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+Project Gutenberg's The Great Riots of New York 1712 to 1873, by J.T. Headley
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+Title: The Great Riots of New York 1712 to 1873
+
+Author: J.T. Headley
+
+Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6856]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT RIOTS OF NEW YORK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produecd by Richard Prairie, David Moynihan, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+                                    THE
+
+                                GREAT RIOTS
+
+                                    OF
+
+                                 NEW YORK
+
+                               1712 to 1873
+
+                   INCLUDING A FULL AND COMPLETE ACCOUNT
+
+                                  OF THE
+
+                       FOUR DAYS' DRAFT RIOT OF 1863
+
+                           By HON. J.T. HEADLEY
+
+
+                                    TO
+
+                         THE METROPOLITAN POLICE,
+
+                                   WHOSE
+
+                UNWAVERING FIDELITY AND COURAGE IN THE PAST,
+
+                 ARE A SURE GUARANTEE OF WHAT THEY WILL DO
+
+                                    FOR
+
+                       NEW YORK CITY IN THE FUTURE,
+
+                                 THIS WORK
+
+                         IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
+
+                                    BY
+
+                                THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+1. BURNING OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL'S OFFICE
+
+2. THE OLD NEW YORK HOSPITAL, SCENE OF THE DOCTORS' RIOT
+
+3. COLORED ORPHAN ASYLUM (ERECTED SINCE THE RIOT)
+
+4. HEADQUARTERS METROPOLITAN POLICE
+
+5. HEADQUARTERS METROPOLITAN FIRE DEPARTMENT
+
+6. FORT LAFAYETTE, NEW YORK HARBOR
+
+7. FORT HAMILTON, NEW YORK HARBOR
+
+8. SCENE IN LEXINGTON AVENUE
+
+9. ATTACK ON THE TRIBUNE OFFICE
+
+10. FIGHT BETWEEN RIOTERS AND MILITIA
+
+11. HANGING AND BURNING A NEGRO IN CLARKSON STREET
+
+12. THE DEAD SERGEANT IN TWENTY-SECOND STREET
+
+13. DRAGGING COLONEL O'BRIEN'S BODY IN THE STREET
+
+14. BURNING SECOND AVENUE ARMORY
+
+15. RECEIVING DEAD BODIES AT THE MORGUE
+
+PREFACE.
+
+The materials for the descriptions of the Negro and Doctors' Riots were
+gathered from the Archives of the Historical Society; those of the
+immediately succeeding ones, from the press of the times.
+
+For the scenes and incidents that occurred on the stage and behind the
+curtain in the Astor-place Opera Riot, I am indebted to a pamphlet
+entitled "_Behind the Scenes_."
+
+The materials for the history of the Draft Riots were obtained in part
+from the Daily Press, and in part from the City and Military Authorities,
+especially Commissioner Acton, Seth Hawley, General Brown, and Colonel
+Frothingham, who succeeded in putting them down.
+
+Mr. David Barnes, who published, some ten years ago, a pamphlet entitled
+"The Metropolitan Police," kindly furnished me facts relating to the
+Police Department of great value, and which saved me much labor and time.
+
+Much difficulty has been encountered in gathering together, from various
+quarters, the facts spread over a century and a half, but it is believed
+that everything necessary to a complete understanding of the subjects
+treated of has been given, consistent with the continuity and interest of
+the narrative.
+
+Of course some minor riots--a collection of mobs that were easily
+dispersed by the police, and were characterized by no prolonged struggle
+or striking incidents--are not mentioned.
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Character of a City illustrated by Riots.--New Material for History of
+Draft Riots.--History of the Rebellion incomplete without History of
+them.--The Fate of the Nation resting on the Issues of the Struggle in New
+York City.--The best Plan to adopt for Protection against Mobs.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE NEGRO RIOTS OF 1712-1741.
+
+Almost impossible for the present Generation to comprehend its true
+Character and Effect on the People.--Description of New York at that
+Time.--The Negro Slaves.--The Negro Riot of 1712.--Description of it.--The
+Winter of 1741.--Governor's House burned down.--Other Fires.--Suspicion of
+the People.--Arrest and Imprisonment of the Blacks.--Reward offered for
+the supposed Conspirators.--Alarm and Flight of the Inhabitants.--
+Examination and Confession of Mary Burton.--Peggy, the Newfoundland
+Beauty, and the Hughson Family.--The Conspiracy.--Executions.--Fast.--
+Hughson's Hearing.--Hung in Chains.--The Body, and that of a Negro, left
+to swing and rot in the Air.--Strange Change in the Appearances of the
+Bodies.--The People throng to look at them.--Negroes burned at the Stake.
+--Terrific Spectacle.--Bloody Summer.--Execution of a Catholic Priest.--
+Strange Scenes.--Upper Classes accused.--Executions stopped.--Reason of
+the Panic.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE STAMP-ACT RIOT OF 1765.
+
+Thorough Understanding of the Principles of Liberty by the People.--The
+Stamp Act.--How viewed by the Colonists.--Colden strengthens Fort George
+in Alarm.--Arrival of the Stamps.--How the News was received by the Sons
+of Liberty.--A Bold Placard.--Stamp Distributor frightened.--Patriotic
+Action of the Merchants.--Public Demonstration against the Stamp Act.--
+Colden takes Refuge in the Fort.--Dare not fire on the People.--The People
+at the Gate demand the Stamps.--Colden and Lord Bute hung in Effigy.--
+Colden's Coach-house broken open.--The Images placed in the Coach, and
+dragged with Shouts through the Streets.--Hung again in Sight of the
+Fort.--A Bonfire made of the Fence around Bowling Green, and the
+Governor's Carriages, while the Garrison look silently on.--Prejudice
+against Coaches.--Major James' House sacked.--Great Joy and Demonstration
+at the Repeal of the Stamp Act.--Celebration of the King's Birthday.--
+Loyalty of the People.--Mutiny Act.--A Riot becomes a Great Rebellion.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+DOCTORS' RIOT, 1788.
+
+Body-snatching.--Bodies dug up by Medical Students.--Excitement of the
+People.--Effect of the Discovery of a human Limb from the Hospital.--Mob
+ransack the Building.--Destruction of Anatomical Specimens.--Arrival of
+Mayor, and Imprisonment of Students.--Second Day.--Examination of Columbia
+College and Physicians' Houses.--Appeal of the Mayor and distinguished
+Citizens to the Mob.--Mob attempt to break into Jail and seize the
+Students.--The Fight.--The Military called out.--Beaten by the Mob.--
+Larger Military Force called out.--Attacked by the Mob.--Deadly Firing.--
+Great Excitement.--Flight of Doctors and Students.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+SPRING ELECTION RIOTS OF 1834.
+
+Fatal Error in our Naturalization Laws.--Our Experiment of Self-government
+not a fair one.--Fruit of giving Foreigners the Right to Vote.--Bitter
+Feeling between Democrats and Whigs.--First Day of Election.--Ships
+"Constitution" and "Veto."--Whigs driven from the Polls.--Excitement.--
+Whigs determined to defend themselves.--Meeting called.--Resolutions.--
+Second Day's Election.--Attack on the Frigate "Constitution."--A Bloody
+Fight.--Mayor and Officers wounded.--Mob triumphant.--Excitement of the
+Whigs.--The Streets blocked by fifteen thousand enraged Whigs.--Military
+called out.--Occupy Arsenal and City Hall all Night.--Result of the
+Election.--Excitement of the Whigs.--Mass-meeting in Castle Garden.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+ABOLITION RIOTS OF 1834 AND 1835.
+
+The Slavery Question agitated.--The End, Civil War.--The Results.--William
+Lloyd Garrison.--Feeling of the People on the Subject.--First Attempt to
+call a Meeting of the Abolitionists in New York.--Meeting in Chatham
+Street Chapel.--A Fight.--Mob take Possession of Bowery Theatre.--Sacking
+of Lewis Tappan's House.--Fight between Mob and Police.--Mobbing of Dr.
+Cox's Church, in Laight Street.--His House broken into.--Street
+Barricaded.--Attack on Arthur Tappan's Store.--Second Attack on Church in
+Laight Street.--Church sacked in Spring Street.--Arrival of the Military.
+--Barricades carried.--Mr. Ludlow's House entered.--Mob at Five Points.--
+Destruction of Houses.--The City Military called out.--Mob overawed, and
+Peace restored.--Five Points Riot.--Stone-cutters' Riot.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+FLOUR RIOT OF 1837.
+
+Starvation will always create a Riot.--Foreign Population easily aroused
+against the Rich.--Severe Winter of 1836.--Scarcity of Flour.--Meeting of
+Citizens called without Result.--Meeting called in the Park.--Speeches.--
+Sacking of Hart & Co.'s Flour Store, in Washington Street.--Strange
+Spectacle.--National Guards called out.--Disperse the Mob.--Attack on
+Herrick's Flour Store.--Folly of the Riot.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ASTOR-PLACE RIOTS, 1849.
+
+Rivalry between Forrest and Macready.--Macready's Arrival in this
+Country.--The Announcement of his Appearance at the Astor-place Opera
+House, and Forrest at the Broadway Theatre the same Night posted Side by
+Side.--Bowery Boys crowd the Opera House.--Anxiety of the Managers.--
+Consultations and Dramatic Scenes behind the Curtain.--Stamping of the
+People.--Scene on raising the Curtain.--Stormy Reception of Macready.--
+Howled down.--Mrs. Pope driven from the Stage by the Outrageous Language
+of the Mob.--Macready not allowed to go on.--His foolish Anger.--Flees for
+his Life.--His Appearance the Second Night.--Preparations to put down the
+Mob.--Exciting Scene in the Theatre.--Terrific Scenes without.--Military
+arrive.--Attacked by the Mob.--Patience of the Troops.--Effort to avoid
+Firing.--The Order to Fire.--Terrific Scene.--Strange Conduct of Forrest.
+--Unpublished Anecdote of General Scott.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+POLICE RIOT--DEAD-RABBITS' RIOT--BREAD RIOT, 1857.
+
+Creation of the Metropolitan District.--Collision between Mayor Wood's
+Police and the Metropolitan Police.--Seventh Regiment called out.--Dead-
+Rabbits' Riot.--Severe Fight between the Roach Guards and Dead Rabbits.--
+Police driven back.--Barricades erected.--Military called out.--Killed and
+Wounded.--Bread Riot.--Financial Distress.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+DRAFT RIOTS OF 1863.
+
+Cause of the Riots.--The London _Times_.--Draft called a despotic
+Measure.--The despotic Power given to Washington by Congress.--Despotic
+Action sometimes Necessary, in order to save the Life of the Nation.--The
+Rights of Government.--Drafting he Legitimate Way to raise an Army--It is
+not Unequal or Oppressive.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Rights of Municipalities.--Interference of the Legislature with the City
+Government.--Conflict between the Governor and Police Commissioners.--A
+Wrong becomes a Practical Blessing.--Provost Marshals.--Riot not
+anticipated.--Bad time to commence the Draft.--Preparations of
+Superintendent Kennedy.--The Police System.--Attack on Provost Marshal
+Captain Erhardt.--Telegrams of the Police.--Kennedy starts on a Tour of
+Observation.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Commencement of the Mob.--Its Line of March.--Its immense Size.--Attacks a
+Provost-marshal's Office, in Third Avenue.--Set on Fire.--Terrible
+Struggle of Kennedy for his Life with the Mob.--Carried to Head-quarters
+unconscious.--Acton's Preparations.--The Telegraph System.--Mob cutting
+down Telegraph Poles.--Number of Despatches sent over the Wires during the
+Riot.--Superintendent of Telegraph Bureau seized and held Prisoner by the
+Mob.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Soldiers beaten by the Mob.--Gallant Fight of Sergeant McCredie.--Mob
+Triumphant.--Beat Police Officers unmercifully.--Fearful Scenes.--Fifty
+thousand People block Third Avenue.--A whole Block of Houses burning.--
+Attack on a Gun Factory.--Defeat of the Broadway Squad.--Houses sacked in
+Lexington Avenue.--Telegraph Dispatches.--Bull's Head Tavern burned.--
+Block on Broadway burned.--Burning of the Negroes' Orphan Asylum.--Attack
+on Mayor Opdyke's House.--A Crisis nobly met.--Gallant Fight and Victory
+of Sergeant Carpenter.--A thrilling Spectacle.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+No Military in the City.--The Mayor calls on General Wool, commanding
+Eastern Department, for Help.--Also on General Sandford.--General Wool
+sends to General Brown, commanding Garrison in the Harbor, for U. S.
+Troops.--Marines of the States appealed to for Troops.--General Brown
+assumes Command.--Attack of Mob on the _Tribune_ Building.--Its
+severe Punishment.--Government Buildings garrisoned.--Difficulty between
+Generals Brown and Wool.--Head-quarters.--Police Commissioners' Office
+Military Head-quarters.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Telegraph Bureau.--Its Work.--Skill and Daring and Success of its Force.--
+Interesting Incidents.--Hairbreadth Escapes.--Detective Force.--Its
+arduous Labors.--Its Disguises.--Shrewdness, Tact, and Courage.--Narrow
+Escapes.--Hawley, the Chief Clerk.--His exhausting Labors.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+DRAFT RIOT--SECOND DAY.
+
+Appearance of the City.--Assembling of the Mob.--Fight between Rioters and
+the Police and Soldiers.--Storming of Houses.--Rioters hurled from the
+Roofs.--Soldiers fire on the People.--Awful Death of Colonel O'Brien.--
+Fight in Pitt Street.--Deadly Conflict for a Wire Factory.--Horrible
+Impaling of a Man on an Iron Picket.--Mystery attached to him.--Second
+Attack on Mayor Opdyke's House.--Second Fight for the Wire Factory.--
+Telegraphic Dispatches.--Citizens Volunteering.--Raid on the Negroes.--
+They are hunted to Death.--Savage Spectacle.--Negroes seek Head-quarters
+of Police.--Appearance and State of the City.--Colonel Nugent's House
+sacked.--Fight with the Mob in Third Avenue.--Battle at Gibbon's House.--
+Policeman Shot.--Night Attack on Brooks and Brothers' Clothing Store.--
+Value of the Telegraph System.--Captain Petty.--Seymour's Speech to the
+Mob.--Cars and Stages seized.--Barricades.--Other Fights.--Acton and his
+Labors.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+DRAFT RIOT--THIRD DAY.
+
+Scenes in the City and at Head-quarters.--Fight in Eighth Avenue.--Cannon
+sweep the Streets.--Narrow Escape of Captain Howell and Colonel Mott.--
+Battle for Jackson's Foundry.--Howitzers clear the Street.--State of
+Things shown by Telegraph Dispatches.--General Sandford sends out a Force
+against a Mob, at Corner of Twenty-ninth Street and Seventh Avenue.--
+Colonel Gardin's Fight with the Mob.--Is Wounded.--Mob Victorious.--Dead
+and Wounded Soldiers left in the Street.--Captain Putnam sent to bring
+them away.--Disperses the Mob.--Terrific Night.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+DRAFT RIOT--FOURTH DAY.
+
+Proclamations by the Governor and Mayor.--City districted.--Appearance of
+the East Side of the City.--A small Squad of Soldiers chased into a
+Foundry by the Mob.--Fierce Fight between the Mob and Military in Twenty-
+ninth Street.--Soldiers driven from the Ground, leaving a dead Sergeant
+behind.--Captain Putnam sent to bring the Body away.--Mows down the
+Rioters with Canister.--Storms the Houses.--Utter Rout of the Mob.--
+Colored Orphans and Negroes taken by Police to Blackwell's Island.--
+Touching Scene.--Coming on of Night and a Thunder-storm.--Returning
+Regiments.--Increased Force in the City to put down Violence.--Archbishop
+Hughes offers to address the Irish.--Curious Account of an Interview of a
+Lady with him and Governor Seymour.--Strange Conduct of the Prelate.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+CLOSING SCENES.
+
+Tranquil Morning.--Proclamation of the Mayor.--Mob cowed.--Plunderers
+afraid of Detection.--Dirty Cellars crowded with rich Apparel, Furniture,
+and Works of Art.--Archbishop Hughes' Address.--Useless Efforts.--Acton's
+Forty-eight Hours without Sleep over.--Change in Military Commanders in
+the City.--General Brown relinquishes his Command.--True Words.--Noble
+Character and Behavior of the Troops and Police.--General Brown's
+invaluable Services.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Continued Tranquillity.--Strange Assortment of Plunder gathered in the
+Cellars and Shanties of the Rioters.--Search for it exasperates the
+Irish.--Noble Conduct of the Sanitary Police.--Sergeant Copeland.--
+Prisoners tried.--Damages claimed from the City.--Number of Police
+killed.--Twelve hundred Rioters killed.--The Riot Relief Fund.--List of
+Colored People killed.--Generals Wool and Sandford's Reports.--Their
+Truthfulness denied.--General Brown vindicated.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+ORANGE RIOTS OF 1870 AND 1871.
+
+Religious Toleration.--Irish Feuds.--Battle of Boyne Water.--Orangemen.--
+Origin and Object of the Society.--A Picnic at Elm Park.--Attacked by the
+Ribbonmen.--The Fight. After Scenes.--Riot of 1871.--Conspiracy of the
+Irish Catholics to prevent a Parade of Orangemen.--Forbidden by the City
+Authorities.--Indignation of the People.--Meeting in the Produce
+Exchange.--Governor Hoffman's Proclamation.--Morning of the 12th.--The
+Orangemen at Lamartine Hall.--Attack on the Armories.--The Harpers
+threatened.--Exciting Scenes around Lamartine Hall and at Police Head-
+quarters.--Hibernia Hall cleared.--Attack on an Armory.--Formation of the
+Procession.--Its March.--Attacked.--Firing of the Military without
+Orders.--Terrific Scene.--The Hospitals and Morgue.--Night Scenes.--Number
+of killed and wounded.--The Lesson.
+
+
+THE GREAT RIOTS OF NEW YORK CITY.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Character of a City illustrated by Riots.--New Material for History of
+Draft Riots.--History of the Rebellion incomplete without History of
+them.--The Fate of the Nation resting on the Issues of the Struggle in New
+York City.--The best Plan to adopt for Protection against Mobs.
