After the nominations had all been made, the campaign was opened in dead earnest.  Nearly all Democratic clubs in the State were converted into armed military companies.  Funds with which to purchase arms were believed to have been contributed by the National Democratic organization.  Nearly every Republican meeting was attended by one or more of those clubs or companies,—­the members of which were distinguished by red shirts, indicative of blood,—­the attendance being for the purpose, of course, of “keeping the peace and preserving order.”  To enable the Democrats to carry the State a Republican majority of between twenty and thirty thousand had to be overcome.  This could be done only by the adoption and enforcement of questionable methods.  It was a case in which the end justified the means, and the means had to be supplied.

The Republican vote consisted of about ninety-five per cent of the colored men, and of about twenty-five per cent of the white men.  The other seventy-five per cent of the whites formerly constituted a part of the flower of the Confederate Army.  They were not only tried and experienced soldiers, but they were fully armed and equipped for the work before them.  Some of the colored Republicans had been Union soldiers, but they were neither organized nor armed.  In such a contest, therefore, they and their white allies were entirely at the mercy of their political adversaries.

Governor Ames soon took in the situation.  He saw that he could not depend upon the white members of the State militia to obey his orders, to support him in his efforts to uphold the majesty of the law, and to protect the law-abiding citizens in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property.  To use the colored members of the militia for such a purpose would be adding fuel to the flames.  Nothing, therefore, remained for him to do but to call on the National administration for military aid in his efforts to crush out domestic violence and enforce the laws of the State.  He did call for such aid, but for reasons that will be given later it was not granted.

When the polls closed on the day of the election, the Democrats, of course, had carried the State by a large majority,—­thus securing a heavy majority in both branches of the Legislature.  Of the six members of Congress the writer was the only one of the regular Republican candidates that pulled through, and that, by a greatly reduced majority.  In the Second (Holly Springs) District, G. Wiley Wells ran as an Independent Republican against A.R.  Howe, the sitting member, and the regular Republican candidate for reelection.  The Democrats supported Wells, who was elected.

The delegation, therefore, consisted of four Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent Republican.  While the delegation would have consisted of five straight Republicans and one Democrat had the election been held in 1874, still, since the Democrats had such a large majority in the House, the political complexion of the Mississippi delegation was not important.  The election of the writer, it was afterwards developed, was due in all probability to a miscalculation on the part of some of the Democratic managers.  Their purpose was to have a solid delegation, counting Wells as one of that number, since his election would be due to the support of the Democratic party.