Pulaski Riot of 1868, and Cincinnati Riots of 1884: what happened there?

I don't even know what category to put this into for right now. I just stumbled onto some photographs of these 1868 Pulaski and 1884 Cincinnati riots, and figured those needed to be shared, for the narrative does not quite match the damages I see in those photographs. What weapons did they use back then? The consequences of this riot remind me of the urban fires e are so used to. The official version states:
  • The Pulaski riot was a race riot that occurred in Pulaski, Tennessee, on January 7, 1868. While the riot appeared to be based in a trade dispute of the previous summer between Calvin Lamberth, a white man, and Calvin Carter, an African American, it was provoked when Lamberth shot a friend of Carter's over rumored comments about the former's black mistress.
  • After Lamberth shot Carter's friend, Whitlock Fields, numerous other armed whites came from nearby houses and attacked Carter and seven other black men at a nearby black-owned grocery store. Although the constable arranged a ceasefire, after the freedmen gathered at the door of the store, some eighteen whites rushed and shot at them at close range. They murdered one man, mortally wounded another, and injured four. No white was injured or prosecuted. The incident was investigated by the Freedmen's Bureau office of Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Pulaski riot - Wikipedia
What Happened There?
Pulaski_Riot.jpg

The above photograph was obtained from this antique lot, and was a part of the below photographic album.

Cincinnati_riots_of_1884_1.jpg

Source
Here are the remaining photographs which allegedly pertain to another riot. This one was supposed to happen in Cincinnati in 1884. The narrative is as follows:
  • The Cincinnati riots of 1884, also known as the Cincinnati Courthouse riots, were caused by public outrage over the decision of a jury to return a verdict of manslaughter in what was seen as a clear case of murder. A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, attempted to find and lynch the perpetrator. In the violence that followed over the next few days, more than 50 people died and the courthouse was destroyed. It was one of the most destructive riots in American history.​
Cincinnati_riots_of_1884_7.jpg

Cincinnati_riots_of_1884_4.jpg

Cincinnati_riots_of_1884_6.jpg

Cincinnati_riots_of_1884_5.jpg


KD: I would love to find an online version of this album. Something feels weird about these riots. The original description provided with the lot is below.
  • A group of 8 unmounted photographic prints depicting the 5th Battery of Ohio National Guard and the aftermath of the 1884 Cincinnati Courthouse Riots, plus one likely unrelated cabinet card photograph of a crowd surveying the ruins of a damaged building, with Pulaski TN photography studio backstamp. 1st-8th items: Albumen photograph prints of men in uniform standing guard behind a gatling gun in the streets of Cincinnati, wagons overturned to form a barricade, and images of the destruction inside the courthouse. 9th item: Cabinet card depicting a crowd of people, including African Americans, surveying the remains of burned out brick buildings. Stamped on back The Pulaski Art Gallery, W.D. Corbitt, Operator, Pulaski TN. 5" H x 8 1/2" W. Provenance: the estate of Sarah Hunter Hicks Green, formerly of Historic Devon Farm, Nashville, Tennessee.
Any thoughts on what could cause the damages we can see in the very first photograph?
 
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