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Posted on 10/06/2004 11:07:07 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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The New York draft riots were "a macabre episode, a three-day orgy of violence which sickened Lincoln to read about," wrote biographer Stephen B. Oates. "New York, in its earlier history, stands preëminent among the cities of the country for the frequency and violence of her riots," wrote historian Daniel Van Pelt in Leslie's History of Greater New York. "But up to the year 1863 — with the Doctor's Mob of 788, the riots of 1834, 1835, 1837, 1849, and the 'Dead Rabbits' exploits of 1857, not to mention Mayor Wood's performances with his 'own' police in the same year, all garnishing the record — New York is not easily excelled. In 1863 she added to that record the worst, bloodiest, most destructive and brutal riot of all. It goes by the name of the 'Draft Riots.'"  Enrollment! Recruiting poster for the southern division of New York Baker & Godwin, NY June 23, 1863 The draft riots stemmed from many causes — not the least of which was the way that violence had been employed for political reasons in the past three decades. But the proximate cause was the fact that New York City — which had furnished too many soldiers to the Union Army at the beginning of the war now furnished too few. Because it was failing to meet its recruitment quotas, it had fallen subject to provisions of the Enrollment and Conscription Act passed by Congress on March 3, 1863. Conscription was to be employed when enrollment targets were not met by a community. "The draft needed to be applied to New York State and city sooner than anywhere else," wrote historian Daniel Van Pelt. "At the close of the year 1862, it was reported to the department that since July, 1862, New York State was short 28,517 in volunteers, of which 18,523 was to be charged to New York City. But for this very reason conscription was least likely to be welcomed here. The revulsion in sentiment had carried an anti-war Governor, Horatio Seymour, into office" in 1862.  Recruitment of Soldiers in New York City Unlike his Republican predecessor, Edwin D. Morgan, Governor Seymour did not construe his job as trying to do everywhere possible to forward troops to the war front. Instead, he quibbled over the accuracy of the War Department statistics. According to Seymour biographer Stewart Mitchell, "Governor Seymour was a vigorous opponent of federal conscription, first and last. To begin with, he though the law was unnecessary — which it would have been if all the states had done as well at finding soldiers as New York. In the second place, he though the at evasive and dishonest — as indeed it was. Once it was a law, however, he publicly declared that it would never work and ought to be tested in the courts. This opinion carried him beyond the position of many people who approved his course of conduct as a whole."  Conflict between the military and the rioters on First Avenue Illustration Illustrated London News That set the stage for the bloody and brutal violence of July 14-17, 1863. "The draft riots, as they are called, were supposed by some to be the result of a deep-laid conspiracy on the part of those opposed to the war, and that the successful issue of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania was to be the signal for open action. Whether this be so or not, it is evident that the outbreak in New York City on the 13th of July, not only from the manner of its commencement, the absence of proper organization, and almost total absence of leadership, was not the result of a general well-understood plot. It would seem from the facts that those who started the movement had no idea at the outset of proceeding to the length they did. They simply desired to break up the draft in some of the upper districts of the city, and destroy the registers in which certain names were enrolled," wrote Joel Tyler Headley in The Great Riots of New York City.  The Naughty Boy Gotham, who would not take the Draft Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1863 The Confederate invasion had contributed to the riots in another way. At the request of the Lincoln Administration, Governor Horatio Seymour had forwarded all available militia units from New York City to the Pennsylvania war front. "George Opdyke, the Republican mayor of New York, protested when he learned that all the troops had been ordered to leave the city for the front, but Major-General [Charles W.] Sandford declared that the governor must be obeyed. Seymour planned to replace the soldiers who had left with militia from the interior of the state, but General Wool requested him to countermand his order to this effect," wrote Seymour biographer Stewart Mitchell.  