| Knights of the White Camelia | |
|---|---|
| White Camelia | |
 Alcibiades DeBlanc, the group's founder. | |
| Leaders | Alcibiades DeBlanc |
| Dates of operation | 1867 –c. 1870 |
| Ideology | White supremacy Neo-Confederatism |
| Allies | Ku Klux Klan, Dixiecrats, Southern Democratic Party |
| Opponents | U.S. Government,U.S. Republican Party,carpetbaggers,scalawags,African Americans |
Preceded by Confederate Army veterans Succeeded by White League | |
TheKnights of the White Camelia was an Americanwhite supremacist organization that operated in theSouthern United States in the late 19th century. Similar to and associated with theKu Klux Klan, it opposed freedmen's rights.[1]
The Knights of the White Camelia (named for thecamellia, a type of flower) was founded byConfederate States ArmyColonel,Alcibiades DeBlanc, on May 22, 1867, inFranklin, Louisiana. Author Christopher Long stated, "Its members were pledged to support thesupremacy of the White race,[1] to oppose theamalgamation of the races, to resist the social and political encroachment of the so-called carpetbaggers, and to restore White control of the government".[2][3] Historian Nicholas Lemann calls the Knights the leading terrorist organization in Louisiana.[4] Their tactics, (which included "harassment,floggings, and sometimesmurder") "produced a reign of terror among the state's black population during the summer and fall of 1868."[5] The estimated death toll of their terror campaign may have been as large as 1,800 people, with an even larger number being wounded by them. The double murder of pro-Republican JudgeValentine Chase and Sheriff Henry H. Pope ofSt. Mary Parish may have been committed by them.[6]
Chapters primarily existed in the southern part of theDeep South. Historian George C. Rable noted that, "Although the Republicans saw evidence of a massive conspiracy in these outrages, in Louisiana as elsewhere, White terrorists were not organized beyond the local level."[7] An additional aim of the group was to keep Freedmen farm labor from leaving the plantations.[8] Unlike the Ku Klux Klan, which drew much of its membership from lower-class Southerners (primarily Confederate veterans), the White Camelia consisted mainly of upper-class Southerners, including physicians, landowners, newspaper editors, and officers. They were also usually Confederate veterans, the upper part ofantebellum society. It began to decline, despite a convention in 1869. The more aggressive people joined theWhite League or similar paramilitary organizations that organized in the mid-1870s. By 1870, the original Knights of the White Camelia had mostly ceased to exist.[9] Among its members was Louisiana JudgeTaylor Beattie, who led theThibodaux massacre of 1887.[10]
In 1939,Time reported that theMinnesotananti-SemiteGeorge E. Deatherage was describing himself as the "national commander of the Knights of the White Camellia".[11] In the 1990s, a Ku Klux Klan group which was based ineastern Texas adopted the name.[12] According to the bookSoldiers of God, the new age White Camelia has a strong influence inVidor, Texas.[13] Ever since the return of the White Camelia name, so-called "White Camelia" (sometimes spelled Kamelia) Klan groups have also emerged inLouisiana andFlorida.