+
+The history of the riots that have taken place in a great city from its
+foundation, is a curious and unique one, and illustrates the peculiar
+changes in tone and temper that have come over it in the course of its
+development and growth. They exhibit also one phase of its moral
+character--furnish a sort of moral history of that vast, ignorant,
+turbulent class which is one of the distinguishing features of a great
+city, and at the same time the chief cause of its solicitude and anxiety,
+and often of dread.
+
+The immediate cause, however, of my taking up the subject, was a request
+from some of the chief actors in putting down the Draft Riots of 1863, to
+write a history of them. It was argued that it had never been written,
+except in a detached and fragmentary way in the daily press, which, from
+the hurried manner in which it was done, was necessarily incomplete, and
+more or less erroneous.
+
+It was also said, and truly, that those who, by their courage and energy,
+saved the city, and who now would aid me not only officially, but by their
+personal recollections and private memoranda, would soon pass away, and
+thus valuable material be lost.
+
+Besides these valid reasons, it was asserted that the history of the
+rebellion was not complete without it, and yet no historian of that most
+important event in our national life had given the riots the prominence
+they deserved, but simply referred to them as a side issue, instead of
+having a vital bearing on the fate of the war and the nation. On no single
+battle or campaign did the destiny of the country hinge as upon that
+short, sharp campaign carried on by General Brown and the Police
+Commissioners against the rioters in the streets of New York, in the
+second week of July, 1863. Losses and defeats in the field could be and
+were repaired, but defeat in New York would in all probability have ended
+the war. It is not necessary to refer to the immediate direct effects of
+such a disaster on the army in the field, although it is scarcely possible
+to over-estimate the calamitous results that would have followed the
+instantaneous stoppage, even for a short time, of the vast accumulations
+of provisions, ammunition, and supplies of all kinds, that were on their
+way to the army through New York. Nor is it necessary to speculate on the
+effect of the diversion of troops from the front that such an event would
+have compelled, in order to recover so vital a point. Washington had
+better be uncovered than New York be lost. One thing only is needed to
+show how complete and irreparable the disaster would have been; namely,
+the effect it would have had on the finances of the country. With the
+great banking-houses and moneyed institutions of New York sacked and
+destroyed, the financial credit of the country would have broken down
+utterly. The crash of falling houses all over the country that would have
+followed financial disaster here, would have been like that of falling
+trees in a forest swept by a hurricane. Had the rioters got complete
+possession of the city but for a single day, their first dash would have
+been for the treasures piled up in its moneyed institutions. Once in
+possession of these, they, like the mobs of Paris, would have fired the
+city before yielding them up. In the crisis that was then upon us, it
+would not have required a long stoppage in this financial centre of the
+country to have effected a second revolution. With no credit abroad and no
+money at home, the Government would have been completely paralyzed. Not
+long possession of the city was needed, but only swift destruction.
+
+Doubtless the disastrous effects would have been increased tenfold, if
+possible, by uprisings in other cities, which events showed were to
+follow. Even partial success developed hostile elements slumbering in
+various parts of the country, and running from Boston almost to the
+extreme West.
+
+In this view of the case, these riots assume a magnitude and importance
+that one cannot contemplate without a feeling of terror, and the truth of
+history requires that their proper place should be assigned them, and
+those who put them down have an honorable position beside our successful
+commanders and brave soldiers. It is also important, as a lesson for the
+future, and naturally brings up the question, what are the best measures,
+and what is the best policy for the city of New York to adopt, in order to
+protect itself from that which to-day constitutes its greatest danger--
+_mob violence?_ If it ever falls in ruins, the work of destruction
+will commence and end within its own limits. We have a police and city
+military which have been thought to be sufficient, but experience has
+shown that though this provision may be ample to restore law and order in
+the end, it works slowly, often unwisely, and always with an unnecessary
+expenditure of life. In conversing with those of largest experience and
+intelligence in the police department on this subject of such great and
+growing importance, we are convinced, from their statements and views, a
+vast improvement in this matter can be made, while the cost to the city,
+instead of being increased, will be lessened; that is, a cheaper, wiser,
+and more effectual plan than the present one can be adopted. Of course
+this does not refer to mere local disturbances, which the police force in
+the ordinary discharge of its duties can quell, but to those great
+outbreaks which make it necessary to call out the military. Not that there
+might not be exigencies in which it would be necessary to resort, not only
+to the military of the city, but to invoke the aid of neighboring States;
+for a riot may assume the proportions of a revolution, but for such no
+local permanent remedy can be furnished.
+
+The objections to relying on the military, as we invariably do in case of
+a large mob, are many. In the first place, it takes the best part of a day
+to get the troops together, so that a mob, so far as they are concerned,
+has time not only to waste and destroy for many hours, but increase in
+strength and audacity. The members of the various regiments are scattered
+all over the city, engaged in different occupations and employments, and
+without previous notice being given, it is a long and tedious process to
+get them to their respective headquarters and in uniform. This wastes much
+and most valuable time. Besides, they are compelled to reach the mustering
+place singly or in small groups, and hence liable to be cut off or driven
+back by the mob, which in most cases would know the place of rendezvous.
+
+In the second place, the members are taken out from the mass of the
+people, between whom there might be a strong sympathy in some particular
+outbreak, which would impair their efficiency, and make them hesitate to
+shoot down their friends and acquaintances.
+
+In the third place, in ordinary peace times, these uniformed regiments are
+not the steadiest or most reliable troops, as was witnessed in the riots
+of 1863, as well as in those of the Astor Place in 1849.
+
+They hesitate, or are apt to become hasty or disorganized in a close,
+confused fight, and driven back. In the commencement of a riot, a defeat
+of the military gives increased confidence, and indeed, power to a mob,
+and snakes the sacrifice of life, in the end, far greater.
+
+In the fourth place, clearing the streets does not always dissipate a mob.
+A whole block of houses may become a fortress, which it is necessary to
+storm before a permanent victory is gained. Half-disciplined men,
+unaccustomed, and unskilled to such work, make poor headway with their
+muskets through narrow halls, up stairways, and through scuttle-holes.
+
+In the fifth place, the military of the city cannot be called away from
+their work for two or three days, to parade the city, without a heavy
+expense, and hence the process is a costly one.
+
+In the last place, the firing of these troops at the best is not very
+judicious, and cannot be discriminating, so that those are shot down often
+least culpable, and of least influence in the mob--in fact, more lives
+usually are taken than is necessary.
+
+The simplest, most efficient, and most economical plan would be to select
+five hundred or more of the most courageous, experienced, and efficient
+men from the police department, and form them into a separate battalion,
+and have them drilled in such evolutions, manoeuvres, and modes of attack
+or defence, as would belong to the work they were set apart to do. A
+battery might be given them in case of certain emergencies, and a portion
+carefully trained in its use. At a certain signal of the bell, they should
+be required to hasten, without a moment's delay, to their head-quarters. A
+mob could hardly be gathered and commence work before this solid body of
+disciplined, reliable men would be upon them. These five hundred men would
+scatter five thousand rioters like chaff before them. It would be more
+efficient than two entire regiments, even if assembled, and would be worth
+more than the whole military of the city for the first half day.
+
+Besides, clubs are better than guns. They take no time to load--they are
+never discharged like muskets, leaving their owners for the time at the
+mercy of the mob. Their volleys are incessant and perpetual, given as long
+and fast as strong arms can strike. They are also more discriminating than
+bullets, hitting the guilty ones first. Moreover, they disable rather than
+kill--which is just as effectual, and far more desirable. In addition to
+all this, being trained to one purpose, instructed to one duty, a mob
+would be their natural enemies, and hence sympathy with them in any cause
+almost impossible.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+THE NEGRO RIOTS OF 1712-1741.
+
+Almost impossible for the present Generation to comprehend its true
+Character and Effect on the People.--Description of New York at that
+Time.--The Negro Slaves.--The Negro Riot of 1712.--Description of it.--The
+Winter of 1741.--Governor's House burned down.--Other Fires.--Suspicion of
+the People.--Arrest and Imprisonment of the Blacks.--Reward offered for
+the supposed Conspirators.--Alarm and Flight of the Inhabitants.--
+Examination and Confession of Mary Burton.--Peggy, the Newfoundland
+Beauty, and the Hughson Family.--The Conspiracy.--Executions.--Fast.--
+Hughson's Hearing.--Hung in Chains.--The Body, and that of a Negro, left
+to swing and rot in the Air.--Strange Change in the Appearances of the
+Bodies.--The People throng to look at them.--Negroes burned at the Stake.
+--Terrific Spectacle.--Bloody Summer.--Execution of a Catholic Priest.--
+Strange Scenes.--Upper Classes accused.--Executions stopped.--Reason of
+the Panic.
+
+Probably no event of comparatively modern times--certainly none in our
+history--has occurred so extraordinary in some of its phases, as the negro
+riot of 1741. We cannot fully appreciate it, not merely because of the
+incompleteness of some of its details, nor from the lapse of time, but
+because of our inability to place ourselves in the position or state of
+mind of the inhabitants of New York City at that period. We can no more
+throw ourselves into the social condition, and feel the influences of that
+time, than we can conceive the outward physical appearance of the embryo
+metropolis. It is impossible to stand amid the whirl and uproar of New
+York to-day, and imagine men ploughing, and sowing grain, and carting hay
+into barns, where the City Hall now stands. The conception of nearly all
+the city lying below the Park, above it farms to Canal Street, beyond that
+clearings where men are burning brush and logs to clear away the fallow,
+and still farther on, towards Central Park, an unbroken wilderness, is so
+dim and shadowy, that we can hardly fix its outlines. Yet it was so in
+1741. Where now stands the Tombs, and cluster the crowded tenements of
+Five Points, was a pond or lakelet, nearly two miles in circumference and
+fifty feet deep, and encircled by a dense forest. Its deep, sluggish
+outlet into the Hudson is now Canal Street. In wet weather there was
+another water communication with the East River, near Peck Slip, cutting
+off the lower part of the island, leaving another island, containing some
+eight hundred acres. Through Broad Street, along which now rolls each day
+the stream of business, and swells the tumult of the Brokers' Board, then
+swept a deep stream, up which boatmen rowed their boats to sell oysters.
+The water that supplied these streams and ponds is now carried off through
+immense sewers, deep under ground, over which the unconscious population
+tread. Where Front and Water Streets on the east side, and West Greenwich
+and Washington on the west side, now stretch, were then the East and
+Hudson Rivers, having smooth and pebbly beaches. There was not a single
+sidewalk in all the city, and only some half dozen paved streets. On the
+Battery stood the fort, in which were the Governor's and secretary's
+houses, and over which floated the British flag.
+
+But all this outward appearance is no more unlike the New York of to-day
+than its internal condition.
+
+The population numbered only about ten thousand, one-fifth of which was
+negroes, who were slaves. Their education being wholly neglected, they
+were ignorant and debased, and addicted to almost every vice. They were,
+besides, restive under their bondage amid the severe punishments often
+inflicted on them, which caused their masters a great deal of anxiety. Not
+isolated as an inland plantation, but packed in a narrow space, they had
+easy communication with each other, and worse than all, with the reckless
+and depraved crews of the vessels that came into port. It is true, the
+most stringent measures were adopted to prevent them from assembling
+together; yet, in spite of every precaution, there would now and then come
+to light some plan or project that would fill the whites with alarm. They
+felt half the time as though walking on the crust of a volcano, and hence
+were in a state of mind to exaggerate every danger, and give credit to
+every sinister rumor.
+
+The experience of the past, as well as the present state of feeling among
+the slaves, justified this anxiety and dread; for only thirty years before
+occurred just such an outbreak as they now feared. On the 7th of April, in
+1712, between one and two o'clock in the morning, the house of Peter Van
+Tilburgh was set on fire by negroes, which was evidently meant as a signal
+for a general revolt.
+
+The cry of fire roused the neighboring inhabitants, and they rushed out
+through the unpaved muddy streets, toward the blazing building. As they
+approached it, they saw, to their amazement, in the red light of the
+flames, a band of negroes standing in front, armed with guns and long
+knives. Before the whites could hardly comprehend what the strange
+apparition meant, the negroes fired, and then rushed on them with their
+knives, killing several on the spot. The rest, leaving the building to the
+mercy of the flames, ran to the fort on the Battery, and roused the
+Governor. Springing from his bed, he rushed out and ordered a cannon to be
+fired from the ramparts to alarm the town. As the heavy report boomed over
+the bay and shook the buildings of the town, the inhabitants leaped from
+their beds, and looking out of the windows, saw the sky lurid with flames.
+Their dread and uncertainty were increased, when they heard the heavy
+splash of soldiers through the mud, and the next moment saw their bayonets
+gleam out of the gloom, as they hurried forward towards the fire. In the
+meantime, other negroes had rushed to the spot, so that soon there were
+assembled, in proportion to the white population, what in the present
+population of the city would be fully 10,000 negroes.
+
+The rioters stood firm till they saw the bayonets flashing in the fire-
+light, and then, giving one volley, fled into the darkness northward,
+towards what is now Wall Street. The scattered inhabitants they met, who,
+roused by the cannon, were hastening to the fire, they attacked with their
+knives, killing and wounding several. The soldiers, firing at random into
+the darkness, followed after them, accompanied by a crowd of people. The
+negroes made for the woods and swamps near where the Park now stands, and
+disappearing in the heavy shadows of the forest, were lost to view.
+Knowing it would be vain to follow them into the thickets, the soldiers
+and inhabitants surrounded them and kept watch till morning. Many, of
+course, got off and buried themselves in the deeper, more extensive woods
+near Canal Street, but many others were taken prisoners. Some, finding
+themselves closely pressed and all avenues of escape cut off, deliberately
+shot themselves, preferring such a death to the one they knew awaited
+them. How many were killed and captured during the morning, the historian
+does not tell us. We can only infer that the number must have been great,
+from the statement he incidentally makes, that "during the day _nineteen
+more were_ taken, tried, and executed--some that turned State's
+evidence were transported." "Eight or ten whites had been murdered," and
+many more wounded.
+
+It was a terrible event, and remembered by the present inhabitants with
+horror and dismay. To the little handful occupying the point of the
+island, it was a tragedy as great as a riot in New York to-day would be,
+in which was a loss of 5,000 or more on each side.
+
+Many middle-aged men, in 1741, were young men at that time, and remembered
+the fearful excitement that prevailed, and it was a common topic of
+conversation.
+
+The state of things, therefore, which we have described, was natural. This
+was rendered worse by the arrival, in the winter of 1741, of a Spanish
+vessel, which had been captured as a prize, the crew of which was composed
+in part of negroes, who were sold at auction as slaves. These became very
+intractable, and in spite of the floggings they received, uttered threats
+that they knew would reach their masters' ears. Still, no evidence of any
+general plot against the inhabitants was suspected, and things were moving
+on in their usual way, when, on the 18th of March, a wild and blustering
+day, the Governor's house in the fort was discovered to be on fire. Fanned
+by a fierce south-east wind, the flames spread to the King's chapel, the
+secretary's house, barracks, and stables; and in spite of all efforts to
+save them, were totally consumed. The origin of the fire was supposed to
+be accidental, but a few days after, Captain Warren's house, near the
+fort, was found to be on fire. Two or three days later, the storehouse of
+Mr. Van Zandt was discovered on fire. Still, no general suspicions were
+aroused. Three more days passed, when a cow-stall was reported on fire,
+and a few hours later, the house of Mr. Thompson; the fire in the latter
+case originating in the room where a negro slave slept. The very next day,
+live coals were discovered under the stable of John Murray, on Broadway.
+This, evidently, was no accident, but the result of design, and the people
+began to be alarmed. The day following, the house of a sergeant near the
+fort was seen to be on fire, and soon after, flames arose from the roof of
+a dwelling near the Fly Market. The rumor now spread like wildfire through
+the town that it was the work of incendiaries. It seems to us a small
+foundation to base such a belief on, but it must be remembered that the
+public mind was in a state to believe almost anything.
+
+The alarm was increased by the statement of Mrs. Earle, who said that on
+Sunday, as she was looking out of her window, she saw three negroes
+swaggering up Broadway, engaged in earnest conversation. Suddenly she
+heard one of them exclaim, "Fire! fire! Scorch! scorch! a little d--n by
+and by!" and then throwing up his hands, laughed heartily. Coupled with
+the numerous fires that had occurred, and the rumors afloat, it at once
+excited her suspicions that this conversation had something to do with a
+plot to burn the city. She therefore immediately reported it to an
+alderman, and he, next day, to the justices.
+
+Although the number of buildings thus mysteriously set on fire was, in
+reality, small, yet it was as great in proportion to the town then, as
+three hundred would be in New York to-day. Less than that number, we
+imagine, would create a panic in the city, especially if the public mind
+was in a feverish state, as, for instance, during the recent civil war.
+
+Some thought the Spanish negroes had set the buildings on fire from
+revenge, especially as those of the Government were the first to suffer.
+Others declared that it was a plot of the entire negro population to burn
+down the city. This belief was strengthened by the fact that, in one of
+the last fires, a slave of one of the most prominent citizens was seen to
+leap from the window, and make off over garden fences. A shout was
+immediately raised by the spectators, and a pursuit commenced. The
+terrified fugitive made desperate efforts to escape, but being overtaken,
+he was seized, and, pale as death, lifted on men's shoulders and carried
+to jail.
+
+Added to all this, men now remembered it lacked but a few days of being
+the anniversary of the bloody riot of thirty years ago. They began to
+watch and question the negroes, and one of the Spanish sailors, on being
+interrogated, gave such unsatisfactory, suspicious answers, that the whole
+crew were arrested, and thrown into prison. But that same afternoon, while
+the magistrates, whom the alarming state of things had called together,
+were in consultation about it, the cry of "Fire!" again startled the
+entire community. The ringing of the alarm-bell had now become almost as
+terrifying as the sound of the last trumpet, and the panic became general.
+The first step was to ascertain if there were any strangers in town who
+might be concealed enemies, and a thorough search was made--the militia
+being ordered out, and sentries posted at the ends of all the streets,
+with orders to stop all persons carrying bags and bundles. This was done
+on the 13th of April. None being found, the conclusion became inevitable
+that some dark, mysterious plot lay at the bottom of it all, and the
+inhabitants thought the city was doomed, like Sodom. First, the more
+timorous packed up their valuable articles and fled into the country, up
+toward Canal Street. This increased the panic, which swelled until almost
+the entire population were seen hurrying through the streets, fleeing for
+their lives. The announcement of an approaching army would not have
+created a greater stampede. Every cart and vehicle that could be found was
+engaged at any price, into which whole families were piled, and hurried
+away to the farms beyond Chambers Street, in the neighborhood of Canal
+Street. It was a strange spectacle, and the farmers could hardly believe
+their senses, at this sudden inundation into their quiet houses of the
+people of the city. The town authorities were also swept away in the
+general excitement, and negroes of all ages and sexes were arrested by the
+wholesale, and hurried to prison. The Supreme Court was to sit in the
+latter part of April, and the interval of a few days was spent in efforts
+to get at the guilty parties. But nothing definite could be ascertained,
+as the conspirators, whoever they were, kept their own secret. At length,
+despairing of getting at the truth in any other way, the authorities
+offered a reward of a hundred pounds, and a full pardon to any one who
+would turn State's evidence, and reveal the names of the ringleaders. This
+was pretty sure to bring out the facts, if there were any to disclose, and
+almost equally sure to obtain a fabricated story, if there was nothing to
+tell. A poor, ignorant slave, shaking with terror in his cell, would
+hardly be proof against such an inducement as a free pardon, and to him or
+her an almost fabulous sum of money, if he had anything to reveal, while
+the temptation to invent a tale that would secure both liberty and money
+was equally strong.
+
+On the 21st of April the court met, Judges Philips and Horsmander
+presiding. A jury was impanelled, but although there was no lack of
+prisoners, there was almost a total want of evidence sufficient to put a
+single man on trial. The reward offered had not borne its legitimate
+fruits, and no one offered to make any revelations.
+
+Among the first brought up for examination was Mary Burton, a colored
+servant girl, belonging to John Hughson, the keeper of a low, dirty negro
+tavern over on the west side of the city, near the Hudson River. This was
+a place of rendezvous for the worst negroes of the town; and from some
+hints that Mary had dropped, it was suspected it had been the head-
+quarters of the conspirators. But when, brought before the Grand Jury, she
+refused to be sworn. They entreated her to take the oath and tell the
+whole truth, but she only shook her head. They then threatened her, but
+with no better success; they promised she should be protected from danger
+and shielded from prosecution, but she still maintained an obstinate
+silence. They then showed her the reward, and attempted to bribe her with
+the wealth in store for her, but she almost spat on it in her scorn. This
+poor negro slave showed an independence and stubbornness in the presence
+of the jury that astonished them. Finding all their efforts vain, they
+ordered her to be sent to jail. This terrified her, and she consented to
+be sworn. But after taking the oath, she refused to say anything about the
+fire. A theft had been traced to Hughson, and she told all she knew about
+that, but about the fires would neither deny nor affirm anything. They
+then appealed to her conscience painted before her the terrors of the
+final judgment, and the torments of hell, till at last she broke down, and
+proposed to make a clean breast of it. She commenced by saying that
+Hughson had threatened to take her life if she told, and then again
+hesitated. But at length, by persistent efforts, the following facts were
+wrenched from her by piecemeal. She said that three negroes--giving their
+names--had been in the habit of meeting at the tavern, and talking about
+burning of the fort and city and murdering the people, and that Hughson
+and his wife had promised to help them; after which Hughson was to be
+governor and Cuff Phillipse king. That the first part of the story was
+true, there is little doubt. How much, with the imagination and love of
+the marvellous peculiar to her race, she added to it, it is not easy to
+say. She said, moreover, that but one white person beside her master and
+mistress was in the conspiracy, and that was an Irish girl known as Peggy,
+"the Newfoundland Beauty." She had several _aliases_, and was an
+abandoned character, being a prostitute to the negroes, and at this time
+kept as a mistress by a bold, desperate negro named Caesar. This
+revelation of Mary's fell on the Grand Jury like a bombshell. The long-
+sought secret they now felt was out. They immediately informed the
+magistrates. Of course the greatest excitement followed. Peggy was next
+examined, but she denied Mary Burton's story _in toto_--swore that
+she knew nothing of any conspiracy or of the burning of the stores; that
+if she should accuse any one it would be a lie, and blacken her own soul.
+
+It is rather a severe reflection on the courts of justice of that period,
+or we might rather say, perhaps, a striking illustration of the madness
+that had seized on all, that although the law strictly forbade any slave
+to testify in a court of justice against a white person, yet this girl
+Mary Burton was not only allowed to appear as evidence against Peggy, but
+her oath was permitted to outweigh hers, and cause her to be sentenced to
+death. The latter, though an abandoned, desperate character, was seized
+with terror at the near approach of death, and begged to be allowed
+another examination, which was granted, and she professed to make a full
+confession. It is a little singular that while she corroborated Mary
+Burton's statement as to the existence of a conspiracy, she located the
+seat of it not in Hughson's tavern, but in a miserable shanty near the
+Battery, kept by John Romme, who, she said, had promised to carry them all
+to a new country, and give them their liberty, if they would murder the
+whites and bring him the plunder. Like Mary Burton's confession, if
+truthful at all, it evidently had a large mixture of falsehood in it.
+
+On Saturday, May 9th, Peggy was again brought in, and underwent a
+searching examination. Some of her statements seemed improbable, and they
+therefore tested them in every possible way. It lasted for several hours,
+and resulted in a long _detailed_ confession, in which she asserted,
+among other things, that it was the same plot that failed in 1712, when
+the negroes designed to kill all the whites, in fact, exterminate them
+from the island. She implicated a great many negroes in the conspiracy;
+and every one that she accused, as they were brought before her, she
+identified as being present at the meetings of the conspirators in Romme's
+house. The court seemed anxious to avoid any collusion between the
+prisoners, and therefore kept them apart, so that each story should rest
+on its own basis. By this course they thought they would be able to
+distinguish what was true and what was false.
+
+Either from conscious guilt, or from having got some inkling of the charge
+to be brought against him, Romme fled before he could be arrested. His
+wife, however, and the negroes whose names Peggy gave, were sent to jail.
+
+On the 11th of May, or twenty days after the court convened, the
+executions commenced. On this day, Caesar and Prince, two of the three
+negroes Mary Burton testified against, were hung, though not for the
+conspiracy, but for theft. They were abandoned men, and died recklessly.
+Peggy and Hughson and his wife were next condemned. The former, finding
+that her confession did not, as had been promised, secure her pardon,
+retracted all she had said, and exculpated entirely the parties whose
+arrest she had caused.
+
+An atmosphere of gloom now rested over the city; every face showed signs
+of dread. In this state of feeling the Lieutenant-governor issued a
+proclamation, appointing a day of fasting and humiliation, not only in
+view of this calamity, but on account also of the want and loss caused by
+the past severe winter, and the declaration of war by England against
+Spain. When the day arrived, every shop was closed and business of all
+kinds suspended, and the silence and repose of the Sabbath rested on the
+entire community. Without regard to sect, all repaired to the places of
+worship, where the services were performed amid the deepest solemnity.
+
+The day of execution appointed for Hughson, his wife, and Peggy was a
+solemn one, and almost the entire population turned out to witness it. The
+former had declared that some extraordinary appearance would take place at
+his execution, and every one gazed on him as he passed in a cart from the
+prison to the gallows. He was a tall, powerful man, being six feet high.
+He stood erect in the cart all the way, his piercing eye fixed steadily on
+the distance, and his right hand raised high as his fetters would permit,
+and beckoning as though he saw help coming from afar. His face was usually
+pale and colorless, but to-day it was noticed that two bright red spots
+burned on either cheek, which added to the mystery with which the
+superstitious spectators invested him. When the sad procession arrived at
+the place of execution, the prisoners were helped to the ground, and stood
+exposed to the gaze of the crowd. Hughson was firm and self-possessed; but
+Peggy, pale, and weeping, and terror-struck, begging for life; while the
+wife, with the rope round her neck, leaned against a tree, silent and
+composed, but colorless as marble. One after another they were launched
+into eternity, and the crowd, solemn and thoughtful, turned their steps
+homeward.
+
+Hughson was hung in chains; and in a few days a negro was placed beside
+him, and here they swung, "blind and blackening," in the April air, in
+full view of the tranquil bay, a ghastly spectacle to the fishermen as
+they plied their vocation near by. For three weeks they dangled here in
+sunshine and storm, a terror to the passers-by. At length a rumor passed
+through the town that Hughson had turned into a negro, and the negro into
+a white man. This was a new mystery, and day after day crowds would come
+and gaze on the strange transformation, some thinking it supernatural, and
+others trying to give an explanation. Hughson had threatened to take
+poison, and it was thought by many that he had, and it was the effect of
+this that had wrought the change in his appearance. For ten days the
+Battery was thronged with spectators, gazing on these bloated, decomposing
+bodies, many in their superstitious fears expecting some new
+transformation. Under the increasing heat of the sun, they soon began to
+drip, till at last the body of Hughson burst asunder, filling the air with
+such an intolerable stench that the fishermen shunned the locality.
+
+As simple hanging was soon thought not sufficient punishment, and they
+were left to swing, and slowly rot in chains, so this last was at length
+thought to be too lenient, and the convicts were condemned to be burned at
+the stake. Two negroes, named Quack and Cuffee, were the first doomed to
+this horrible death. The announcement of this sentence created the
+greatest excitement. It was a new thing to the colonists, this mode of
+torture being appropriated by the savages for prisoners taken in war.
+Curious crowds gathered to see the stake erected, or stare at the loads of
+wood as they passed along the street, and were unloaded at its base. It
+was a strange spectacle to behold--the workmen carefully piling up the
+fagots under the spring sun; the spectators looking on, some horrified,
+and others fierce as savages; and over all the blue sky bending, while the
+gentle wind stole up from the bay and whispered in the tree-tops overhead.
+On the day of execution an immense crowd assembled. The two negroes were
+brought forward, pale and terrified, and bound to the stake. As the men
+approached with the fire to kindle the pile, they shrieked out in terror,
+confessed the conspiracy, and promised, if released, to tell all about it.
+They were at once taken down. This was the signal for an outbreak, and
+shouts of "burn 'em, burn 'em" burst from the multitude. Mr. Moore then
+asked the sheriff to delay execution till he could see the Governor and
+get a reprieve. He hurried off, and soon returned with a conditional one.
+But, as he met the sheriff on the common, the latter told him that it
+would be impossible to take the criminals through the crowd without a
+strong guard, and before that could arrive, they would be murdered by the
+exasperated populace. They were then tied up again, and the torch applied.
+The flames arose around the unhappy victims. The curling smoke soon hid
+their dusky forms from view, while their shrieks and cries for mercy grew
+fainter and fainter, as the fierce fire shrivelled up their forms, till at
+last nothing but the crackling of the flames was heard, and the shouting,
+savage crowd grew still. As the fire subsided, the two wretched creatures,
+crisped to a cinder, remained to tell, for the hundredth time, to what
+barbarous deeds terror and passion may lead men.
+
+Some of the negroes went laughing to the place of execution, indulging in
+all sorts of buffoonery to the last, and mocking the crowd which
+surrounded them.
+
+All protested their innocence to the last, and if they had confessed
+previously, retracted before death their statements and accusations. But
+this contradiction of themselves, to-morrow denying what to-day they had
+solemnly sworn on the Bible to be true, instead of causing the authorities
+to hesitate, and consider how much terror and the hope of pardon had to do
+with it, convinced them still more of the strength and dangerous nature of
+the conspiracy, and they went to work with a determination and
+recklessness which made that summer the bloodiest and most terrific in the
+annals of New York. No lawyer was found bold enough to step forward and
+defend these poor wretches, but all volunteered their services to aid the
+Government in bringing them to punishment. The weeks now, as they rolled
+on, were freighted with terror and death, and stamped with scenes that
+made the blood run cold. This little town, on the southern part of
+Manhattan Island was wholly given to panic, and a nameless dread of some
+mysterious, awful fate, extended even to the scattered farm-houses near
+Canal Street. Between this and the last of August, a hundred and fifty-
+four negroes, exclusive of whites, were thrown into prison, till every
+cell was crowded and packed to suffocation with them. For three months,
+sentence of condemnation was on an average of one a day. The last
+execution was that of a Catholic priest, or rather of a schoolmaster of
+the city, who was charged with being one. Mary Burton, after an interval
+of three months, pretended to remember that he was present with the other
+conspirators she had first named as being in Hughson's tavern.
+
+His trial was long, and apparently without excitement. He conducted his
+own case with great ability, and brought many witnesses to prove his good
+character and orderly conduct; but he, of course, could not disprove the
+assertion of Mary, that she had some time or other seen him with the
+conspirators at Hughson's tavern--for the latter, with his wife and Peggy,
+and the negroes she had before named, had all been executed. Mary Burton
+alone was left, and her evidence being credited, no amount of testimony
+could avail him.
+
+Although the proceedings were all dignified and solemn, as became an
+English court, yet the course the trial took showed how utterly unbalanced
+and one-sided it had become. To add weight to Mary's evidence, many
+witnesses were examined to prove that Ury, though a schoolmaster, had
+performed the duties of a Catholic priest, as though this were an
+important point to establish. The attorney-general, in opening the case,
+drew a horrible picture of former persecutions by the Papists, and their
+cruelties to the Protestants, until it was apparent that all that the jury
+needed to indorse a verdict of guilty was evidence that he was a Catholic
+priest. Still it would be unfair to attribute this feeling wholly to
+religious intolerance or the spirit of persecution. England was at this
+time at war with Spain, and a report was circulated that the Spanish
+priests in Florida had formed a conspiracy to murder the English
+colonists. A letter from Ogilthorpe, in Georgia, confirmed this. Ury, who
+was an educated Englishman, but had led an adventurous life in different
+countries, could not disprove this, and he was convicted and sentenced to
+be hung. He met his fate with great composure and dignity, asserting his
+innocence to the last. He made the eighteenth victim hung, while thirteen
+had been burned at the stake, and seventy-one transported to various
+countries.
+
+At the average rate of two every week, one hanged and one burned alive,
+they were hurried into eternity amid prayers, and imprecations, and
+shrieks of agony. The hauling of wood to the stake, and the preparation of
+the gallows, kept the inhabitants in a state bordering on insanity.
+Business was suspended, and every face wore a terrified look. The voice of
+pity as well as justice was hushed, and one desire, that of swift
+vengeance, filled every heart. Had the press of to-day, with its system of
+interviewing, and minuteness of detail and description, existed then,
+there would have been handed down to us a chapter in human history that
+could be paralleled only in the dark ages.
+
+A swift massacre, a terrible slaughter, comes and goes like an earthquake
+or a tornado, and stuns rather than debases; but this long, steady
+succession of horrible executions and frightful scenes changed the very
+nature of the inhabitants, and they became a prey to a spirit demoniacal
+rather than human. The prayers and tears of those led forth to the stake,
+their heartrending cries as they were bound to it, and their shrieks of
+agony that were wafted out over the still waters of the bay, fell on hard
+and pitiless hearts. The ashes of the wood that consumed one victim would
+hardly grow cold before a new fire was kindled upon them, and the charred
+and blackened posts stood month after month, hideous monuments of what man
+may become when judgment and reason are surrendered to fear and passion.
+The spectacle was made still more revolting by the gallows standing near
+the stake, on which many were hung in chains, and their bodies left to
+swing, blacken, and rot in the summer air, a ghastly, horrible sight.
+
+Where this madness, that had swept away court, bar, and people together,
+would have ended, it is impossible to say, had not a new terror seized the
+inhabitants. Mary Burton, on whose accusation the first victims had been
+arrested and executed, finding herself a heroine, sought new fields in
+which to win notoriety. She ceased to implicate the blacks, and turned her
+attention to the whites, and twenty-four were arrested and thrown into
+prison. Elated with her success, she began to ascend in the social scale,
+and criminated some persons of the highest social standing in the city,
+whose characters were above suspicion. This was turning the tables on them
+in a manner the upper class did not expect, and they began to reflect what
+the end might be. The testimony that was sufficient to condemn the slaves
+was equally conclusive against them. The stake and the gallows which the
+court had erected for the black man, it could not pull down because a
+white gentleman stood under their shadow.
+
+Robespierre and his friends cut off the upper-crust of society without
+hesitation or remorse; but unfortunately the crust next below this became
+in turn the upper-crust, which also had to be removed, until at last they
+themselves were reached, when they paused. They had advanced up to their
+necks in the bloody tide of revolution, and finding that to proceed
+farther would take them overhead, they attempted to wade back to shore. So
+here, so long as the accusations were confined to the lowest class, it was
+all well enough, but when _they_ were being reached, it was high time
+to stop. The proceedings were summarily brought to a close, further
+examinations were deemed unnecessary, and confessions became flat and
+unprofitable; and this strange episode in American history ended.
+
+That there had been cause for alarm, there can be no doubt. That threats
+should be uttered by the slaves, is natural; for this would be in keeping
+with their whole history in this country. Nor is it at all improbable that
+a conspiracy was formed; for this, too, would only be in harmony with the
+conduct of slaves from time immemorial. The utter folly and hopelessness
+of such a one as the blacks testified to, has been urged against its
+existence altogether. If the argument is good for anything, it proves that
+the conspiracy thirty years before never existed, and that the Southampton
+massacre was a delusion, and John Brown never hatched his utterly insane
+conspiracy in Harper's Ferry. There have been a good many servile
+insurrections plotted in this country, not one of which was a whit more
+sensible or easier of execution than this, which was said to look to the
+complete overthrow of the little city. That the fires which first started
+the panic were the work of negro incendiaries, there is but little doubt;
+but how far they were a part of a wide-laid plan, it is impossible to
+determine.
+
+Unquestionably, success at the outset would have made the movement
+general, so that nothing but military force could have arrested it.
+
+There is one thing, however, about which there is no doubt--that a panic
+seized the people and the courts, and made them as unreliable as in the
+days of the Salem witchcraft. But these striking exhibitions of the
+weakness of human nature under certain circumstances have been witnessed
+since the world was made, and probably will continue to the end of time,
+or until the race enters on a new phase of existence. Panics, even among
+the most veteran soldiers, sometimes occur, and hence we cannot wonder
+they take place amid a mixed population. Popular excitements are never
+characterized by reason and common-sense, and never will be. In this case,
+there was more reason for a panic than at first sight seems to be.