Schiemer's Battery and a Company of the 11th NYV Scattering the Rioters at the Corner of 7th Avenue and 28th Street Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1863 New York in 1863 was beset by many problems. "Municipal services failed to keep pace with the rise in population," wrote William K. Klingaman in Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, 1861-1865. Nearly two-thirds of New York City lacked sewers; many of the sewer lines that existed were so poorly constructed that they frequently were clogged with filth. Epidemics regularly swept through the tenements, giving New York the highest death rate of any city in the civilized world. Merchants sold milk from diseased cattle and coffee tainted with street sweepings and sawdust," wrote Lincoln chronicler William K. Klingaman. But the most important problem in mid-July was the absence of security personnel combined with the presence of angry draft dodgers. The result was an incendiary situation.  Women Pillaging During Riots Illustration Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, July 25, 1865 "There were murmurings of the coming storm, but efforts to avert it were frustrated by those high in power," wrote historian Daniel Van Pelt. "Mr. George Opdyke, a Republican, was Mayor, and he foresaw that there would be trouble when the drafts should begin. He remonstrated with Governor Seymour against the withdrawal of all the militia from the city, but the Governor blandly replied that he had to obey superior orders, and that the city would be safe enough under the protection of its own police force." The New York militia had been moved South to help deal with the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania that culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg. An important factor in the severity of the riots was their timing. The draft lottery began only a week after the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863. To meet the Confederate invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, all available militia was sent forward to Pennsylvania when the Confederates invaded the State at the end of June. New York City was not ready to handle the riots. On Saturday, July 11, President Lincoln telegraphed his son Robert at the New-York Fifth Avenue hotel in Manhattan: "Come to Washington." It is unclear why President Lincoln sent the telegram to his draft-age son — although possibly it was because Robert's mother had been injured in a serious carriage accident on July 2. There is little mystery, however, about what happened in New York City that day.  Group of Rioters Marching Down Avenue A Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1863 The draft was set to be on Saturday, July 11. William Alan Bales wrote in Tiger in the Streets: "There were two offices: one at 1190 Broadway near Twenty-ninth Street; another at 677 Third Avenue near the corner of Forty-sixth Street. The Saturday drawing was in the office at Third Avenue." Historian Stewart Mitchell noted: "The neighborhood was very much uptown in 1863, not by any means respectable, and more than three miles as the crow flies from city hall, then situated at the centre of New York." Historian David Long, Jewel of Liberty: "A number of enrollees in each district of the city were to be chosen by lot from the list of eligible men; this would proceed until each district's quota was met. The idea was to call up 20 percent of the men on the lists. However, the share of draftees from each district varied according to the number of men who had already enlisted from that district. James McPherson points out, 'There were numerous opportunities for fraud, error, and injustice in this cumbersome and confusing process.' Ultimately, because of the numerous means for avoiding actual service, only 7 percent of those chosen ever served in the Union military." The draft of 1200 New Yorkers proceeded without disturbance that Saturday.  Group of Rioters Marching Down Second Avenue Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper But, noted Long, "that evening and on Sunday, in pubs and on street corners of the city's tenement districts, groups of working-class men imbibed alcohol and anti-black rhetoric in generous doses. Their mood grew increasingly ugly. By Monday, the ugly mood was incendiary." Historian John William Leonard wrote: "Sunday was used by the disaffected and desperate to plan what proved to be the most terrible and desperate riot that ever blackened the annals of New York. Some working men who had been drafted, aided by several political agitators, stirred up an opposition to further enrollment under a system which placed, as they claimed, its entire burden upon the poor.  Central Department of Metropolitan Police Lithograph A. Brown and Co for D.T. Valentine's Manual, 1863 One of Mr. Lincoln's aides, William O. Stoddard, had asked to take a leave from Washington to recover from overwork and malaria. Accompanied by his brother Henry, Stoddard went to New York City where "we walked blindly into the Draft Riot of 1863". According to Stoddard, "the actual operation of the draft began at the Marshal's or Enrollment Office of the Third Subdivision of the Ninth Congressional District, at 677 Third Avenue, corner of Forty-sixth Street. The drawings were made by means of a lottery wheel and proceeded throughout the day without any interruption whatever. Twelve hundred and thirty-six names were drawn, leaving only 264 men to be obtained in order to complete the quota of that subdivision. There was no question raised by anybody as to the fairness and impartiality of the day's work." Stoddard later wrote:  Scene on 32nd Street, between 6th and 7th Avenue, July 15th Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1863 We took our breakfasts early that July morning in New York City Hall Park. Not a word of any uprisings such as were going on uptown had been heard. Suddenly I saw a cart, driven furiously, on which lay a Negro, while a small mob of ruffians appeared to be trying to drag him off. In another direction a Negro was being chased and maltreated, and the air was full of dire exclamations and prophecies.  