"C" is for Cainhoy Riot

"C" is for Cainhoy Riot. The Cainhoy Riot was one of the many deadly frays involving white gun clubs and African American militiamen that erupted during the 1876 gubernatorial campaign. A Republican political meeting was scheduled for October 16th at Brick House some thirty miles up the Cooper River from Charleston. Based upon previous disturbances, African Americans came to the meeting armed. Soon whites from Charleston arrived by steamboat and tried to disrupt the proceedings. A scuffle broke out and shots were fired. When the conflict was over, seven men lay dead—one African American and six whites. As a result of the Cainhoy Riot, President Ulysses S. Grant ordered all private armed groups to disband and he sent additional federal troops into the state in a vain attempt to prevent further violence and bloodshed.