THE CLANSMAN
The Illustrations Shown in This Edition Are Reproductions of Scenes from the Photo-Play of “The Birth of a Nation” Produced and Copyrighted by The Epoch Producing Corporation, to Whom the Publishers Desire to Express Their Thanks and Appreciation for Permission to Use the Pictures.
THE REIGN OF THE KLAN
THE CLANSMAN
AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE
OF THE KU KLUX KLAN
BY
THOMAS DIXON
AUTHOR OF
THE LEOPARD’S SPOTS, COMRADES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED WITH SCENES FROM THE PHOTO-PLAY
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
PRODUCED AND COPYRIGHTED BY
EPOCH PRODUCING CORPORATION
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS :: NEW YORK
Copyright, 1905
By Thomas Dixon, Jr.
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
TO THE MEMORY OF
A SCOTCH-IRISH LEADER OF THE SOUTH
My Uncle, Colonel Leroy McAfee
GRAND TITAN OF THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE
KU KLUX KLAN
TO THE READER
“The Clansman” is the second book of a series of historical novels planned on the Race Conflict. “The Leopard’s Spots” was the statement in historical outline of the conditions from the enfranchisement of the negro to his disfranchisement.
“The Clansman” develops the true story of the “Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy,” which overturned the Reconstruction régime.
The organization was governed by the Grand Wizard Commander-in-Chief, who lived at Memphis, Tennessee. The Grand Dragon commanded a State, the Grand Titan a Congressional District, the Grand Giant a County, and the Grand Cyclops a Township Den. The twelve volumes of Government reports on the famous Klan refer chiefly to events which occurred after 1870, the date of its dissolution.
The chaos of blind passion that followed Lincoln’s assassination is inconceivable to-day. The revolution it produced in our Government, and the bold attempt of Thaddeus Stevens to Africanize ten great States of the American Union, read now like tales from “The Arabian Nights.”
I have sought to preserve in this romance both the letter and the spirit of this remarkable period. The men who enact the drama of fierce revenge into which I have woven a double love story are historical figures. I have merely changed their names without taking a liberty with any essential historic fact.
In the darkest hour of the life of the South, when her wounded people lay helpless amid rags and ashes under the beak and talon of the Vulture, suddenly from the mists of the mountains appeared a white cloud the size of a man’s hand. It grew until its mantle of mystery enfolded the stricken earth and sky. An “Invisible Empire” had risen from the field of Death and challenged the Visible to mortal combat.
How the young South, led by the reincarnated souls of the Clansmen of Old Scotland, went forth under this cover and against overwhelming odds, daring exile, imprisonment, and a felon’s death, and saved the life of a people, forms one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of the Aryan race.
Thomas Dixon, Jr.
Dixondale, Va.
December 14, 1904.
CONTENTS
| BOOK I | ||
| THE ASSASSINATION | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The Bruised Reed | [3] |
| II. | The Great Heart | [19] |
| III. | The Man of War | [33] |
| IV. | A Clash of Giants | [38] |
| IV. | The Battle of Love | [56] |
| VI. | The Assassination | [61] |
| VII. | The Frenzy of a Nation | [80] |
| BOOK II | ||
| THE REVOLUTION | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The First Lady of the Land | [90] |
| II. | Sweethearts | [101] |
| III. | The Joy of Living | [112] |
| IV. | Hidden Treasure | [115] |
| V. | Across the Chasm | [120] |
| VI. | The Gauge of Battle | [131] |
| VII. | A Woman Laughs | [136] |
| VIII. | A Dream | [148] |
| IX. | The King Amuses Himself | [152] |
| X. | Tossed by the Storm | [162] |
| XI. | The Supreme Test | [165] |
| XII. | Triumph in Defeat | [179] |
| BOOK III | ||
| THE REIGN OF TERROR | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | A Fallen Slaveholder’s Mansion | [187] |
| II. | The Eyes of the Jungle | [204] |
| III. | Augustus Cæsar | [209] |
| IV. | At the Point of the Bayonet | [218] |
| V. | Forty Acres and a Mule | [235] |
| VI. | A Whisper in the Crowd | [244] |
| VII. | By the Light of a Torch | [254] |
| VIII. | The Riot in the Master’s Hall | [263] |
| IX. | At Lover’s Leap | [276] |
| X. | A Night Hawk | [284] |
| XI. | The Beat of a Sparrow’s Wing | [297] |
| XII. | At the Dawn of Day | [305] |
| BOOK IV | ||
| THE KU KLUX KLAN | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The Hunt for the Animal | [309] |
| II. | The Fiery Cross | [318] |
| III. | The Parting of the Ways | [327] |
| IV. | The Banner of the Dragon | [337] |
| V. | The Reign of the Klan | [341] |
| VI. | The Counter Stroke | [351] |
| VII. | The Snare of the Fowler | [358] |
| VIII. | A Ride for a Life | [362] |
| IX. | “Vengeance Is Mine” | [369] |
LEADING CHARACTERS OF THE STORY
Scene: Washington and the Foothills of the Carolinas.
Time: 1865 to 1870.
| Ben Cameron | Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan |
| Margaret | His Sister |
| Mrs. Cameron | His Mother |
| Dr. Richard Cameron | His Father |
| Hon. Austin Stoneman | Radical Leader of Congress |
| Phil | His Son |
| Elsie | His Daughter |
| Marion Lenoir | Ben's First Love |
| Mrs. Lenoir | Her Mother |
| Jake | A Faithful Man |
| Silas Lynch | A Negro Missionary |
| Uncle Aleck | The Member from Ulster |
| Cindy | His Wife |
| Colonel Howle | A Carpet-bagger |
| Augustus Cæsar | Of the Black Guard |
| Charles Sumner | Of Massachusetts |
| Gen. Benjamin F. Butler | Of Fort Fisher |
| Andrew Johnson | The President |
| U. S. Grant | The Commanding General |
| Abraham Lincoln | The Friend of the South |
THE CLANSMAN
Book I—The Assassination