To avoid chaos and to confront the oppression of reconstruction the Klan sought to organize itself. Spokesmen for the Klan first asked former general, Robert E. Lee, if he would head the organization. Lee declined citing his age and poor health. Lee suggested they ask the younger former general, Nathan Bedford Forrest. When the Klan spokesmen asked if they could count on Lee's support, Lee said yes but only if his support for their growing empire remained absolutely invisible. This inspired the Klan to adopt the nickname, "Invisible Empire". N.B. Forrest accepted the Klan's offer to lead the organization and in April 1867, at a convention in Nashville, Tn., Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of the Order of the Ku Klux Klan. The rules and regulations of the order, called the Prescripts, were written by former general, John B. Gordon, who became the Grand Dragon or state leader of the KKK in Georgia. Former general, Albert Pike, became the chief judicial officer for the Klan. Pike was also a major figure in Scottish Rite Masonry in America. A notable Klansman and Free Mason, Pike is buried in the Masonic Lodge in Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the White House.
Once organized under Grand Wizard Forrest, the Klan became a force to be reckoned with. Disbanded Confederate units reunited to form Dens of the Klan. Ex-Confederate officers became the Grand Dragons, Giants, and Titans. Ex-Confederate common soldiers made up the rank and file of the Klan and were called Ghouls. As this was happening, other organizations independently began to form in the South to combat the depredations of outlaws, renegade Whites and Blacks, the Union and Loyal Leagues, Carpetbag rule, and the outrages allowed by the Reconstruction Acts of Congress. Some of these new organizations were: the knights of the White Camellia, the White League, the White Brotherhood, and the Red Shirts to name a few. These organizations were independent from, yet just as secret as, the Ku Klux. Having no legal rights, members of these organizations could not afford to have their identities made known and solemn oaths of secrecy were taken by all. The secrecy was both a help and a hindrance to the Klan. While it protected the identity of its members, it became difficult to tell if an act had been committed by the Klan, one of the other ant-reconstruction organizations, or by outlaws impersonating the Klan. In the forty seven volumes that make up the Ku Klux Report to Congress, there is ample documentation to prove that most of the atrocities attributed to the Klan were, in fact, committed by the other anti-reconstruction organizations, outlaws impersonating the Klan, and in many cases Loyal Leaguers and Black Union Leaguers who would disguise themselves as Klansmen and raid Negro hamlets to instill anti-white sentiment for political purposes. The Reconstruction authorities soon declared the Ku Klux Klan and all other resistance groups as outlaws. The Negro militias were ordered to kill on sight anyone believed to be a Klansman.
During all this the Klan tried to keep its intentions on a high level. When the Klan "Ku Kluxed" someone it was only after the victim was given a trial and was allowed to choose someone to speak on their behalf and defend them. The Klan also gave large sums of money to war widows and orphans.
The victims of the Klan, who were White as well as Black, tended to be people proven to be guilty of serious crimes such as barn burnings, theft, rape, or murder. Corrupt politicians, Carpetbaggers and Scalawags were also Ku Kluxed. Usually the Klan left cryptic messages to warn minor offenders, but if these warnings were ignored, they too could be Ku Kluxed, which meant anything from a flogging to execution. These were barbaric times, but the Klan sought to restore law and order, not to destroy it. There was, in fact, no law and the Klan only used force when the forces of the Radical Republicans gave it no other choice.
Ignored by most modern historians is the fact that after the Civil War many ex-Union soldiers chose to settle in the South. Shocked by the outrageous conditions reconstruction imposed upon the White South, many of these ex-Union soldiers either joined or supported the Klan or the other resistance groups. Many Union soldiers and officers occupying parts of the conquered South co-operated with the Klan in fighting Carpetbag rule and outrages committed by Negro organizations.
The term "ku klux" became popular and was widely used. Any resistance to reconstruction was given the label "ku klux". In their efforts to crush all resistance, the Radical Republicans labeled ALL white southerners as "Ku Klux" and the atrocities committed by outlaws, bandits, impersonators, and anyone else were all laid to the Klan's blame. With the death penalty hanging over their heads, Klansmen were in no position to come forward and openly deny the charges and defend themselves. But the Klan did attempt to police the situation. The Klan issued public warnings that anyone caught committing a crime while disguised as a Klansman would be executed. It is documented that the Klan publicly posted warnings condemning the mistreatment of innocent Blacks and it is equally documented that on at least one occasion the KKK even hung one of its own members for beating up an unoffending Black man. (As soon as I can I will create a section going into greater detail concerning these incidents.)