+
+In the first place, the proportion of slaves to the whites was large. In
+the second place, they were a turbulent set, and had shown such a
+dangerous spirit, that the authorities became afraid to let them assemble
+together in meetings. This restriction they felt sorely, and it made them
+more restive. All were aware of this hostile state of feeling, and were
+constantly anticipating some outbreak or act of violence. Besides, it was
+but a few years since the thing they now feared did actually take place.
+And then, too, the point first aimed at was significant, and showed a
+boldness founded on conscious strength. Right inside the fort itself, and
+to the Governor's house, the torch was applied. It certainly looked
+ominous. Besides, the very wholesale manner in which the authorities
+thought it best to go to work increased the panic. In a very short time
+over a hundred persons were thrown into prison. The same proportion to the
+population to-day would be over ten thousand. Such a wholesale arrest
+would, of itself, throw New York into the wildest excitement, and conjure
+up all sorts of horrible shapes. Add to this, an average of two hundred
+burned at the stake, and two hundred hung every week, or more than fifty a
+day, and nearly three times that number sentenced to transportation, and
+one can faintly imagine what a frightful state of things would exist in
+the city. The very atmosphere grew stifling from the smoke of burning men
+and women, while the gallows groaned under its weight of humanity. Had
+this been the wild work of a mob it would have been terrible enough, but
+when it was the result of a deliberate judicial tribunal, which was
+supposed to do nothing except on the most conclusive evidence, the sense
+of danger was increased tenfold. The conclusion was inevitable, that the
+conspiracy embraced every black man in the city, and was thoroughly
+organized. In short, the whole place was, beyond doubt, resting over a
+concealed volcano, and the instinct of self-preservation demanded the most
+summary work. Let the inhabitants of any city become thoroughly possessed
+of such an idea, and they will act with no more prudence or reason than
+the people of New York at that time did. An undoubted belief in such a
+state of things will confuse the perceptions and unbalance the judgment of
+a community anywhere and everywhere on the globe.
+
+Still, consistent as it is with human history, one can hardly believe it
+possible, as he stands in New York to-day, that men have there been burned
+at the stake under the sanction of English law, or left to swing and rot
+in the winds of heaven, by order of the Supreme Court of the city.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+THE STAMP-ACT RIOT OF 1765.
+
+Thorough Understanding of the Principles of Liberty by the People.--The
+Stamp Act.--How viewed by the Colonists.--Colden strengthens Fort George
+in Alarm.--Arrival of the Stamps.--How the News was received by the Sons
+of Liberty.--A Bold Placard.--Stamp Distributor frightened.--Patriotic
+Action of the Merchants.--Public Demonstration against the Stamp Act.--
+Colden takes Refuge in the Fort.--Dare not fire on the People.--The People
+at the Gate demand the Stamps.--Colden and Lord Bute hung in Effigy.--
+Colden's Coach-house broken open.--The Images placed in the Coach, and
+dragged with Shouts through the Streets.--Hung again in Sight of the
+Fort.--A Bonfire made of the Fence around Bowling Green, and the
+Governor's Carriages, while the Garrison look silently on.--Prejudice
+against Coaches.--Major James' House sacked.--Great Joy and Demonstration
+at the Repeal of the Stamp Act.--Celebration of the King's Birthday.--
+Loyalty of the People.--Mutiny Act.--A Riot becomes a Great Rebellion.
+
+At the present day, when personal ambition takes the place of patriotism,
+and love of principle gives way to love of party; when the success of the
+latter is placed above constitutional obligations and popular rights, one
+seems, as he turns back to our early history, to be transported to another
+age of the world, and another race of beings.
+
+Nothing shows how thoroughly understood by the common people were the
+principles of liberty, and with what keen penetration they saw through all
+shams and specious reasoning, than the decided, nay, fierce, stand they
+took against the stamp act. This was nothing more than our present law
+requiring a governmental stamp on all public and business paper to make it
+valid. The only difference is, the former was levying a tax without
+representation--in other words, without the consent of the governed. The
+colonies assembled in Congress condemned it; hence the open, violent
+opposition to it by the people rises above the level of a common riot, and
+partakes more of the nature of a righteous revolution. Still, it was a
+riot, and exhibited the lawless features of one.
+
+The news of the determination of the English Government to pass a stamp
+act, raised a storm of indignation throughout the colonies, from
+Massachusetts to South Carolina, and it was denounced as an oppressive,
+unrighteous, tyrannical measure. From the wayside tavern and the pulpit
+alike, it was attacked with unsparing severity. The Government, however,
+thought it a mere ebullition of feeling, that would not dare exhibit
+itself in open opposition. Nor does this confidence seem strong, when we
+remember the weakness of the colonies on the one side, and the strength of
+an organized government, with the law and force both, on the other.
+
+Cadwallader Colden, a Scotchman by birth, and a clergyman by profession,
+was at that time acting Governor of New York; and to guard against any
+resort to force on the part of the people when the stamps should arrive,
+had Fort George, on the Battery, reinforced by a regiment from Crown
+Point, its magazines replenished, the ramparts strengthened, and its guns
+trained on the town. The people saw all this, and understood its import;
+but it had the opposite effect from that which was intended, for, instead
+of overawing the people, it exasperated them.
+
+At length, in October, 1765, a ship with the British colors flying came
+sailing up the bay, and anchored off Fort George. In a short time the
+startling tidings was circulated, that she brought a quantity of stamps.
+It was like sounding an alarm-bell, and the streets became thronged with
+excited men, while all the provincial vessels in the harbor lowered their
+colors to half-mast, in token of mourning. In anticipation of this event,
+an organization of men had been formed, called "Sons of Liberty." They at
+once assembled, and resolved at all hazards to get hold of those stamps.
+They had caused the act itself to be hawked about the streets as "the
+folly of England and the ruin of America," and now they determined to
+measure their strength with the Governor of the colony. That night, when
+the town was wrapped in slumber, they quietly affixed on the doors of
+every public office and on corners of the streets, the following placard:
+
+PRO PATRIA.
+
+_The first man that either distributes or makes use of stamped paper,
+let him take care of his house, person, and effects._
+
+VOX POPULI.
+
+"WE DARE."
+
+To the stamp distributors they said, "Assure yourselves, the spirit of
+Brutus and Cassius is yet alive. We will not submit to the stamp act upon
+any account or in any instance."
+
+McEvers, the head stamp distributor, frightened by the bold, determined
+attitude of the people, refused to receive the stamps, and Golden had them
+sent for greater safety to Fort George. He had written, to the British
+Secretary, "_I am resolved to have the stamps distributed_." But the
+people were equally resolved they should not be. Still, on the 30th day of
+October, he and all the royal governors took the oath to carry the stamp
+act into effect; but they soon discovered that they could find no one bold
+enough to act as distributor. All along the sea-coast, in every part of
+the colonies, the people were aroused, and either assembling quietly, or
+called together by the ringing of bells and firing of cannon, presented
+such a united, determined front, that not one person remained duly
+commissioned to distribute stamps. On the last day of October, the
+merchants of New York came together, and bound themselves to "send no new
+orders for goods or merchandise, to countermand all former orders, and not
+even receive goods on commission, unless the stamp act be repealed"--that
+is, give up commerce at once, with all its wealth and benefits, rather
+than submit to a tax of a few shillings on paper.
+
+Friday, the 1st of November, was the day fixed upon for a public
+demonstration of the people throughout the colonies against it, and never
+dawned a morning more pregnant with the fate not only of a nation, but of
+the world.
+
+From New Hampshire to South Carolina it was ushered in by the tolling of
+muffled bells, the firing of minute-guns, and flags hung at half-mast.
+Eulogies were pronounced on liberty, and everywhere people left their
+shops and fields, and gathered in excited throngs to discuss the great
+question of taxation.
+
+"Even the children at their games, though hardly able to speak, caught up
+the general chorus, and went along the streets, merrily carolling:
+'Liberty, Property, and no Stamps.'" [Footnote: Bancroft.]
+
+In New York the uprising was terrific, for the population rushed together
+as one man--as Gage, the commander of Fort George said, "by thousands."
+
+The sailors flocked in from the vessels, the farmers from the country, and
+the shouts, and ringing of bells, and firing of cannon made the city
+fairly tremble. Colden was terrified at the storm that was raised, and
+took refuge in the fort. An old man, bent and bowed with the weight of
+eighty years, he tottered nervously to the shelter of its guns, and
+ordered up a detachment of marines from a ship of war in port, for his
+protection. In his indignation, he wanted to fire on the people, and the
+black muzzles of the cannon pointing on the town had an ominous look.
+Whether he had threatened to do so by a message, we do not know; at any
+rate, the people either suspected his determination or got wind of it, for
+during the day an unknown person handed in at the fort-gate a note,
+telling him if he did, the people would hang him, like Porteus of
+Edinburgh, on a sign-post. He wisely forebore to give the order, for if he
+had not, his gray hairs would have streamed from a gibbet.
+
+At length the day of turmoil wore away, and night came on, but with it
+came no diminution of the excitement. Soon as it was dark, the "Sons of
+Liberty," numbering thousands, surged tumultuously up around the fort, and
+demanded that the stamps should be given up that they might be destroyed.
+Golden bluntly refused, when with loud, defiant shouts they left, and went
+up Broadway to "the field" (the present Park), where they erected a
+gibbet, and hanged on it Colden in effigy, and beside him a figure holding
+a boot; some said to represent the devil, others Lord Bute, of whom the
+_boot_, by a pun on his name, showed for whom the effigy was
+designed.
+
+The demonstration had now become a riot, and the Sons of Liberty
+degenerated into a mob. The feeling that had been confined to words all
+day must now have some outlet. A torchlight procession was formed, and the
+scaffold and images taken down, and borne on men's shoulders along
+Broadway towards the Battery. The glare of flaring lights on the buildings
+and faces of the excited crowd, the shouts and hurrahs that made night
+hideous, called out the entire population, which gazed in amazement on the
+strange, wild spectacle.
+
+They boldly carried the scaffold and effigies to within a few feet of the
+gate of the fort, and knocked audaciously for admission. Isaac Sears was
+the leader of these "Sons of Liberty."
+
+Finding themselves unable to gain admittance, they went to the Governor's
+carriage-house, and took out his elegant coach, and placing the two
+effigies in it, dragged it by hand around the streets by the light of
+torches, amid the jeers and shouts of the multitude. Becoming at last
+tired of this amusement, they returned towards the fort, and erected a
+second gallows, on which they hung the effigies the second time.
+
+All this time the cannon, shotted and primed, lay silent on their
+carriages, while the soldiers from the ramparts looked wonderingly, idly
+on. General Gage did not dare to fire on the people, fearing they would
+sweep like an inundation over the ramparts, when he knew a general
+massacre would follow.
+
+The mob now tore down, the wooden fence that surrounded Bowling Green, and
+piling pickets and boards together, set them on fire. As the flames
+crackled and roared in the darkness, they pitched on the Governor's coach,
+with the scaffold and effigies; then hastening to his carriage-house
+again, and dragging out a one-horse chaise, two sleighs, and other
+vehicles, hauled them to the fire, and threw them on, making a
+conflagration that illumined the waters of the bay and the ships riding at
+anchor. This was a galling spectacle to the old Governor and the British
+officers, but they dared not interfere.
+
+What was the particular animosity against those carriages does not appear,
+though it was the only property of the Governor they destroyed, unless
+they were a sign of that aristocratic pride which sought to enslave them.
+There were, at this time, not a half-dozen coaches in the city, and they
+naturally became the symbols of bloated pride. It is said the feeling was
+so strong against them, that a wealthy Quaker named Murray, who lived out
+of town, near where the distributing reservoir now is, kept one to ride
+down town in, yet dared not call it a coach, but a "_leathern
+convenience_."
+
+Although Sears and other leaders of the Sons of Liberty tried to restrain
+the mob, their blood was now up, and they were bent on destruction. Having
+witnessed the conflagration of the Governor's carriages, they again
+marched up Broadway, and some one shouting "James' house," the crowd took
+up the shout, and passing out of the city streamed through the open
+country, to where West Broadway now is, and near the corner of Anthony
+Street. This James was Major in the Royal Artillery, and had made himself
+obnoxious to the people by taking a conspicuous part in putting the fort
+into a state of defence. He had a beautiful residence here, which the mob
+completely gutted, broke up his elegant furniture, destroyed his library
+and works of art, and laid waste his ornamented grounds. They then
+dispersed, and the city became quiet.
+
+The excitement was, however, not quelled--the people had not yet got hold
+of the stamps, which they were determined to have. Colden, having seen
+enough of the spirit of the "Sons of Liberty," was afraid to risk another
+night, even in the fort, unless it was in some way appeased; and so the
+day after the riot, he had a large placard posted up, stating that he
+should have nothing more to do with the stamps, but would leave them with
+Sir Henry Moore, the newly appointed Governor, then on his way from
+England.
+
+This, however, did not satisfy the Sons of Liberty: they wanted the stamps
+themselves, and through Sears, their leader, insisted on their being given
+up--telling him very plainly if he did not they would storm the fort, and
+they were determined to do it.
+
+The Common Council of the city now became alarmed at the ungovernable,
+desperate spirit of the mob, which seemed bent on blood, and begged the
+Governor to let them be deposited in the City Hall. To this he finally
+though reluctantly consented, but the feeling in the city kept at fever
+heat, and would remain so until the act itself was repealed.
+
+Moore, the new Governor, soon arrived, and assumed the reigns of
+government. The corporation offered him the freedom of the city in a gold
+box, but he refused to receive it, unless upon stamped paper. It was
+evident he was determined to enforce the stamp act. But on consulting with
+Colden and others, and ascertaining the true state of things, he wisely
+abandoned his purpose, and soon made it publicly known. To appease the
+people still more, he dismantled the fort, which was peculiarly obnoxious
+to them from the threatening attitude it had been made to assume. Still,
+the infamous act was unrepealed, and the people refused to buy English
+manufactures, and commerce languished.
+
+At length, Parliament, finding that further insistance in carrying out the
+obnoxious act only worked mischief, had repealed it. When the news reached
+New York, the most unbounded joy was manifested. Bells were rung, cannon
+fired, and placards posted, calling on a meeting of the citizens the next
+day to take measures for celebrating properly the great event. At the
+appointed time, the people came together at Howard's Hotel, and forming a
+procession, marched gayly to "the field," and right where the City Hall
+now stands, then an open lot, a salute of twenty-one guns was fired. A
+grand dinner followed, at which the Sons of Liberty feasted and drank
+loyal toasts to his Majesty, and all went "merry as a marriage-bell." The
+city was illuminated, and bonfires turned the night into day. In a few
+weeks, the King's birthday was celebrated with great display. A huge pile
+of wood was erected in the Park, and an ox roasted whole for the people.
+Cart after cart dumped its load of beer on the ground, till twenty-five
+barrels, flanked by a huge hogshead of rum, lay in a row, presided over by
+men appointed to deal out the contents to the populace. A boisterous
+demonstration followed that almost drowned the roar of the twenty-one
+cannon that thundered forth a royal salute. As a fitting wind-up to the
+bacchanalian scene, at night twenty-five tar-barrels, fastened on poles,
+blazed over the "common," while brilliant fireworks were exhibited at
+Bowling Green. The feasting continued late in the night, and so delighted
+were the "Sons of Liberty," that they erected a mast, inscribed "to his
+most gracious Majesty, George the Third, Mr. Pitt, and Liberty." A
+petition was also signed to erect a statue to Pitt, and the people seemed
+determined by this excess of loyalty to atone for their previous
+rebellious spirit. The joy, however, was of short duration--the news of
+the riots caused Parliament to pass a "mutiny act," by which troops were
+to be quartered in America in sufficient numbers to put down any similar
+demonstration in future, a part of the expense of their support to be paid
+by the colonists themselves. This exasperated "the Sons of Liberty", and
+they met and resolved to resist this new act of oppression to the last.
+The troops arrived in due time, and of course collisions took place
+between them and the people. Matters now continued to grow worse and
+worse, until the "riot of the Sons of Liberty" became a revolution, which
+dismembered the British Empire, and established this great republic, the
+influence of which on the destiny of the world no one can predict.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+DOCTORS' RIOT, 1788.
+
+Body-snatching.--Bodies dug up by Medical Students.--Excitement of the
+People.--Effect of the Discovery of a human Limb from the Hospital.--Mob
+ransack the Building.--Destruction of Anatomical Specimens.--Arrival of
+Mayor, and Imprisonment of Students.--Second Day.--Examination of Columbia
+College and Physicians' Houses.--Appeal of the Mayor and distinguished
+Citizens to the Mob.--Mob attempt to break into Jail and seize the
+Students.--The Fight.--The Military called out.--Beaten by the Mob.--
+Larger Military Force called out.--Attacked by the Mob.--Deadly Firing.--
+Great Excitement.--Flight of Doctors and Students.
+
+In former times "body-snatching," or digging up bodies for dissections,
+was much, more heard of than at present. The fear of it was so great,
+that often, in the neighborhood where medical students were pursuing their
+studies, persons who lost friends would have a watch kept over their
+graves for several nights, to prevent them from being dug up. Neither the
+high social position of parties nor sex was any barrier to this
+desecration of graves, and the public mind was often shocked by accounts
+of the young and beautiful being disinterred, to be cut up by medical
+students. In the city there was, a few years ago--and perhaps there is
+now--a regular commercial price for bodies.
+
+[Illustration: THE NEW YORK HOSPITAL.--Scene of the Doctors' Riot. Located
+formerly on Broadway at the head of Pearl Street.]
+
+[Illustration: THE COLORED ORPHAN ASYLUM 143d St. The former building
+destroyed during the Draft Riot of 1863.]
+
+Although it was conceded that for thorough instruction in medical science,
+subjects for dissection were necessary, yet no one outside of the medical
+profession could be found to sanction "bodysnatching." There is a
+sacredness attached to the grave that the most hardened feel. Whenever the
+earth is thrown over the body of a man, no matter how abject or sinful he
+may have been, the involuntary exclamation of every one is "_requiescat
+in pace_." When, it comes to be one of our own personal friends, a
+parent, sister, or child, to this feeling of sacredness is added that of
+affection, and no wrong is like that of invading the tomb of those we
+love. Shakespeare left his curse for him who should disturb his bones; and
+all feel like cursing those who disturb the bones of friends who are
+linked to them by blood and affection.
