John McEnery

John McEnery (March 31, 1833, Petersburg, Virginia – March 28, 1891) was a Louisiana Democratic politician and lawyer who was considered by Democrats to be the winner of the highly contested 1872 election for Governor of Louisiana. After extended controversy over election results, the Republican candidate William Pitt Kellogg was certified. McEnery, who had been an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, was not allowed to take office following a weighing in by the federal government and local Republicans loyal to President Ulysses S. Grant. In the election of 1872, McEnery, a Democrat, was supported by a coalition of Democrats and anti-Grant Republicans, including Republican Gov. Henry C. Warmoth. Warmoth's opponents in the Republican Party remained loyal to President Grant, and supported Republican nominee William Pitt Kellogg. Governor Warmoth had appointed the State Returning Board, which administered elections. A rival board endorsed Kellogg, although Kellogg's board had no returns or ballots to count; Warmoth was impeached and removed for "stealing" the election. The lieutenant governor, black Republican P. B. S. Pinchback, became governor for the last 35 days of Warmoth's term. Both McEnery and Kellogg had inaugural parties and certified lists of local officeholders. In the spring of 1873, McEnery and his friends formed a rump legislature in New Orleans. After a failed attempt in 1873, five thousand of his armed white militia entered New Orleans and fought off the police and state militia on September 14, 1874. They occupied the statehouse and armory and turned the Republican Kellogg out of office. This was called the Battle of Liberty Place. It was not until Federal troops were on their way that the forces retreated from New Orleans. McEnery had encouraged armed action in a speech in June: