Major General Meade's Report on the Ashburn Murder by Meade, Major General George - 1868

[Atlanta]: [Headquarters Third Military District, Department of Georgia, Florida and Alabama], 1868. First Edition. Wraps. Good +. 12mo. 130 pages. Errata slip before title. Yellow printed wraps. Later linen backed spine, stapled twice. Linen starting to fray. Light wear to outer wraps. This report concerns testimony in the murder of G. W. Washburn, of Columbus, Georgia. Ashburn moved to Georgia in 1830. He opposed the secession of Georgia from the United States in 1861 and later served in the Union Army as a Colonel during the Civil War. Ashburn returned to Georgia after the War and was appointed a Judge by Meade. Ashburn, a staunch Republican, was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan mainly for his pro African American support on March 30th, 1868. This was the first murder carried out by the Klan in Georgia. Meade subsequently imposed martial law in Columbus and had 20 persons, mostly prominent white men from Columbus, arrested. Alexander H. Stephen's, former Vice President of the Confederacy, represented the accused. In a political twist a deal was made for not prosecuting the defendants. In exchange for releasing the defendants the Georgia legislature finally ratified the 14th amendment (Equal Protection of the Law). No one was prosecuted for the death of G. W. Ashburn. (Source: wikipedia).In DeRenne volume II page 704. (Errata slip placed before title page).