The Klan was in a dilemma. It found itself in a two front war. On the one hand they were confronting criminals, carpetbaggers, and renegade Negroes in their efforts to protect their families and restore law and order. On the other hand they had to deal with impersonators who committed all manner of outrages motivated by everything from personal revenge to political manipulations. Plus the Klan, itself, was declared outlaw and hunted. As anti-white reconstruction legislation became more brutal the situation worsened. All sides clashed in nocturnal pitch battles which sometimes involved hundreds of participants as well as the use of cannon. During reconstruction there were approximately 50,000 casualties. The Klan grew to over 400,000 members. Negroes, on the one hand, opposed the Klan while Black Union Leaguers impersonated the Klan to ferment further unrest and anti-white hatred. At the same time thousands of Negroes aided the Klan who helped rid them of carpetbaggers and outlaws. There is documented proof that there were even Negroes who were actually sworn into the KKK as members. (In time I shall create a section dealing with the Negro members of the KKK.)
Full fledged guerrilla warfare was on the verge of breaking out throughout the South and the federal government found itself powerless to stop it. The harsher the government mandates became, the stiffer the resistance became. Finally, in 1869, newly elected President Grant agreed to a secret meeting with Grand Wizard Forrest. The two men had faced each other in the Civil War and were now facing each other in a new kind of war. Grant asked what it would take to end the turmoil. Forrest replied the restoration of full rights of citizenship to the white South and home rule. Grant agreed. Grand Wizard Forrest would disband the Klan and later that year Grant would begin the process of withdrawing federal troops and restoring Constitutional Rights to the South. Unfortunately, the unrest did not end with the disbandment of the Ku Klux Klan in 1869. Grand Wizard Forrest had no authority over the other independent groups that also opposed the Reconstruction. Some of these groups, like the White Camellia, had grown to be as large as the Klan, and the outrages committed by impersonators continued. Though he did what he could, under these conditions President Grant found it difficult to keep his end of the bargain. Though Reconstruction would eventually end, it was agonizingly slow.
In the early 1870's there was no longer a Ku Klux Klan. But all resistance had been labeled "ku klux" by the northern newspapers and public officials. In 1871, Congress passed the Anti-Ku Klux Act which launched a massive investigation into the affairs of the late insurrectory states. The Federal government found its own policies largely to blame for the post Civil War turmoil. Gradually (too gradually) the government began to make amends and slowly, all organizations labeled "ku klux" faded away. By 1880, there was no longer a need for them. The restoration of civil liberties, civil authority, and home rule to the white South enabled law enforcers to stamp out the outlaws and criminal impersonators of the Ku Klux Klan.
The most unfortunate victims of the Reconstruction Era were the poor whites and freed Negroes who fared the worse under the violent conditions. The most infamous villains were the Carpetbaggers and Scalawags, most of whom just happened to be Jewish. But there is documentation that ex-Confederate Jews, as well as many Catholics also joined the Klan. Religious distinctions were not part of the original Ku Klux Klan's doctrine. Names like Cohen and Rosenbaum appear on both sides. Some Jews rose as high as the rank of Grand Cyclops in the original KKK. (In time I will add a section dealing with the Jews in the KKK.)
While most historian claim that the country has never fully recovered from the Civil War, the reality is that the country has never recovered from the Reconstruction. More accurately we should simply consider the Reconstruction as the last battle and chapter of the Civil War. In the wake of Reconstruction, many myths have sprung up concerning the Klan and the most ridiculous ones seem to be most widely accepted today as facts. Most biased modern historians claim that the Klan just wandered around looking for innocent Negroes to hang. In fact, the original Klan never hung anyone who was truly innocent and did much to protect the innocent of both races.
Another myth is that the Klan was started by the Knights of the Golden Circle, which was a Confederate guerrilla organization that operated in the border state areas of the Midwest. This is unfounded. While former members of the Knights of the Golden Circle may have joined the Ku Klux Klan at one time or other, the origins of the Klan are well documented by its own founders.
The most common myth is that the original Klan burned crosses. This is the invention of fiction writer, Thomas Dixon, and elaborated upon by movie producer, D.W. Griffith. In the 47 volumes that make up the Ku Klux Report to Congress, not one eye witness, not one ex-Klansman, not one surviving victim, not one newspaper article makes any reference at all to a fiery cross of any kind. In the Klan's own Prescripts much detail is given to making the Klan flag or Grand Ensign, but no mention of a cross, fiery or otherwise, is made. It was not until 1915, that former Methodist minister, William Joseph Simmons, adopted the Methodist religious symbol of the fiery cross as a symbol for his revived Ku Klux Klan, after being inspired by the Dixon novel, "The Clansman" and the Griffith motion picture, "The Birth of a Nation".
For nearly one hundred years the Klan was recognized as the savior of the white South. Amid the lawlessness and chaos of the Reconstruction Era the Klan sought to restore law and order and protect the defenseless population. It was incredibly successful. Unfortunately for all involved, it could only use the means at hand. Amid a reign of terror committed by the highest levels of government, to the lowest common outlaws, the Klan resorted to the use of terror. Having felt they accomplished their goals for the most part, the Klan disbanded itself and was not defeated by government legislation. Had there never been a revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the original Klan would have maintained its place in history as an organization of decent men who were forced under unbearable conditions to do only what was necessary to protect life, liberty, and property at a time of unprecedented lawlessness and abuse of authority by a government gone mad with power. (Just like today.)
