In October 1871 Grant finally acted. The Klan had virtually taken over York and surrounding South Carolina counties. Three troops of the Seventh Cavalry, the same regiment employed by Sheridan in Texas and by Hancock against Cheyennes on the Great Plains, were already present. They aided the U.S. marshal in making arrests. The Klan ripped up the railroad to hinder the federal forces. Hundreds fled; hundreds more—so-called pukers—confessed. They provided evidence against almost two hundred Klan leaders and the most violent members.