+
+In the winter of 1787 and 1788, medical students of New York City dug up
+bodies more frequently than usual, or were more reckless in their mode of
+action, for the inhabitants became greatly excited over the stories that
+were told of their conduct. Some of these, if true, revealed a brutality
+and indecency, shocking as it was unnecessary. Usually, the students had
+contented themselves with ripping open the graves of strangers and
+negroes, about whom there was little feeling; but this winter they dug up
+respectable people, even young women, of whom they made an indecent
+exposure.
+
+The stories did not lose anything by repetition, and soon the conduct of
+physicians and medical students became a town talk. There seemed to be no
+remedy for this state of things; the graveyards, which were then in the
+heart of the city, were easily accessible; while plenty of men could be
+found, who, for a small sum, would dig up any body that was desired. A
+mere accident caused this state of feeling to culminate and suddenly break
+out into action. In the spring, some boys were playing in the rear of the
+hospital, when a young surgeon, from a mere whim, showed an amputated arm
+to them. One of them, impelled by curiosity, immediately mounted a ladder
+that stood against the wall, used in making some repairs, when the surgeon
+told him to look at his mother's arm. The little fellow's mother had
+recently died, and filled with terror, he immediately hastened to his
+father, who was a mason, and working at the time in Broadway. The father
+at once went to his wife's grave, and had it opened. He found the body
+gone, and returned to his fellow-workmen with the news. They were filled
+with rage, and, armed with tools, and gathering a crowd as they marched,
+they surged up around the hospital.
+
+At first many seemed to be impelled only by curiosity, but as the throng
+increased, the masons became eager for decisive action. Threats and
+denunciations began to arise on every side, and then appeals for
+vengeance, till at length they rushed for the door, and pouring into the
+building, began the work of destruction. For a while there was a terrible
+rattling of bones, as they tore down, and smashed every anatomical
+specimen they could lay their hands on. Valuable imported ones shared the
+common fate. They swarmed through the building, and finally came upon
+fresh subjects, apparently but just dug up. This kindled their rage
+tenfold, and the students, who thus far had been unmolested, were in
+danger of being roughly handled.
+
+The news of the gathering of the crowd and its threatening aspect, had
+reached the Mayor, who immediately summoned the sheriff, and taking him
+with several prominent citizens, hastened to the spot. Finding the
+students in the hands of the infuriated mob, he released them, and to the
+satisfaction, apparently, of the rioters, sent them to jail for safe-
+keeping.
+
+There was now nothing left for them to do, and they dispersed, and the
+matter was thought to be ended.
+
+But, during the evening, knots of men were everywhere discussing the
+events of the day, and retailing the exciting reports that were now flying
+thickly around; and next morning, whether from any concert of action, or
+impelled by mere curiosity, is not known, crowds began to fill the street
+and yard in front of the city hospital. The discovery of the bodies the
+day before had deepened the excitement, and now a more thorough
+examination of the building was proposed, and also an examination of the
+physicians' houses. Matters were beginning to wear a serious aspect, and
+the Governor, Mayor, Chancellor, and some of the prominent citizens of the
+town, came together to consult on a course of action. It was finally
+resolved to resort in a body to the spot where the mob was assembled, and
+make a personal appeal to it. They did so, and presented an imposing
+appearance as they advanced up Broadway. Although representing the State
+and city, they did not presume on their authority, but attempted
+persuasion. Mounting the steps, they in turn addressed the throng, which
+now kept momentarily increasing, and exhorted them as law-abiding citizens
+to use no violence. Some made most pathetic appeals to their feelings,
+their pride and self-respect; indeed, begged them, by every consideration
+of home and justice, to desist, and retire peacefully to their homes. They
+solemnly promised that a most thorough investigation should be made, and
+they should have all the satisfaction the laws could afford. More they
+ought not to ask. These appeals and promises produced a favorable effect
+on many of the mob, and they left. But the greater part refused to be
+pacified. Their blood was up, and they insisted on making the examination
+themselves. They did not propose to commit any violence, but having begun
+their investigations they were determined to go through with them.
+
+The Mayor and the Governor seemed to have an unaccountable repugnance to
+the use of force, and let the mob depart for Columbia College without any
+resistance. The professors and students were amazed at this sudden
+inundation of the crowd, who swarmed without opposition through every part
+of the building. Finding nothing to confirm their suspicions, they left
+without doing any material injury. Still unsatisfied, however, they
+repaired to the houses of the neighboring physicians, and the leaders,
+acting as a delegation of the crowd, went through them with the same
+result. It was a singularly well-behaved mob, and they received the report
+of the self-constituted committees with apparently perfect satisfaction,
+and when they had made the round of the houses, gradually broke up into
+knots and dispersed.
+
+But the lawless spirit of a mob seldom arrests and controls itself. Having
+once felt its strength and power, it is never satisfied till it measures
+them against those of the legal authorities, and yields only when it must.
+Hence, as a rule, the quicker "it feels the strong hand of power" the
+better for all parties. Promising legal satisfaction, to law-breakers is a
+very unsatisfactory proceeding. Obedience first and discussion afterwards
+is the proper order to be observed.
+
+The Mayor had hardly time to congratulate himself on having overcome so
+easily a serious difficulty, before he found that he had not as yet
+touched it. In the afternoon, the crowd again began to assemble, and this
+time around the jail, with the avowed purpose of taking vengeance on the
+students and physicians locked up there for safe-keeping. Having asserted
+and exercised, against all law, the right of domiciliary visits, it was
+but a short and easy step to assert the right to punish also contrary to
+law. As they gathered in front of the jail, it was seen that a different
+spirit from that which they had hitherto exhibited ruled them. The tiger
+was unchained, and loud shouts and yells were heard. "Bring out your
+doctors! bring out your doctors!" arose on every side. They threatened to
+tear down the building unless they were given up. The inmates became
+thoroughly alarmed, and barricaded the doors and windows, and armed
+themselves the best way they could for self-defence. Attempts were made to
+parley with the crowd, but they would listen to nothing, and answered
+every appeal with loud shouts for the doctors. What they _intended_
+to do with them by way of punishment was not so clear, though what their
+fate would have been, if once at their mercy, there was little doubt. The
+city authorities now became alarmed, murder was imminent, and having no
+police force sufficient to cope with such a formidable mob, they decided
+that the city was in a state of insurrection, and called out the military.
+About three o'clock, the force marched up the street, and passed quietly
+through the crowd, which opened as they advanced. As they moved past, a
+shower of dirt and stones followed them, accompanied with taunts, and
+jeers, and mocking laughter. The whole military movement was evidently
+intended only for intimidation--to show the rioters what could be done if
+they resorted to violence; for the soldiers, instead of taking up their
+quarters, as they should have done, in the building, having exhibited
+themselves, marched away. But the mob, still retaining its position and
+threatening attitude, another force, a little later, consisting of only
+twelve men, was sent up. This was worse than nothing, and as the little
+handful marched solemnly up, the crowd broke out into derisive laughter,
+and all sorts of contemptuous epithets were heaped upon them. Instead of
+waiting for them to come near, they rushed down, the street to meet them,
+and swarming like bees around them, snatched away their muskets, and broke
+them to pieces on the pavement. [Footnote: John Jay and Baron Steuben were
+both wounded in trying to allay the mob.] The soldiers, disarmed,
+scattered, and hustled about, were glad to escape with whole bodies.
+
+This first act of open resistance excited the rioters still more--they had
+passed the Rubicon, and were now ready for anything, and "to the jail! to
+the jail!" arose in wild yells, and the turbulent mass poured like a
+tumultuous sea around the building. They rushed against the doors, and
+with united shoulders and bodies endeavored to heave them from their
+hinges. But being secured with heavy bolts and bars, they resisted all
+their efforts. They then smashed in the windows with stones, and attempted
+to force an entrance through them; but the handful of men inside took
+possession of these, and, with such weapons as they could find, beat them
+back. Numbers were of no avail here, as only a few at a time could
+approach a window, while those within, being on the defensive, knocked
+them back as often as they attempted to climb in. The rioters, baffled in
+their attempts, would then fall back, and hurl paving-stones and bricks at
+the windows, when those who defended them would step one side. But the
+moment the former advanced again, the latter would crowd the windows with
+clubs and sticks. The enraged assailants tore off pickets, and advancing
+with these, made desperate efforts to clear the windows. But those within
+knew it was a matter of life and death with them, and stubbornly held
+their ground. The fight was thus kept up till dark, amid yells and shouts
+and a pandemonium of noises, and no efforts apparently were made to put an
+end to it, and release the inmates of the jail. But steps had been taken
+to organize and arm a large body of militia under an experienced officer,
+and now in the dim starlight their bayonets were seen gleaming, as they
+marched steadily forward on the dark, heaving mass that filled the street
+far as the eye could see. The rioters, however, instead of being
+intimidated at the sight, sent up a yell of defiance, and arming
+themselves with stones and brick-bats, hurled them in a blinding volley on
+the troops. So fierce was the assault, that before the latter had time to
+form, many were knocked down, and some badly wounded. The commanding
+officer, finding the fight thus forced on him, gave the order in a ringing
+voice, "Ready, aim, fire!" A flash broad as the street followed, lighting
+up the gloom, and revealing the scowling faces of the mob, the battered
+front of the jail, and the pale faces of those guarding the windows. They
+had not expected this close, point-blank volley, for the timid action of
+the authorities had not prepared them for it, and they stopped in
+amazement and hesitation. The commanding officer understood his business,
+and instead of waiting to see if they would disperse, poured in another
+volley. The rioters were confounded as they saw their comrades fall by
+their side, but still stood at bay; until at last, seeing the dead and
+wounded on every side, they could stand it no longer, but broke and fled
+in every direction. In a few minutes the street was clear of all but the
+dead and wounded, the groans of the latter loading the night air. The poor
+wretches were carried away, and the troops remained on the spot all night.
+The next day the city was in a fever of excitement. The number of killed
+was greatly exaggerated, and the denunciations of the butchery, as it was
+called, were fierce and loud. On almost every corner groups of excited men
+were seen in angry discussion--multitudes gathered in front of the jail,
+and gazed with horror on the blood-stained pavement.
+
+The soldiers who had committed the slaughter were cursed and threatened by
+turns, but they quietly rested on their arms, ready, it was evident, to
+repeat the experiment at the first open act of violence. For awhile there
+was danger of a general outbreak throughout the city; but the authorities
+had become thoroughly aroused to the danger of the situation, and seeing
+that the quicker they brought the conflict to a close, the better, made
+such a display of force, that the riotous spirit was overawed. Still, it
+was not entirely subdued, and it was evident that it was kept under by
+fear alone. The physicians of the city came in for almost as large a share
+of the hatred as the military. They were the original cause of the
+disturbance, and threats against them became so open and general, that
+they were in constant dread of personal violence, and many fled from the
+city. They scattered in every direction, and there threatened to be a
+general Hegira of physicians. All the medical students were secretly
+stowed into carriages, and hurried off into the country, where they
+remained till the excitement died away. It did not, however, subside
+readily; indeed, the danger of open revolt was so great for several days,
+that the military continued to keep guard at the jail.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+SPRING ELECTION RIOTS OF 1834.
+
+Fatal Error in our Naturalization Laws.--Our Experiment of Self government
+not a fair one.--Fruit of giving Foreigners the Right to Vote.--Bitter
+Feeling between Democrats and Whigs.--First Day of Election.--Ships
+"Constitution" and "Veto."--Whigs driven from the Polls.--Excitement.--
+Whigs determined to defend themselves.--Meeting called.--Resolutions.--
+Second Day's Election.--Attack on the Frigate "Constitution."--A Bloody
+Fight.--Mayor and Officers wounded.--Mob triumphant.--Excitement of the
+Whigs.--The Streets blocked by fifteen thousand enraged Whigs.--Military
+called out.--Occupy Arsenal and City Hall all Night.--Result of the
+Election.--Excitement of the Whigs.--Mass-meeting in Castle Garden.
+
+This country never committed a more fatal mistake than in making its
+naturalization laws so that the immense immigration from foreign countries
+could, after a brief sojourn, exercise the right of suffrage. Our form of
+government was an experiment, in the success of which not only we as a
+nation were interested, but the civilized world. To have it a fair one, we
+should have been allowed to build and perfect the structure with our own
+material, not pile into it such ill-formed, incongruous stuff as the
+despotisms of Europe chose to send us. Growing up by a natural process,
+educating the people to the proper exercise of their high trust,
+correcting mistakes, and adjusting difficulties as we progressed, the
+noble building would have settled into greater compactness as it arose in
+height, and all its various proportions been in harmony. We should have
+built slowly but surely. But when there was thrown upon us a mass of
+material wholly unfit for any political structure, and we were compelled
+to pile it in hap-hazard, it was not long before the goodly edifice began
+to show ugly seams, and the despotisms of Europe pointed to them with
+scorn, and asked tauntingly how the doctrine of self-government worked.
+They emptied their prisons and poor-houses on our shores, to be rid of a
+dangerous element at home, and we, with a readiness that bordered on
+insanity, not only took them into our bosoms, but invited them to aid us
+in making our laws and electing our rulers. To ask men, the greater part
+of whom could neither read nor write, who were ignorant of the first
+principles of true civil liberty, who could be bought and sold like sheep
+in the shambles, to assist us in founding a model republic, was a folly
+without a parallel in the history of the world, and one of which we have
+not yet begun to pay the full penalty. It was a cruel wrong, not only to
+ourselves, but to the oppressed masses of Europe, who turned their longing
+eyes on us for encouragement and the moral aid which our success would
+give them in their struggles against despotism.
+
+If the reason given for endowing this floating population--and dangerous
+element under any circumstances--with the full rights of citizens had been
+the true one, namely: to be just to them, and consistent with the great
+doctrine of equality on which our Government rested, there might be some
+little comfort in reflecting on the mistake we made. But this was false.
+The right of suffrage was given them by a party in order to secure their
+votes, and secure them, too, by appealing to those very passions that made
+them dangerous to the republic, and which the interest of all alike
+required should be removed instead of strengthened.
+
+All the good the Democratic party has ever done this country will hardly
+compensate for the evil of this one act.
+
+If our experiment shall finally prove a failure, we verily believe it will
+be owing to the extension of the political franchise to whites and blacks
+who were unfit to use it, and cared for it not because of its honor, or
+the good use to which it might be put, but as a piece of merchandise to be
+sold to the highest bidder or used as a weapon of assault against good
+order and righteous laws.
+
+Of course, the first pernicious effect of this transfer of power to
+ignorant, reckless men would be felt at the polls in New York City, where
+this class was in the greatest number. The elections here soon became a
+farce, and the boasted glory of a free ballot-box a taunt and a by-word.
+That gross corruption and villany practised here should eventually result
+in the open violation of law, as it did in the charter election of 1834,
+was natural.
+
+Political animosity was probably more bitter between the Democrats, under
+Jackson's administration, and the Whigs, than between any two political
+parties since the time of Federalists and Democrats, in the days of the
+elder Adams.
+
+In the spring of 1834 especially, party spirit ran very high in the city.
+As usual, for a month or more before the election, which took place on the
+second Tuesday in April, all kinds of accusations and rumors were afloat.
+There was no registry law, and comparatively few places for the polls, so
+that there could be little check on voting, no end to repeating, while the
+gathering of an immense crowd around each place of voting became
+inevitable. At this election, there was a split in the Democratic party,
+Mr. Verplanck being the candidate of the Independent Democrats, and Mr.
+Lawrence of the "Tammany."
+
+The most extensive preparations were made on both sides for the conflict,
+and it was generally expected there would be a personal collision in some
+of the wards.
+
+Tuesday, the 8th of April, dawned dark and stormy, and the rain began to
+fall heavily, at times coming down in torrents. But to such a fever heat
+had the public feeling been carried, that no one seemed to heed the storm.
+The stores were closed, business of all kinds suspended; while the streets
+were black with men hurrying to the polls. At twelve o'clock the American
+flag was hoisted on the Exchange, when the building became deserted, and
+all gathered at the places where the voting was going on. Men stood in
+long lines, extending clear out into the street, patiently enduring the
+pelting rain, waiting till their turn came to vote.
+
+The famous expression of Jackson, "Perish credit, perish commerce," had
+been taken out of the connection in which it was used, and paraded
+everywhere. The sailors had been enlisted in the struggle, and rigged up a
+beautiful little frigate in complete order, and named it the
+"Constitution." Mounting it on wheels, several hundred of them paraded it
+through the streets and past the polls. As they passed through Wall
+Street, thundering cheers greeted them, and the excited populace, heedless
+of the rain, fell into the procession, till it swelled to thousands, who,
+with songs and shouts, followed after. Fearful of the effect of this
+demonstration on the voters, the Jackson men hastily rigged out a boat,
+surmounted by a flag on which was painted in large characters, "Veto;" and
+"Constitution" and "Veto" sailed after each other through the city. This
+should have been prevented by the authorities, for it was impossible for
+these two processions to meet without a fight occurring, while it was
+equally certain that the Whig one would be attacked, if it attempted to
+pass the polls in those wards in which the roughs had the control. But the
+"Hickory poles" had inaugurated a new mode of carrying on political
+campaigns. Appeals were made to the senses, and votes obtained by outward
+symbols, rather than by the discussion of important political questions.
+This mode of electioneering culminated with the log-cabin excitement.
+
+In the Eleventh Ward, the Jackson party had two private doors through
+which to admit their voters to the polls, while bullies kept back from the
+main entrance the Independent Republicans. In most of the strong Jackson
+wards, where it was all on one side, the voting went on peaceably enough,
+but in the Sixth, it was soon evident that a storm was inevitable. Oaths
+and threats and yells of defiance made the polls here seem more like an
+object on which a mob was seeking to wreak its vengeance, than a place
+where freemen were depositing their votes under sanction of law. The babel
+of sound continued to grow worse in spite of the rain, and swelled louder
+and louder, till at last the Jackson roughs, headed by an ex-alderman,
+made a rush for the committee room where their opponents were assembled.
+Some of them were armed with clubs, and others with knives, which they
+brandished fiercely as they burst into the room. Before the members could
+offer any resistance, they were assailed with such fury, that in a short
+time nearly twenty were stretched bleeding and maimed on the floor; one so
+badly wounded that he was carried out lifeless, and apparently dead. It
+was a savage onslaught, and those who escaped injury reached the street
+hatless, and with coats half-torn from their backs. The mob, now being
+complete masters of the room, tore down all the banners, destroyed the
+ballots, and made a complete wreck of everything. The Whig leaders,
+enraged at such dastardly, insulting treatment, despatched a messenger in
+all haste to the Mayor for help, but he replied that he could not furnish
+it, as all the available force was away in other sections of the city on
+duty. The excitement among the Whigs now became fearful, and they
+determined to take the matter in their own hands. The election was to last
+three days, and they concluded to let the polls, when the mob entered,
+take care of themselves the balance of the day, and organize a plan for
+self-protection on the morrow.
+
+A call was at once issued for a meeting at Masonic Hall, and that night
+four thousand Whigs packed the building, from limit to limit. General
+Bogardus was called to the chair, who, after stating the object of the
+meeting, and describing the conduct of the mob in the Sixth Ward, offered
+the following resolutions:
+
+"_Whereas_, The authority of the POLICE of the city has been set at
+defiance by a band of _hirelings, mercenaries_, and _bullies_ in
+the Sixth Ward, and the LIVES of our citizens put in jeopardy. And
+_whereas_ it is evident that we are in a state of anarchy, which
+requires the prompt and efficient interposition of every friend of good
+order who is disposed to sustain the constitution and laws, therefore, be
+it
+
+"_Resolved_, That in order to preserve the _peace_ of the city,
+and especially of the Sixth Ward, the friends of the constitution and the
+liberties of the citizen will meet at this place (Masonic Hall), to-morrow
+(Wednesday), at half-past seven o'clock A.M., and repair to the Sixth Ward
+poll, for the _purpose of keeping it open to_ ALL VOTERS until such
+time as the official authorities may 'procure a sufficient number of
+special constables to keep the peace.'
+
+"_Resolved_, That while at the Sixth Ward poll, those who are not
+residents thereof will not take part in the election, but simply act as
+_conservators of the peace_, until such times as the MAJESTY OF THE
+LAWS shall be acknowledged and respected."
+
+These resolutions were carried with acclamations and shouts and stamping
+of feet.
+
+There was no bluster in these resolutions, but their meaning was apparent
+enough, and the city authorities understood it. From that hall, next
+morning, would march at least five or six thousand determined men, and if
+the mob rallied in force, to repeat the action of the day before, there
+would be one of the bloodiest fights that ever disgraced the city. It was
+believed that the great mass of the rioters were Irishmen, and the thought
+that native-born Americans should be driven from their own ballot-box by a
+herd of foreigners, aroused the intensest indignation. It was an insult
+that could not and should not be tolerated.
+
+The next morning, at half-past seven, Masonic Hall was filled to
+repletion. The excitement can be imagined, when such a crowd could be
+gathered at this early hour.
+
+In the Ninth Ward a meeting was also called, and a resolution passed,
+tendering a committee of one hundred to the general committee; that, with
+a committee of the same number from each of the fourteen wards of the
+city, would make a battalion eighteen hundred strong, to be ready at a
+moment's notice, to march to any poll "to protect the sacred right of
+suffrage."
+
+These measures had their desired effect. The presence of large bodies of
+men at the different polls, for the purpose of protecting them, overawed
+the unorganized mob, although in some of the wards attempts were made to
+get up a riot. Stones and clubs were thrown, and one man stabbed; it was
+thought at the time fatally. The Sixth Ward, "the Bloody Sixth," as it was
+called, was the point of greatest danger, and thither the Mayor repaired
+in person, accompanied by the sheriff and a large posse, and remained the
+greater part of the day. Threats and opprobrious epithets were freely
+used, and occasionally a paving-stone would be hurled from some one on the
+outskirts of the crowd; but the passage to the polls was kept open, and by
+one o'clock the citizens could deposit their votes without fear of
+personal violence.
+
+The evil of having the election continue three days now became more
+apparent than ever. The disorderly class, "the roughs," by their
+protracted drinking, became more and more maddened, and hence riper for
+more desperate action. This second night was spent by them in carousing,
+and the next morning they turned out to the polls, not only ready, but
+eager for a fight. Early in the forenoon, the frigate "Constitution" was
+again on its voyage through the streets, followed by a crowd. As it passed
+Masonic Hall, the head-quarters of the Whig Committee, it was saluted with
+cheers. This was followed by a rush upon it, on the part of the mob, who
+attempted to destroy it. The Whigs inside of the building, seeing the
+attack, poured forth with a loud cheer, and fell on the assailants with
+such fury, that they turned and fled. The news of what was passing, had,
+in the meantime, reached the Sixth Ward folks, and a shout was raised for
+followers. Instantly a huge crowd, composed of dirty, ragged, savage-
+looking men, broke away with discordant yells, and streamed up Duane
+Street towards the building, picking up paving-stones and brick-bats, and
+pulling down pickets as they ran. Coming in sight of the little frigate,
+they raised a shout and dashed on it. The procession had now passed the
+hall, but the Whigs, informed of what was going on, again sallied forth to
+the help of the sailors, who were fighting manfully against overwhelming
+odds. But they were soon overpowered, and again took refuge in the hall.
+This was now assailed, and stones came crashing through the windows. The
+Mayor was sent for, and soon appeared with the sheriff, backed by forty
+watchmen. Mounting the steps, he held up his staff of office, and
+commanded the peace. But the half-drunken mob had now got beyond the fear
+of the mere symbol of authority, and answered him with a shower of stones,
+and then charged on the force that surrounded him. A fierce and bloody
+fight followed. Citizens rushed out to the help of the Mayor, while the
+watchmen fell on the mob with their clubs. They soon stretched on the
+pavement more than their own number, but the odds against them was too
+great. The Mayor received a wound--ten or fifteen watchmen besides
+citizens were wounded--Captains Stewart, Munson, and Flaggs, badly
+injured, the latter with his skull horribly fractured, ribs broken, and
+face cut up. A few of the rioters were arrested, but the great mass broke
+through all opposition, and streaming into the hall, forced the committee
+to creep through back passages and windows.
+
+The news of this high-handed outrage was carried like the wind to the
+lower anti-Democratic wards, and the excited Whigs came streaming up,
+until Duane, Elm, Pearl, Cross, Augustus, and Chatham Streets, up to
+Broadway, were black with determined, enraged citizens. Ten or fifteen
+thousand were in a short time assembled, and a fearful battle seemed
+inevitable. In this appalling state of things, the Mayor called a
+consultation, and it was decided to declare the city in a state of
+insurrection, and call on the military for help. A messenger was
+immediately despatched to the Navy Yard for a company of marines. Colonel
+Gamble, commanding, replied that he would be glad to comply with the
+request, and put himself at their head, but that he had just sent them on
+board the "Brandywine" and "Vincennes." Application was then made to
+Commodore Hidgely, commander of the station; but he refused, on the ground
+that he had no authority to interfere. A messenger was then hurried across
+to Governor's Island for help, but he met with no better success. As a
+last resort, General Sanford was now directed to call out the city
+military.
+
+All this time the crowd kept increasing, while from out its bosom came an
+angry murmur like the moaning of the sea before a storm. The polls were
+deserted, and it seemed impossible that the opposing forces could be long
+kept apart. At length word passed through the Whigs that the mob were
+about to take possession of the arsenal. Instantly several hundred
+citizens made a dash for it, and occupied it. This was a brilliant piece
+of strategy, and no sooner did the rioters hear of it, than they swarmed
+around the building with yells and imprecations. The Whigs, however, held
+it, and some of them passed out arms to their friends.
+
+Three terrible hours had now passed since the first outbreak, and from the
+Park to Duane Street, Broadway, and the cross streets on the east side of
+it, were packed with excited men, their shouts, calls, and curses rising
+over the dwellings in tones that sent terror to the heart. But for the
+narrow streets, in which but few could come in contact, there would
+doubtless have been a collision long before.
+
+But at this critical moment a detachment of infantry and two squadrons of
+cavalry came marching down Broadway, and in close column. The crowd
+divided as they advanced, and they drew up before the arsenal. The
+gleaming of the bayonets and the rattle of sabres had a quieting effect on
+the rioters, and they began to disperse again to the polls, to watch the
+progress of the voting. In the meantime, the infantry took up their
+quarters at the arsenal, and the cavalry at the City Hall, for the night.
+
+When the polls closed at evening, the ballot-box of the Sixth Ward was
+taken under a strong guard to the City Hall, and locked up for the night.
+It was followed by four or five thousand excited men, but no violence was
+attempted.
+
+The election was over. For three days the city had been heaving to the
+tide of human passion, and trembling on the verge of a great disaster, and
+all because a few ruffians, not a fourth part of whom could probably read
+or write, chose to deny the right of suffrage to American citizens, and
+constitute themselves the proper representatives of the city.
+
+But the excitement did not end with the election. It was very close, and
+as the returns came in slowly, the people assembled in great numbers, to
+hear them reported. The next day, till three o'clock at night, ten or
+fifteen thousand people blocked Wall Street, refusing to disperse, till
+they knew the result. It was finally announced that Mr. Lawrence, the
+Democratic candidate, was elected by a small majority.
+
+The next thing was to ascertain the character of the Common Council. The
+same mighty throng assembled next day, forgetting everything else in the
+intense interest they felt in the result. It would seem impossible to get
+up such a state of feeling over the election of a few local officers, but
+the city shook from limit to limit as the slow returns came in. At last,
+it was announced that the Whigs had carried the Common Council by a small
+majority. As the news passed through the immense concourse, a shout vent
+up that shook Wall Street from Broadway to the East River. It rolled back
+and forth like redoubled thunder, till every throat was hoarse.
+
+When the crowd at last dispersed, it was only to assemble again in
+separate bodies in different parts of the city, and talk over the victory.
+
+Even then the excitement was not allowed to die away. The event was too
+great to be permitted to pass without some especial honor, and a mass-
+meeting was called in Castle Garden to celebrate it. Webster was sent for
+to make a speech, the most distinguished speakers of New York were called
+upon, and a day of general rejoicing followed, great as that which
+succeeded Lee's surrender.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+ABOLITION RIOTS OF 1834 AND 1835.
+
+The Slavery Question agitated.--The End, Civil War.--The Results.--William
+Lloyd Garrison.--Feeling of the People on the Subject.--First Attempt to
+call a Meeting of the Abolitionists in New York.--Meeting in Chatham
+Street Chapel.--A Fight.--Mob take Possession of Bowery Theatre.--Sacking
+of Lewis Tappan's House.--Fight between Mob and Police.--Mobbing of Dr.
+Cox's Church, in Laight Street.--His House broken into.--Street
+Barricaded.--Attack on Arthur Tappan's Store.--Second Attack on Church in
+Laight Street.--Church sacked in Spring Street.--Arrival of the Military.
+--Barricades carried.--Mr. Ludlow's House entered.--Mob at Five Points.--
+Destruction of Houses.--The City Military called out.--Mob overawed, and
+Peace restored.--Five Points Riot.--Stone-cutters' Riot.
+
+Most of the riots of New York have grown out of causes more or less local,
+and wholly transient in their nature. Hence, the object sought to be
+obtained was at once secured, or abandoned altogether. But those arising
+from the formation of Abolition societies, and the discussion of the
+doctrine of immediate emancipation, were of a different character, and
+confined to no locality or time. The spirit that produced them developed
+itself in every section of the country, and the question continued to
+assume vaster proportions, till the Union itself was involved, and what
+was first only a conflict between the police of the city and a few hundred
+or thousands of ignorant, reckless men, grew at last into the most
+gigantic and terrible civil war that ever cursed the earth. The Union was
+rent asunder, and State arrayed against State, while the world looked on
+aghast at the strange and bloody spectacle. The final result has been the
+emancipation of the slaves, and their endowment with all the rights and
+privileges of American citizens. But with this has come a frightful
+national debt, the destruction of that feeling of common interest and
+patriotism, which is the strongest security of a country; a contempt for
+the Constitution, the concentration of power in the hands of Congress,
+small regard for State rights, while the controlling power in the South
+has passed into the hands of an ignorant, incapable, irresponsible class;
+and, worse than all, the people have become accustomed to the strange
+spectacle, so fraught with danger in a republic, of seeing the
+legislatures and executives of sovereign States overawed and overborne by
+the national troops. That frightful conflict for the slave has sown
+dangerous seed; what the final harvest will be, the future historian alone
+will be able to show.
+
+The inconsistency of having a system of slavery incorporated into a
+republican government was always felt by good men North and South, as well
+as its damaging effect on the social and political well-being of the whole
+community; and steps had been taken both in Virginia and Kentucky to do
+away with it by legislative action. Whether these incipient steps would
+ever have ended in relieving us of the evil, can only be conjectured. We
+only know that a peaceable solution of the question was rendered
+impossible, by the action of the Abolitionists, as they were called, who,
+governed by the short logic, that slavery being wrong, it could not exist
+a moment without sin, and therefore must be abandoned at once without
+regard to consequences. The system of slavery was no longer a social or
+political problem, calling for great wisdom, prudence, statesmanship, and
+patience, but a personal crime, not to be tolerated for a moment. The
+whole South was divided by them into two classes, the oppressor and
+oppressed, the kidnapper and kidnapped, the tyrant and the slave--a
+relationship which liberty, religion, justice, humanity, alike demanded
+should be severed without a moment's delay.
+
+These views, in the judgment of the press at the time, and of sound
+statesmen, would eventually end in civil war, if adopted by the entire
+North, and hence they denounced them. The Abolitionists were considered by
+all as enemies to the Union, whom the lower classes felt should be put
+down, if necessary, by violence. This feeling was increased by the action
+of William Lloyd Garrison, the founder of the society, who went to
+England, and joined with the antislavery men there in abusing this country
+for its inconsistency and crime. These causes produced a state of public
+feeling that would be very apt to exhibit itself on the first opportunity.
+When, therefore, in the autumn of 1833, after Garrison's return from
+England, a notice appeared for an antislavery meeting in Clinton Hall,
+some of the most respectable men in New York determined to attend, and
+crush out, by the weight of their influence, the dangerous movement.
+Another class was resolved to effect the same project in another way, and
+on the 2d of October the following placard was posted in naming letters
+all over the city:
+
+NOTICE
+
+_To all persons from the South_.
+
+All persons interested in the subject of the meeting called by J. Leavitt,
+W. Goodell, W. Green, J. Rankin, Lewis Tappan,
+
+At Clinton Hall, this evening, at 7 o'clock, are requested to attend at
+the same hour and place.
+
+MANY SOUTHERNERS.
+
+New York, _October_ 2d, 1833.
+
+N.B. All citizens who may feel disposed to manifest the _true_
+feeling of the State on this subject, are requested to attend.
+
+Putting the appeal in the name of the Southerners, was an artful device
+to call out the people.
+
+At an early hour crowds began to assemble in front of Clinton Hall; but to
+their surprise they found a notice nailed on the door, that no meeting
+would be held. Many, seeing it, returned home; but still the crowd
+continued to swell to thousands, who rent the air with shouts and threats
+against Garrison. Determined not to be disappointed in a meeting of some
+kind, they forced their way upstairs, till the room in which it was to be
+held was crammed to suffocation. The meeting was then organized, and
+waited till quarter past seven, when it was moved to adjourn to Tammany
+Hall. There it was again organized, and a gentleman was about to address
+the crowd, when a man stepped forward to the president, and stated that
+the meeting announced to be held in Clinton Hall was at that moment under
+full headway in Chatham Street Chapel. Instantly several voices shouted,
+"Let us go there and rout them!" But the chairman said they had met to
+pass certain resolutions, and they should attend to this business first,
+and then every one could do as he liked. The resolutions were read, and
+after some remarks had been made upon them, adopted, and the meeting
+adjourned. A portion of those present, however, were not satisfied, but
+resolved to go to the chapel and break up the meeting there. The little
+handful assembled within, apprised of their approach, fled, so that when
+the mob arrived, the building, though the doors were open and the lights
+burning, was empty. It immediately took possession of the room, and giving
+a negro who was foremost in the sport the name of one of the
+Abolitionists, made him chairman. The most absurd resolutions were then
+offered, and carried, when the chairman returned thanks for the honor done
+him amid the most uproarious laughter, and what had threatened to be a
+serious riot ended in a wild, lawless frolic.
+
+This was the beginning of the Abolition riots in New York City, which
+afterwards, to a greater or less extent, prevailed for years in different
+parts of the Union.
+
+Next summer the excitement, which during the winter had nothing to call it
+forth, broke out afresh, ending in destruction of property and bloodshed,
+and the calling out of the military. On the evening of the 7th of July, an
+assembly of colored persons of both sexes occupied Chatham Street Chapel,
+for the purpose of listening to a sermon from a negro preacher. The New
+York Sacred Music Society had leased the building for certain evenings in
+the week, of which it was asserted this was one. Justice Lowndes, of the
+Police Court, was president, and Dr. Rockwell vice-president of the
+society, and they repaired to the building during the evening, and finding
+it occupied, at once claimed their right to it, and demanded that the
+blacks should leave. But the latter, having hired and paid for it, refused
+to do so, when a fight ensued, in which lamps and chairs were broken,
+loaded canes used freely, and some persons seriously injured. The news of
+the fight spread rapidly, and a dense crowd gathered around the door. But
+the police soon arrived, and forcing their way in, drove white and black
+out together, and locked up the church.
+
+The riot, however, continued for some time in the street; but the blacks,
+finding themselves outnumbered, fled, and peace was restored.
+
+A portion of the crowd, having recognized Lewis Tappan, one of the leading
+Abolitionists, followed him home with hoots and yells, and even hurled
+stones at his house after he had entered it.
