My all-time favorite jaw dropper is the Wilmington, North Carolina riot of 1898. A group of Democrats, led by a Confederate veteran, actually threw the Republican mayor out of his office and took over the government. It was a genuine coup. Many blacks, fearing for their lives, left Wilmington for good.
Mainly it was poor Irish who were being forced to fight a war against the South that they did not necessarily support.
If you had $300, you could pay someone to serve for you, and avoid serving in the Union Army.