40. Soldiers Arrived On October 2, 1919
When the soldiers began to arrive, the members of the sheriff’s posse began to disband and return home. Evidence suggests that the soldiers then began killing African Americans in the effort to restore law and order.
The official total of African Americans killed by the troops is only two, as reported by Colonel Isaac Jenks. However, a correspondent for the Memphis Press recorded that “Many Negroes are reported killed by the soldiers….” What makes the tragedy even worse is that many of those killed were also military men, African American veterans who fought in Europe during World War I, only to come home and be slain by their fellow soldiers.