+
+The next evening, at dusk, the crowd began again to assemble in front of
+the chapel. But the lessee of it had closed and locked the gates. The
+multitude determined, however, not to be disappointed of a meeting, and
+forcing open the gates, obtained entrance. The meeting was then organized,
+and Mr. William W. Wilder called to the chair. After making a speech, in
+which he showed the evil effects of a sudden abolition of slavery, by
+relating his experience in San Domingo, he moved an adjournment until the
+next meeting of the Antislavery Society. The motion was carried, and the
+assembly broke up. This was, however, altogether too quiet a termination
+for a part of the crowd, and a shout was made for the Bowery Theatre. The
+attacks on us by the English, for upholding slavery, and their sympathy
+and aid for Garrison, and co-operation with him in agitating the question
+of abolition in this country, had rekindled the old slumbering feeling of
+hostility to that country; and Mr. Farren, the stage manager of the
+Bowery, being an Englishman, it was transferred to him, especially as
+reports had been circulated that he had spoken disrespectfully of the
+Americans.
+
+This night having been selected to give him a benefit, his enemies had
+posted placards over the city, stating the fact of his hostility to this
+country--whether with the intention of causing a thin house, or breaking
+it up altogether, is not known. At all events, the mob resolved on the
+latter course, and streaming up the Bowery in one wild, excited mass,
+gathered with loud shouts in front of the theatre. The doors were closed
+in their faces, but pressing against them with their immense weight, they
+gave way, and like a dark, stormy wave, they surged up the aisles toward
+the foot-lights. In the garish light, faces grew pale, and turned eagerly
+toward the doors for a way of escape. But these were jammed with the
+excited, yelling mob. The play was "Metamora," and was under full headway,
+when this sudden inundation of the rioters took place. The actors stopped,
+aghast at the introduction of this new, appalling scene. Messrs. Hamlin
+and Forrest advanced to the front of the stage, and attempted to address
+them; but apologies and entreaties were alike in vain. The thundering
+shouts and yells that interrupted them were not those of admiration, and
+spectators and actors were compelled to remain silent, while this strange
+audience took complete possession of the house, and inaugurated a play of
+their own.
+
+But the police, having received information of what was going on, now
+arrived, and forcing their way in, drove the rioters into the street, and
+restored order. But the demon of lawless violence, that was now fully
+raised, was not to be thus laid. Some one got hold of a bell, and began to
+ring it violently. This increased the excitement, and suddenly the shout
+arose, "to Arthur Tappan's." [Footnote: A silk merchant, and one of the
+leading Abolitionists.] The cry was at once taken up by a thousand voices,
+and the crowd started down the street. But instead of going to his house,
+they went to that of his brother, Lewis, in Hose Street, a still more
+obnoxious Abolitionist. Reaching it, they staved open the doors, and
+smashed in the windows, and began to pitch the furniture into the street.
+Chairs, sofas, tables, pictures, mirrors, and bedding, went out one after
+another. But all at once a lull occurred in the work of destruction. In
+pitching the pictures out, one came across a portrait of Washington.
+Suddenly the cry arose, "It is Washington! For God's sake, _don't burn
+Washington_!" In an instant the spirit of disorder was laid, and the
+portrait was handed carefully from man to man, till at length the
+populace, bearing it aloft, carried it with shouts to a neighboring house
+for safety. It was one of those strange freaks or sudden changes that will
+sometimes come over the wildest and most brutal men, like a gleam of
+gentle light across a dark and stormy sea--the good in man for a moment
+making its voice heard above the din and strife of evil passions.
+
+This singular episode being terminated, they returned to their work of
+destruction. But suddenly the cry of "Watchmen!" was heard, and the next
+moment the police came charging down the street. The mob recoiled before
+it, then broke and fled, and the former took possession of the street. But
+the latter, coming across some piles of brick, filled their arms and hands
+full, and rallying, returned. Charging the watchmen in turn with a
+blinding shower of these, they drove them from the ground. They then
+kindled a fire on the pavement, and as the flames flashed up in the
+darkness and gained headway, they piled on bedding and furniture, till the
+whole street was illuminated with the costly bonfire. This caused the
+fire-bells to be rung, and soon the engines came thundering down the
+street, before which the crowd gave way. The burning furniture was then
+extinguished, and the house taken possession of. It was now two o'clock in
+the morning, and the mob dispersed.
+
+The next day nothing was talked about in the saloons, groggeries, and on
+the corners of the by-streets, but the events of the night before; and as
+evening came on, a crowd began to assemble in front of the battered,
+dilapidated house of Lewis Tappan. Another attack was imminent, when the
+police came up and dispersed them. They had not, however, abandoned the
+purpose for which they had assembled.
+
+The little band of Abolitionists, that the year before had been composed
+mostly of comparatively obscure men, had now increased both in numbers and
+men of influence. Persecution had produced its usual effects--advanced the
+cause it designed to destroy. Among other well-known citizens who had
+joined their ranks were the two brothers, Dr. Abraham Cox, M.D., and Dr.
+Samuel Cox, the latter, pastor of Laight Street Church, and one of the
+most popular preachers of the city. Though opposed by a large majority of
+his congregation, he had become known as a bold, outspoken man against
+slavery; and now the mob, bent on mischief, streamed across the city
+toward his church. It was dark, and as they gathered in a black, dense
+mass in front of it, suddenly, as if by a common impulse, a loud yell
+broke forth, and the next moment a shower of stones and brick-bats fell on
+the windows. Babel was now let loose, and, amid the crashing of window-
+glass, arose every variety of sound and all kinds of calls, interspersed
+with oaths and curses on "Abolitionists and niggers."
+
+Shrieks of laughter and obscene epithets helped to swell the uproar. It
+was evident they would not be satisfied until they left the church a ruin;
+but at this critical moment, the Mayor, Justice Lowndes, the District
+Attorney, and a posse of police officers and watchmen arrived on the
+ground. Expecting trouble, they had arranged to be ready at a moment's
+warning to hasten to any threatened point. Their unexpected presence
+frightened the crowd, and fearing arrest, they slunk away in squads, and
+the danger seemed over. But, evidently by previous arrangement, the broken
+fragments, arriving by different streets, came together in front of Dr.
+Cox's house, in Charlton Street.
+
+The doctor, however, was not at home. He had received warnings and threats
+from various quarters, and knowing, from the fate of Lewis Tappan's house,
+what that of his own would be, he had, during the day, quietly removed his
+furniture, and in the afternoon put his family on board of a steamboat,
+and left the city.
+
+The mob found the door barricaded, but they broke it open, and began to
+smash the windows and blinds of the lower story. Before, however, they had
+begun to sack the house, police-officers and watchmen, with two
+detachments of horse, arrived and dislodged them. They did not, however,
+disperse. A more dangerous and determined spirit was getting possession of
+them than they had before evinced. Crowding back on each other, they
+packed the street east, within four blocks of Broadway. Seizing some
+carts, they made a hasty barricade of them across the streets, while a
+neighboring fence supplied them with clubs. A large number were armed with
+paving-stones, which they would smite loudly together, saying in deep
+undertones, "_all together_." As they thus stood savagely at bay, a
+collision seemed inevitable, and had they been attacked, would doubtless
+have made a desperate fight. But being let alone they slowly dispersed. A
+portion, however, though it was now late at night, could not retire
+without venting a little more spite, and returning to the church, broke in
+some more windows.
+
+Dr. Cox came back to his house next morning, to see if it was safe. As he
+left the mutilated building, a crowd of boys, who were looking at the
+ruins, immediately gave chase to him with yells and derisive laughter, and
+pressed him so closely, at the same time hurling dirty missiles at him,
+that he was compelled to take shelter in the house of a parishioner.
+
+The crowd around the house continued to increase all the morning, but a
+hundred policemen arriving at one o'clock, no disturbance of the peace was
+attempted. In the afternoon, Mayor Lawrence issued a proclamation,
+denouncing the rioters, and calling on all good citizens to aid in
+maintaining the peace, and assuring them that he had taken ample measures
+to repress all attempts at violence. At the Arsenal, City Hall, and
+Bazaar, large bodies of troops were assembled, ready to march at a
+moment's notice; and it was evident that the coming night was to witness a
+trial of strength between the rioters and the city authorities.
+
+As soon as it was fairly dark, large crowds gathered in front of Arthur
+Tappan's store, and began to stone the building. Some fifteen or twenty
+watchmen were stationed here, and endeavored to arrest the ringleaders,
+when the mob turned on them, and handled them so roughly that they were
+compelled to take refuge in flight. Alderman Lalagh was severely wounded;
+but he refused to leave, and standing fiercely at bay, denounced and
+threatened the maddened wretches, who in turn swore they would take his
+life. He told them to force open the doors if they dare; that the inside
+was full of armed men, who were ready to blow their brains out the moment
+the door gave way. This frightened them, and they had to content
+themselves with stoning the windows, and cursing the Abolitionist who
+owned the building. In the meantime, Justice Lowndes came up with a strong
+police force, when they fled.
+
+While this was going on here, similar scenes were passing in other parts
+of the city. At dark, some three or four hundred gathered around Dr. Cox's
+church, in Laight Street, discussing the conduct of the Abolitionists, but
+making no outward demonstrations calling for the interference of the
+police, until nine o'clock, when a reinforcement came yelling down Varick
+Street, armed with stones and brick-bats. These charged, without halting,
+so furiously on the police-officers, and the few watchmen stationed there,
+that, bruised and bleeding, they were compelled to flee for their lives.
+The next moment stones rattled like hail against the church, and, in a few
+minutes, the remaining windows were smashed in. The police rallied when
+they reached Beach Street, and hurried off a messenger to the City Hall
+for the military. In the meantime, loud shouts were heard in the direction
+of Spring Street, and with answering shouts the mob left the church, and
+rushed yelling like Indians to the spot. A vast crowd was in front of a
+church there, under the care of Rev. Mr. Ludlow, another Abolitionist, and
+had already commenced the work of destruction. They had torn down the
+fence surrounding it, and were demolishing the windows. Through them they
+made an entrance, and tore down the pulpit, ripped up the seats, and made
+a wreck of everything destructible without the aid of fire. The session-
+room shared the same fate, and the splintered wreck of both was carried in
+their arms, and on their shoulders, out of doors, and piled into
+barricades in the street on both sides of the building, to stop the
+anticipated charge of cavalry. Carts, hauled furiously along by the mob,
+were drawn up behind this, and chained together, making a formidable
+obstruction. They then rung the bell furiously, in order to bring out the
+firemen. The watch-house bell in Prince Street gave a few answering
+strokes, but information being received of what was going on, it ceased,
+and the firemen did not come out. It was now near eleven o'clock, when,
+all at once, an unearthly yell arose from the immense throng. Word had
+passed through it that the military was approaching. Pandemonium seemed
+suddenly to have broken loose, and shouts, and yells, and oaths arose from
+five thousand throats, as the men sprung behind their barricades. It was a
+moonless night, but the stars were shining brightly, and, in their light,
+the sheen of nearly a thousand bayonets made the street look like a lane
+of steel. The Twenty-seventh Regiment of National Guards, led by Colonel
+Stevens, had been sent from the City Hall, and their regular heavy tramp
+sounded ominously, as they came steadily on. The church-bell was set
+ringing furiously by the mob and there was every appearance of a
+determined resistance. As Colonel Stevens approached the first barricade,
+he halted his regiment, and ordered his pioneer guard to advance. They
+promptly obeyed, armed with their axes. A shower of stones met them, while
+clubs were waved frantically in the air, accompanied with oaths and
+threats. They, however, moved firmly up to the barricade, and the shining
+steel of their axes, as they swung them in the air, was as terrific as the
+gleam of the bayonets, and the crowd retired precipitately behind the
+second barricade. The first was now speedily torn down, and the head of
+the column advanced. The second was a more formidable affair, in fact, a
+regular bastion, behind which were packed in one dense mass an immense
+body of desperate men, reaching down the street, till lost in the
+darkness. It seemed now that nothing but deadly volleys would answer. One
+of the city officers advised Colonel Stevens to retreat, but, instead of
+obeying, he ordered the pioneer guard to advance, and sustained it by a
+detachment of troops. Amid the raining missiles they moved forward, when
+the crowd fell back, some fleeing up the side streets. The guard then
+mounted the barricade, and in a short time it was scattered in every
+direction; and when the order "Forward" was given, the column marched
+straight on the mob. At this moment, Justice Lowndes, at the head of a
+band of watchmen, arrived on the ground, when the two forces moved forward
+together, clearing the street of the rioters. While the fight was going
+on, some of the gang remained inside the church, and kept the bell ringing
+violently, until Colonel Stevens ordered one of his officers to cut the
+rope.
+
+A portion of the mob now hurried to Thompson Street, where Mr. Ludlow
+resided. The family had retired for the night, but their repose was
+suddenly broken by loud yells and the sound of stones dashing in their
+windows. Jumping up in wild alarm, they saw the doors broken in, through
+which streamed the shouting, yelling crowd.
+
+Either from fear of the military, which they knew would soon be upon them,
+or some other cause, they decamped almost as suddenly as they came, and
+relieved the terror-stricken household of their presence.
+
+About this time, another immense mob had collected at Five Points. The
+rioters here seemed to be well organized, and to act in concert. Runners
+were kept passing between the different bodies, keeping each informed of
+the actions of the other, and giving notice of the approach of the police.
+
+The destruction at Five Points was on a more extensive scale, and the
+gatherings in this, then dangerous section of the city--the home of
+desperadoes and depraved beings of every kind--were of such a character,
+that for a time the city authorities seemed to be over-awed. The rioters
+had it all their own way for several hours, and the midnight heavens
+became lurid with burning dwellings. It somehow got round that they had
+resolved to attack every house not illuminated with candles, and these
+dirty streets soon became brilliant with the lighted windows. Five houses
+of ill-fame were gutted, and almost entirely demolished. St. Philip's
+Church, in Centre Street, occupied by a colored congregation, was broken
+into, and for two hours the mob continued the work of destruction
+unmolested. They left it a complete ruin. A house adjoining, and three
+houses opposite, shared the same fate. The mob was everywhere; and
+although the police made some arrests and had some fights, they were too
+weak to effect much. About one o'clock a shout arose, "away to Anthony
+Street!" and thither the yelling wretches repaired.
+
+The Mayor was at the City Hall all night, doing what he could; but the mob
+had arranged their plans to act in concert, appearing in separate bodies
+in different sections of the city at the same time, so that he hardly
+knew, with the force at his disposal, where to strike. The next morning he
+issued another proclamation, calling on the citizens to report to him and
+be organized into companies to aid the police. He called also on all the
+volunteer military companies of the city to rally to the support of the
+laws. They did so, and that (Saturday) night they, with most of the fire
+companies, who had offered their services, were stationed in strong bodies
+all over the city; and the rioters saw that their rule was ended. Beside,
+many of the most notorious ringleaders had been arrested and put in
+prison. A short fight occurred in Catharine Street between the police and
+mob, in which both had some of their men badly hurt; and an attempt was
+made to get up a riot in Reade Street, but it was promptly put down. The
+city was rife with rumors of bloody things which the mob had threatened to
+do; but, with the exception of the military in the streets, the city on
+Sunday presented its usual appearance. The lawless spirit was crushed out,
+and a hundred and fifty of the desperadoes who had been instrumental in
+rousing it were locked up to await their trial.
+
+In June of the summer of 1835 occurred the Five Points riot, which grew
+out of the feeling between Americans and foreigners. It threatened for a
+time to be a very serious matter, but was finally quelled by the police
+without the aid of the military. Dr. W. M. Caffrey was accidentally killed
+by one of the mob, and Justice Lowndes was dangerously wounded.
+
+In connection with the series of riots of 1834 and 1835, might be
+mentioned the Stonecutters' riot, though it was promptly suppressed.
+
+STONECUTTERS' RIOT.
+
+The contractors for the building of the New York University found that
+they could purchase dressed stone at Sing Sing, the work of the prisoners
+there, much cheaper than in New York, and so concluded to use it. This,
+the stonecutters of the city said, was taking the bread out of their
+mouths, and if allowed to go on would destroy their business. They held
+excited meetings on the subject, and finally got up a procession and
+paraded the streets with placards asserting their rights and denouncing
+the contractors. They even attacked the houses of some of the citizens,
+and assumed such a threatening attitude, that the Twenty-seventh Regiment,
+Colonel Stevens, was called out. Their steady, determined march on the
+rioters dispersed them and restored quiet. Apprehensions were felt,
+however, that they would reassemble in the night and vent their rage on
+the University building, and so a part of the regiment encamped in
+Washington Square in full view of it. They remained here four days and
+nights, until the excitement subsided, and the work could go on
+unmolested.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+FLOUR RIOT OF 1837.
+
+Starvation will always create a Riot.--Foreign Population easily aroused
+against the Rich.--Severe Winter of 1836.--Scarcity of Flour.--Meeting of
+Citizens called without Result.--Meeting called in the Park.--Speeches.--
+Sacking of Hart & Co.'s Flour Store, in Washington Street.--Strange
+Spectacle.--National Guards called out.--Disperse the Mob.--Attack on
+Herrick's Flour Store.--Folly of the Riot.
+
+Hunger will drive any people mad, and once let there be real suffering for
+want of food among the lower classes, while grain is piled up in the
+storehouses of the rich, and riots will surely follow. In the French
+Revolution of 1789, there was a great scarcity of provisions, which caused
+frightful outbreaks. It will never do to treat with scorn the cry of
+millions for bread. When, amid the general suffering in Paris, one said to
+Foulon, the minister of state, the people are starving for bread, he
+replied, "Let them eat hay." The next day he was hung to a lamp-post. The
+tumultuous multitude marching on Versailles, shouting wildly for "bread,"
+was a fearful spectacle. One can hardly blame starving men from seizing
+food by violence, if it can be got in no other way; and if ever a mob
+could be justifiable, it would be when they see their families suffering
+and perishing around them, in the very sight of well-stored granaries.
+
+In the old despotisms of Europe, the poor and oppressed attribute all
+their want and suffering to the rich and powerful, so that they are not
+held back from redressing their wrongs by ignorance of their source, but
+fear of the strong hand of their rulers.