For further reading I recommend the following books:
Invisible Empire, by Stanley Horn. Not available from the IHRF, but it can be found on the internet, in libraries, and book stores.
Available from the IHRF and listed on our web page:
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan $18.00
The Story of the Ku Klux Klan $ 8.00
A Story of the Original Ku Klux Klan $ 2.50
Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth, and Disbandment $7.00
A Pictorial History of the Ku Klux Klan $ 5.00
Some additional information on the original Ku Klux Kan.
It is widely held today that the KKK was a lawless group that just went around the post Civil War South looking for innocent Negroes to hang. Such is nonsense. But the myth is deliberately perpetuated by today's biased media and historians. We have many books available that disprove this and we mention other books that we don't sell, but are available else where. Here I will just briefly show some details that the Klan tried to police the situation and prevent innocent Negroes from being harmed.
The following is taken from, "A Story of the Original Ku Klux Klan" and is available from us for $2.50. It is General Order No. 1, issued by the KKK to warn against unjustified violence against anyone:
"We (the KKK) reiterate that we are for peace, law, and order. No man, white of black, shall be molested for his political sentiments. This Klan is not a political party; it is not a military party; it is a protective organization, an will never use violence except in resisting violence.
Outrages have been perpetrated by irresponsible parties, in the name of the Klan. Should these parties be apprehended they will be dealt with in a manner to insure us future exemption from such imposition. These imposters have in some instances, whipped Negroes. This is wrong! Wrong! It is denounced by this Klan as it must be by all good and humane men.
The Klan now, as in the past is, is prohibited from doing such things. We are striving to protect all good peaceful, well disposed and law abiding men, whether white or black.
The Grand Dragon deems this order due to the public, due to the Klan, and due to those who are misguided and misinformed. We therefore, request that all newspapers who are friendly to law, peace, and public welfare, will publish the same. By order of the Grand Dragon of Realm No. 1. By the Grand Scribe."
So, did the Klan enforce this order? History indicates that it did. The following is taken from, "Invisible Empire", by Stanley Horn:
"The explosion came when a conservative Negro had the temerity to attempt to make a political speech, and the armed League (the Black Union League) members broke up the meeting and marched away firing their guns into the air. That night there was a fatal clash between a parade of the exulting Negroes of the League and an armed party of conservatives, black and white, who attempted to prevent their demonstrating on the public square. When the gunfire subsided and the smoke cleared away one white conservative was dead and six white and seven Negro members of that party were wounded, along with 27 wounded Leaguers.
As a result of this riot, and similar clashes in other parts of the state, fears were expressed that there would be serious trouble on election day, and leaders of both parties worked together to prevent bloodshed. In Memphis, Gen. Forrest (the Grand Wizard, himself) organized a body of volunteer police (the Klan) who co-operated with the city police department on election day to prevent outbreaks; and in the other cities of the state similar efforts were made to insure peace, with the result that the casualties on election day were held to a minimum."
But did the Klan go so far as to execute anyone caught committing an outrage in the name of the KKK? Yes, according to an article in the Jan. 19, 1869 issue of The Memphis Daily Appeal! The following is taken from that article:
The Execution of Bill German in Overton County.
The Union and American of Saturday says: "By a private letter from a trustworthy gentleman residing at Cookville in Putnam County, we give some further information in regard to the recent execution near Livingston, in Overton County, by a body of supposed Ku-Klux, of the young man Wm. German, an account of which we published Thursday morning. "He says that a few days before the execution, German shot and badly wounded, and supposed he had killed, a Negro man living in his neighborhood. The shooting took place in a public road, and the Negro managed to crawl to the house of his employer, where he told who had shot him. The Negro had the character of being a quiet, peaceable man, and as there had been no previous trouble between him and German, it was supposed the crime was perpetrated in pure wantonness.
It is thought that the persons by whom German was killed were members of a secret organization, to which he belonged - but whether Ku-Klux or not, nobody in the neighborhood appears to know. The body of men concerned in the execution numbered about 200, and none of them were identified by citizens who witnessed their appearance and departure. Accounts reported Bill German was found hanged in a nearby barn; a sign posted there declared: Hung for shooting a Negro, Bill Cullum, and violating the laws of Ku Klux."
After the original KKK disbanded there was no Ku Klux Klan until it was revived in 1915. Therefore, we feel that the 1911 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica gives an unbiased and accurate brief description of the original Ku Klux Klan. It will be interesting to the reader to compare today's Encyclopaedia Britannica to this edition. As most Americans I talk to are aware, our history is being re-written: