St. Bernard Parish Massacre

This church, and the cemetery attached to it, are home to the only physical evidence of the St. Bernard Parish Massacre that survives today. This evidence is the headstone of Pablo San Feliu, the only white person who lost their life during this massacre. The 'monument' is the only proof that historians, students, and any learner can examine, evidence of a massacre on American soil. This piece of American history must be explored, not ignored, whether or not you believe his death was a significant loss or the 35+ Black citizens murdered.

Soon after the Civil War, freedmen attained the right to vote. White Democrats of the South, specifically St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, feared relinquishing their majority and, thus, their power to prevent Reconstruction measures.

In late October 1868, armed mobs of white men were marshaled to subdue the newly liberated voters to recover their former way of life, overturned by the Civil War and Reconstruction. It was just days before the presidential election between Ulysses S. Grant and Horatio Seymour, which would determine the future of Reconstruction in the South.

On October 25, 1868, the first blood spilled onto the streets of St. Bernard Parish.

Days after, the freeman Louis Wilson was bashed down from his horse and placed aggressively into a makeshift jail by a group of white, Democratic 'punishers.'

Freedpeople were torn from their homes and slain in cold blood. The documented number of those massacred ranges from 35 to over 100. Many who escaped demise ran to the cane fields, where they hid for days.

Over 60 freed people were charged after the massacre, while not a single perpetrator was asked. The gruesome character of the disaster was swept beneath the carpet, and the implications echoed through the South perpetually.

As Seymour swept the state, Grant acquired only one vote in St. Bernard Parish. "Republicans captured the presidency in 1868, but white terror carried the day in Louisiana." as the historian John C. Rodrigue reported. 

Despite the federal investigation, no one was detained for massacring the freed people. Black survivors pinpointed white neighbors as their attackers, but no righteousness was discovered. Instead, 60 and possibly more people were arrested by local authorities and vigilantes for the killing of Pablo San Feliu. All of the detained party were Black freedpeople. 

Over time, the bloodbath vanished into namelessness. To this day, the only material reminder is the headstone of Pablo San Feliu, located in St. Bernard Cemetery, which reads: 

"Pablo San Feliu

Assassinated by Slaves

Incited by Carpetbag Rule

Died Oct. 1869"

The inaccuracies on San Feliu's gravestone falsify the events leading to his death. The inaccurate date indicates that it was erected entirely after the massacre, possibly honoring his end as if he lived as a martyr. Enslaved people are the word the engraver used to denote the freedpeople involved in his death. Most notably, by setting fault on carpetbaggers, the description insinuates that San Feliu was a guiltless murder victim. 'Carpetbaggers' were the derogatory term for Northerners and other nonnatives who resettled to the South during Reconstruction. 

Though it is not certain, one can assume that San Feliu was less victim and more co-conspirator who was caught in the act. And, though he is memorialized as a man who died unfairly, those who take the time to research this horrific event know the truth. May those who lost their lives before civil rights were found, and those who lost it in the fight for Black people, be forever remembered as true heroes. 

Dier, Chris. UNRAVELING A FORGOTTEN MASSACRE IN MY LOUISIANA HOMETOWN, Zocalo Public Square. February 7th, 2018. Accessed November 10th, 2022. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2018/02/07/unraveling-forgotten-massacre-louisiana-hometown/ideas/essay/.