Frederick Nash Ogden (1837-1886) was a Confederate soldier, leader of the 9th Louisiana Cavalry Regiment, and founder of the New Orleans chapter of the White League. The Crescent City White League, composed mostly of Confederate veterans, was formed in opposition to integration, the right of people to vote regardless of race, and with the purpose of violently overthrowing the democratically elected government of Louisiana. It promoted white supremacy in the New Orleans city and Louisiana state governments.
Ogden led first the failed insurrection of the Cabildo Raid, and then the attempted coup at the Battle of Liberty Place. This violent insurrection and organized action by the White League sought to replace the elected Republican Governor William Pitt Kellogg with John McEnery, a pro-segregation Democrat. Over 1,000 members of the White League fought against the New Orleans Metropolitan Police, which was integrated and included police officers of color. The local and state police were quickly overtaken by the military force of the White League, and within hours the city was in the White League’s control. The White League held control of the city for three days, until federal troops intervened, and Governor Kellogg was reinstated.
Frederick Nash Ogden continued to be a supporter of white supremacy in local government until his death in 1886. His funeral was a massive affair. It was attended by leading politicians including former Louisiana Governor Nicholls and then current New Orleans mayor Joseph Guillotte. Mayor Guillotte, who was himself a member of the White League and a participant at the Battle of Liberty Place, went so far as to close Criminal and Civil District Court along with City Hall out of respect for General Ogden, and encouraged councilmembers and city employees to attend his funeral. According to the Daily Picayune, “The funeral was intended to be a quiet, unassuming affair but the people willed it otherwise, and leading citizens, society belles, State, City, and Federal officials and many others formed in line and followed the body to the grave (5/27/1886).” This funeral precession and the reverence the city continued to bestow upon Ogden highlights how deeply entrenched white supremacist ideologies went hand in hand with the eagerness to violently oppose democracy and the constitutional rights of citizens. In 1894, City Ordinance CS9411 changed Jackson Street to General Ogden Street in his honor.
No participants in the Battle of Liberty Place were ever charged. In fact, members of the White League were memorialized through a monument erected by the city government of New Orleans in 1891. The monument was dedicated to the “martyrs” and “heroic soldiers” of the Crescent City White League who lost their lives during the Battle of Liberty Place (The Daily Picayune, 9/15/1891). The city rallied around the dedication of this monument and held a public parade in celebration of the White League and their cause. The monument was declared a nuisance in 1993 and moved away from its location at the foot of Canal St.—the symbolic heart of the city. In 2017 it was permanently removed from public view.
