H. A. Badham wrote to Holden, saying, "Every republican in the County who has stood up for his own rights and that of freedmen, is in danger. The civil authorities are powerless to bring these offenders against law and humanity, to Justice." On March 7, Holden issued a proclamation of a state of insurrection in Alamance County. Hoping to use this as a warning against future offenses, Holden dispatched 40 federal troops stationed in Raleigh to Alamance. The lieutenant in charge of the soldiers reported that the situation was deteriorating and convinced the mayor and a local magistrate to issue warrants for the arrest of 12 men suspected of involvement in various murders, but the charges were dropped when other citizens offered alibis and death threats were made against the officials. Holden subsequently wrote to United States President Ulysses S. Grant to ask for assistance. Mindful that the Shoffner Act did not empower him as governor to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, he wrote: If Congress would authorize the suspension by the President of the writ of habeas corpus in certain localities, and if criminals could be arrested and tried before military tribunals, and shot, we would soon have peace and order throughout all this country. The remedy would be a sharp and bloody one, but it is as indispensable as was the suppression of the rebellion [during the Civil War]. Grant responded by dispatching more federal troops to North Carolina, but took no additional action. Holden made further appeals for federal support, asking United States Senator for North Carolina Joseph Carter Abbott for help and sending North Carolina Adjutant-General A. W. Fisher to Richmond, Virginia to speak with Major General Edward Canby, commander of the Second Military District, to ask for reinforcements from the United States Army. Canby was not convinced that Alamance County was truly experiencing an insurrection and told Fisher that only the president could send more forces. United States Secretary of War William W. Belknap eventually dispatched two infantry companies to the county. North Carolina Klansmen remained attentive to the situation in Alamance and realized that Holden was isolated, but tempered their activities in the county over the next few months. For his part, Holden dispatched more detectives across the state to investigate the Klan and encouraged local authorities to take action. Klan violence in Caswell County and the murder of John W. Stephens Meanwhile,