Calvary Patrolling the Streets Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1863 A first I did not understand the matter, but the truth dawned on me as my blood rose hotter, and I went back to my room. There was my pistol belt, knife and all, and the weapon was of heavy calibre. Henry had none, so I gave him mine, and we went hastily to Maiden Lane, where the gun stores were, to get me a new outfit. I was just in time, for hardly had I buckled on my longer-barreled, heavier shooting iron, when all those stores were closed by order of the police, and by the fear of their owners that they would soon be looted if they were open. We had plenty of ammunition, but where we were to use it we could not guess. The idea was in my mind that any mob would be likely to plunder the moneymen, and so I led the way toward Wall Street.  Rioters Lynching a Black Man When we reached the corner of the Sub-Treasury, there were on the steps was General Ward B. Burnett, organizing a company of volunteers that promised to be a good one. I knew that he had commanded the First New York Volunteers in the Mexican War and was accounted a brave, capable officer. That was the man to serve under, and we at once fell into line, recalling our soldier experience in the Rifles. The General swore us in, gave us instructions, looked very cool, and determined but a little bloodthirsty, and we were posted. That is, we were put temporarily in charge of the Treasury, under the impression that there was to be an immediate attack on it. Later we were transferred to the portico of the Custom House, where we kept company with a wide-mouthed mountain howitzer."  Police Battling Rioters Illustration The riots had an anti-Protestant as well as anti-upper class basis. According to Stoddard, there was a clear class division in the rioters: "I saw a surging, swaying crowd coming up Broadway, whooping, yelling, blaspheming and howling, demoniacs such as no man imagined the city of New York to contain. There were women among them and half-grown boys, but none of them seemed to be American. Who were they? They carried guns, pistols, axes, hatchets, crowbars, pitchforks, knives, bludgeons — the red flag. 'Down with the rich men! Down with property! Down with the police!'"
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That little diddy is a cheer from prehistoric times--back when I was a teenager.
Morning Heyworth.
Thanks for input to today's thread. You could have left off the last line and still made your point. We have disagreements on some of our threads and encourage our readers to express differing points of view or to correct inaccuracies or rebutt the sources. However, we hope everyone would refrain from making personal comments about the posters here. I know the War Between the States is our most controversial topic and your comments/opinions/corrections are welcome, but we hope to keep the debates civil.
Please don't take this the wrong way, it's just that keeping comments civil is about the only rule we have at the Foxhole. We don't want become a "flamewar" thread.
Greetings to you PE, from Anchorage, Alaska!! WOO HOO!
Afternoon Darksheare.
Rangel??? I thought the Republicans were trying to ""sneak" the Draft back!! That's what the MSM says. They must have just forgot to mention it was a Democrat who introduced the Bill. < /sarcasm>
Sorry, Heyworth. I see Snippy already answered you. That's what I get for not reading ahead.
LOL!
*Wicked laughter*
Yes, the MSM does seem to forget that minor irritating detail.
Often.
And Rangel's gyrations to justify voting against his own bill when he's chastised others for doing the same were amusing.
Well at least we think alike when it comes to "news reporting", that's the same comment I made to stand watie in my reply to him
We covered both Quantrill and the Lawrence Massacre at the Foxhole. Again, not one of the brighter spots in our History.
LOL! You're on a roll today.
"Land of the Midnight Sun", that should get your muse flowing. :-)
Tha MSM seems to make a habit of "leaving out details" that don't fit their agenda.
Hint: There agenda is not reporting the news.
They used to be called 'muckrakers' in the past...
*chuckle*
Oh Sam, I wish you could have seen from the plane window what I saw coming into Alaska last night. WOW, mountain tops snow covered and in the valleys glaciers. AWESOME.
LOL. Great squirrel pic!
We know better than to take any news article as gospel around here. Media hasn't changed in all these years.
But...but...you're only 29. Or is it 39?
:-)
How'd you get that picture?
hehehehe
Hi Sam.
LOL. You're showing your witty side!
Will you ever learn?
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