+
+These men, embittered not only by their own sufferings, but by the
+traditions of the past, when they come to this country are easily roused
+to commit acts of violence by anything that reminds them of their old
+oppressions. They have tasted the wormwood and the gall, and refuse to
+have it pressed to their lips in a country where liberty is the birthright
+of all. This is what has made, and still makes, the foreign population
+among us so dangerous. The vast proportion of them are from this very
+class. Ignorant of everything but their wrongs, they rise in angry
+rebellion at any attempt, or fancied attempt, to renew them here.
+Unfortunately there are Americans among us, who, knowing this, work upon
+this sensitive, suspicious feeling, to accomplish their own ends. The
+politician does it to secure votes; but the worst class is composed of
+those who edit papers that circulate only among the scum of society, and
+embittered by the sight of luxuries beyond their reach, are always ready
+to denounce the rich and excite the lower classes against what they call
+the oppression of the aristocracy.
+
+It is doubtful whether the frightful riot of 1863 would ever have taken
+place, but for this tone assumed by many of the city papers. So of this
+flour riot, it probably would never have happened, but for demagogues, who
+lashed the ignorant foreign population into fury against their rich
+oppressors. Starvation, which as we said may be a justification of
+violence, did not exist--it was only the high price of provisions, growing
+out of scarcity, that caused it, but which scarcity, they were told, was
+created solely by the cupidity of the rich.
+
+The year in which the great fire occurred, was a disastrous one to the
+crops of the country. The mighty West, that great granary of the nation,
+was not then open as now, and the main supply of grain came from east of
+the Alleghanies. Hence the cause which would create a short crop in one
+section, would be apt to prevail more or less over all the grain region.
+We imported wheat at this time very largely; not only from England, but
+from the Black Sea.
+
+In September, flour was about seven dollars a barrel, but this, as the
+winter came on, went up to twelve dollars--a great rise at that time.
+
+From Virginia, a great wheat State, came disastrous tidings; not only was
+the crop short and the price of flour high, but it was said that the
+latter would probably go up to fifteen or twenty dollars a barrel. In
+Troy, a great depot for State flour, it was stated that there were only
+four thousand barrels against thirty thousand at the same time the
+previous year. As February came on, a report circulated in the city that
+there were only three or four weeks' supply on hand. This was repeated in
+the penny papers, with the information added, that in certain stores were
+hoarded vast amounts of grain and flour, kept out of the market to compel
+a still greater advance in the price. This was very probably true, as it
+is a rule with merchants, when they have a large stock of anything on
+hand, of which there threatens to be a scarcity, to hold on in order to
+make the scarcity greater--thus forcing higher prices. This will always
+prove a dangerous experiment in this country in the article of flour. It
+is the prime necessary of life, and the right to make it scarce for the
+sake of gain, and at the expense of human suffering, will always be
+questioned by the poorer classes.
+
+Although the stock of grain on hand at this time was small, there was no
+danger of starvation, nor was it to the instinct of self-preservation that
+demagogues appealed. They talked of the rich oppressing the poor by their
+extortions--of monopolists, caring only to increase their gains without
+regard to the distress they occasioned.
+
+There was, doubtless, much suffering among the poorer classes, not only on
+account of the high price of flour, but also of all the necessary articles
+of living. Meat advanced materially, while from some strange fatality,
+coal went up to ten dollars a ton. There seemed no reason for this, as the
+amount sent to market was said to be largely in excess of the previous
+year. In Canada, coal was so scarce, that the line of steamers between
+Montreal and Quebec was suspended before winter set in.
+
+This state of things excited the attention of the people generally, and in
+the fore-part of this month, a public meeting was called at the Tabernacle
+to consider what could be done. It amounted to nothing. Some speeches were
+made, resolutions offered, but nothing practical was proposed. The
+temperance people attempted to make a little capital out of it, by
+asserting that the high price of grain was owing to the amount used by the
+distilleries--rye being sold as high as one dollar and seventy cents per
+bushel.
+
+But a different class of people were now discussing the subject, and in a
+different spirit. Their attention was directed to _men_, not
+_theories_--the individual oppressors, not the general causes.
+
+Chief among those against whom the popular feeling was now directed, was
+Hart & Co., large commission merchants in Washington Street, between Dey
+and Cortlandt Streets. Their store was packed with flour and wheat, and
+every day men passed it with sinister looks. Sometimes a little knot of
+men would stop opposite it, and talk of the loads of grain stored up
+there, while their own families were pinched for bread. They would gaze
+savagely on its heavy iron doors, that seemed to defy the weak and
+helpless, and then walk on, muttering threats and curses. These signs of a
+gathering storm were, however, unheeded by the proprietors. Others, better
+informed, were not so tranquil; and by anonymous letters tried to arouse
+Mr. Hart to take precautionary measures. An anonymous letter addressed to
+Mr. W. Lenox was picked up in the Park, in which the writer stated that a
+conspiracy was formed for breaking open and plundering Mr. Hart's store,
+and gave the following plan of action. On some dark night, two alarms of
+fire were to be given, one near the Battery, and the other up town, in
+order to draw off the watchmen and police, when a large crowd already
+assembled in the neighborhood would make a sudden rush for the building,
+and sack it before help could arrive. This letter was handed to the High
+Constable Hays, who showed it to Hart & Co., but they seemed to regard it
+as an attempt to frighten them. This was followed by anonymous letters
+from other parties, that reached the Mayor, insisting on it that danger
+was hanging over this house. He sent them to Hart & Co., but they,
+thinking it was only a trick to put down the price of flour, paid no
+attention to them. They locked their three massive iron doors at night as
+usual, and went to their homes without fear, and the underground swell
+kept on increasing in volume.
+
+The first plan of operation, if it ever existed, was either abandoned by
+the mob or deferred till after other measures were tried.
+
+At length, on the afternoon of the 10th of February, the following placard
+was posted up all over the city:
+
+BREAD, MEAT, RENT, FUEL!
+
+_The voice of the people shall he heard and will prevail._
+
+The people will meet in the PARK, _rain or shine_, at four o'clock on
+
+MONDAY AFTERNOON,
+
+to inquire into the cause of the present unexampled distress, and to
+devise a suitable remedy. All friends of humanity, determined to resist
+monopolists and extortioners, are invited to attend.
+
+Moses Jacques. Daniel Graham. Paulus Hedle. John Windt. Daniel A.
+Robertson. Alexander Ming, Jr. Warden Hayward. Elijah F. Crane.
+
+NEW YORK, _Feb_. 10_th_, 1837.
+
+The idle crowd had all day Sunday to talk over this call. Everywhere knots
+of men were seen gathered before these placards--some spelling out slowly,
+and with great difficulty, the words for themselves--others reading the
+call to those unable to read it. The groggeries were filled with excited
+men, talking over the meeting, and interspersing their oaths with copious
+draughts of liquor, and threatening openly to teach these rich oppressors
+a lesson they would not soon forget.
+
+There was something ominous in the hour selected for the meeting; four
+o'clock in February meant night, before it would get under full headway.
+It was evident that the leaders did not mean the meeting to be one of mere
+speech-making. They knew that under cover of darkness, men could be
+incited to do what in broad daylight they would be afraid to undertake.
+
+Before the time appointed, a crowd began to assemble, the character of
+which boded no good. Dirty, ragged, and rough-looking, as they flowed from
+different quarters together into the inclosure, those who composed it were
+evidently a mob already made to hand.
+
+At length, four or five thousand shivering wretches were gathered in front
+of the City Hall. Moses Jacques, a man who would make a good French
+Communist to-day, was chosen chairman. But this motley multitude had no
+idea or respect for order, or regular proceedings, and they broke up into
+different groups, each pushing forward its favorite orator.
+
+One of the strangest freaks of this meeting, was an address to a
+collection of Democrats by Alexander Ming, Jr. He forgot all about the
+object of the meeting, and being a strong Bentonian, launched out into the
+currency question, attributing all the evils of the Republic, past,
+present, and to come, to the issue of bank-notes; and advising his hearers
+to refuse to take the trash altogether, and receive nothing but specie.
+This was the more comical, as not one out of ten of the poor wretches he
+addressed had the chance to refuse either. Half starving, they would have
+been glad to receive anything in the shape of money that would help them
+through the hard winter. Yet when Mr. Ming offered a resolution, proposing
+a memorial to the Legislature, requiring a law to be passed, forbidding
+any bank to issue a note under the denomination of a hundred dollars, the
+deluded people, who had been listening with gaping mouths, rent the air
+with acclamations. It was a curious exhibition of the wisdom of the
+sovereign people--this verdict of a ragged mob on the currency question.
+They were so delighted with this lucid exposition of the cause of the
+scarcity of flour, that they seized the orator bodily, and elevating him
+on their shoulders, bore him across the street to Tammany Hall, where
+something beside specie was received from behind the bar to reward their
+devotion.
+
+There was, however, some excuse for him. He had been several times
+candidate for city register, and hence was more anxious to secure votes
+than flour--be a popular demagogue rather than a public benefactor.
+
+But there were other speakers who kept more directly to the point. They
+launched at once into a bitter tirade against landlords for their high
+rents, and against monopolists for holding on to flour at the expense of
+the poor and suffering. Knowing the character of the audience before them,
+and their bitter hatred of the rich that had grown with their growth, and
+strengthened with their strength in the old country, it was not difficult
+to lash them into a tempest of passion. They depicted the aristocrats
+around them rolling in wealth, wrung from their necessities--laughing at
+their sufferings while rioting in luxury--nay, hoarding up the very bread
+without which they must starve, in order to realize a few dollars more on
+a barrel of flour. Loud oaths and deep muttered curses followed these
+appeals, and the excited multitude became agitated with passion. One of
+the speakers closed his bitter harangue with "Fellow-citizens, Mr. Eli
+Hart has now 53,000 barrels of flour in his store; let us go and offer him
+eight dollars a barrel for it, and if he will not take it--" It was not
+difficult to know how he meant to close the sentence; but just then, a
+friend shrewder than he, seeing the legal consequences to themselves of an
+open proposition to resort to violence, touched him on the shoulder, when
+in a lower tone of voice he concluded: "_we shall depart in peace_."
+In the excitement of the moment, he had evidently forgotten the guarded
+language he intended to use, and was about to utter that which would have
+consigned him to a prisoner's cell, but checked himself in time. He was
+willing others should suffer the consequence of violating the law, to
+which his appeals urged them; but his love for the poor did not prompt him
+to share their fate.
+
+It was bitterly cold, and it was a wonder that the crowd had listened
+patiently so long. The proposition to go to Hart's store with a demand for
+flour, was instantly seized, and those around the speaker started off with
+a shout, and streaming down Broadway, poured in one dark living stream
+along Cortlandt Street into Washington Street. The clerks in the store
+heard the turmoil, and suspecting the object of the rioters, rushed to the
+doors and windows, and began to close and bolt them. There were three
+large iron doors opening on the sidewalk, and they had succeeded in
+bolting and barring all but one, when the mob arrived. Forcing their way
+through this middle door, the latter seized the barrels, and began to roll
+them out into the street. Mr. Hart, who, either from curiosity to hear
+what the meeting would propose to do, or from his suspicions being aroused
+from what he had previously heard, was on the spot, and as soon as he saw
+the crowd stream out of the Park, down Broadway, he hurried to the police,
+and obtaining a posse of officers, made all haste for his store. But as
+they were going down Dey Street, the mob, which blocked the farther end,
+rushed on them with such fury, that before they had time to defend
+themselves, their clubs, or staves as they were then called, were wrenched
+from their hands and broken into fragments. The crowd was not yet very
+great, and the disarmed officers forced their way into Washington Street
+and into the store. Their presence frightened the few inside, and they
+hastily decamped. The Mayor, who was in his room at the City Hall, had been
+speedily notified of the riot, and hurried to the spot. The crowd
+remaining in the Park had also been informed of what was going on, and
+dashing madly down Broadway, and through Cortlandt Street, joined with
+loud shouts their companions in front of the store. The Mayor mounted a
+flight of steps, and began to harangue the mob, urging them to desist, and
+warning them of the consequences of their unlawful action. He had not
+proceeded far, however, before brick-bats, and sticks, and pieces of ice
+came raining around him in such a dangerous shower, that he had to give it
+up, and make his way to a place of safety. The street was now black with
+the momentarily increasing throng, and emboldened by their numbers, they
+made a rush at the entrance of the store. Driving the police-officers
+before them, they wrenched by main force one of the heavy iron doors from
+its hinges. A half a score of men at once seized it, and using it as a
+battering-ram, hurled it with such force against the others, that after a
+few thundering blows, they one after another gave way, and the crowd
+poured in. The clerks fled, and the rioters went to work without
+hindrance. Mounting to the upper lofts, they first broke in all the doors
+and windows, and then began to roll and heave out the flour. The barrels
+on the ground-floor were rolled, swift as one could follow another, into
+the street, when they were at once seized by those waiting without, and
+their heads knocked in, and their contents strewn over the pavement. On
+the upper lofts, they were rolled to the broken windows, and lifted on to
+the sill, and tumbled below. Warned by their descent, the crowd backed to
+the farther side of the street. Part would be staved in by their fall;
+those that were not, were seized as they rolled off the sidewalk, and the
+heads knocked out. One fellow, as he stood by the window-sill and pitched
+the barrels below, shouted as each one went with a crash to the flagging:
+"_Here goes flour at eight dollars a barrel!_"
+
+The scene which now presented itself was a most strange, extraordinary
+one. The night was clear and cold, and the wintry moon was sailing
+tranquilly through the blue and starlit heavens, flooding here and there
+the sea of upturned faces with its mellow light, or casting the deep
+shadow of intervening houses over the black mass, while the street looked
+as if a sudden snow-storm had carpeted it with white. The men in the
+windows and those below were white with flour that had sifted over their
+garments; while, to give a still wilder aspect to the scene, women, some
+bareheaded, some in rags, were roaming around like camp-followers after
+plunder. Here a group had seized empty boxes; there others pressed forward
+with baskets on their arms; and others still, empty-handed, pushed along,
+with their aprons gathered up like a sack. These all knelt amid the flour,
+and scooped it up with an eagerness that contrasted strangely with the
+equal eagerness of those who were scattering it like sand over the street.
+The heavy thud of the barrels as they struck almost momentarily on the
+sidewalk, could be distinctly heard above the shouts of the men. Some of
+the mob found their way into Mr. Hart's counting-room, and tore up his
+papers and scattered them over the floor. It was evident they were bent on
+utter destruction; but when about five hundred barrels of flour had been
+destroyed, together with a thousand bushels of wheat in sacks, a heavy
+force of police came marching along the street. These were soon after
+followed by detachments of the National Guards from Colonel Smith's and
+Hele's regiments. The flashing of the moonbeams on the burnished barrels
+and bayonets of their muskets, struck terror into the hearts of the
+rioters. The cry of "The soldiers are coming!" flew from lip to lip,
+causing a sudden cessation of the work of destruction, and each one
+thought only of self-preservation. Many, however, were arrested, and sent
+off to Bridewell under the charge of Officer Bowyer, with a squad of
+police. The latter were assailed, however, on the way, by a portion of the
+mob that pursued them, and a fierce fight followed. In the struggle,
+Bowyer and his assistants had their clothes torn from their backs, and
+some of the prisoners were rescued.
+
+In the meantime, the military paraded the street, clearing it of the mob,
+and preventing their return. In front of the store, and far beyond it, the
+flour lay half-knee deep--a sad spectacle, in view of the daily increasing
+scarcity of grain.
+
+Just before the military and police reached the ground, some one in the
+crowd shouted "Meeches." This was another flour store at Coenties Slip, on
+the other side of the city, nearly opposite. A portion of the mob on the
+outside, that could not get to the store, and aid in the work of
+destruction, at once hurried away to this new field of operations. On the
+way over, they passed Herrick & Co.'s flour store, and stopped to demolish
+it. They were loaded down with brick-bats, which they hurled at the
+windows, smashing them in. The doors followed, and the crowd, rushing
+through, began to roll out the barrels of flour. But when some twenty or
+thirty were tumbled into the street, and about half of them staved in,
+they, for some cause or other, stopped. Some said that they ceased because
+the owner promised, if they did, he would give it all away to the poor the
+next day. At all events, they would soon have been compelled to abandon
+the work of destruction, for the police hastened to the spot, accompanied
+by a large body of citizens, who had volunteered their help. Some were
+arrested, but most of the ringleaders escaped.
+
+How many of those who attended the meeting in the Park anticipated a mob
+and its action, it is impossible to say; but that a great number of them
+did, there can be no doubt.
+
+By nine o'clock the riot was over, and those who had engaged in it were
+either arrested or dispersed.
+
+The next day, Mr. Hart issued a card, denying that the exorbitant price of
+flour was owing to his having purchased a large quantity for the sake of
+monopolizing it, but to its scarcity alone.
+
+It was certainly a very original way to bring down the price, by
+attempting to destroy all there was in the city. Complaining of suffering
+from the want of provisions, they attempted to relieve themselves by
+putting its possession out of their power altogether. With little to eat,
+they attempted to make it impossible to eat at all. A better illustration
+of the insensate character of a mob could not be given.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+ASTOR-PLACE RIOTS, 1849.
+
+Rivalry between Forrest and Macready.--Macready's Arrival in this
+Country.--The Announcement of his Appearance at the Astor-place Opera
+House, and Forrest at the Broadway Theatre the same Night posted Side by
+Side.--Bowery Boys crowd the Opera House.--Anxiety of the Managers.--
+Consultations and Dramatic Scenes behind the Curtain.--Stamping of the
+People.--Scene on raising the Curtain.--Stormy Reception of Macready.--
+Howled down.--Mrs. Pope driven from the Stage by the Outrageous Language
+of the Mob.--Macready not allowed to go on.--His foolish Anger.--Flees for
+his Life.--His Appearance the Second Night.--Preparations to put down the
+Mob.--Exciting Scene in the Theatre.--Terrific Scenes without.--Military
+arrive.--Attacked by the Mob.--Patience of the Troops.--Effort to avoid
+Firing.--The Order to Fire.--Terrific Scene.--Strange Conduct of Forrest.
+--Unpublished Anecdote of General Scott.
+
+Probably there never was a great and bloody riot, moving a mighty city to
+its profoundest depths, that originated in so absurd, insignificant a
+cause as the Astor-place riot. A personal quarrel between two men growing
+out of professional jealousy, neither of whom had any hold on the
+affections of the people, were able to create a tumult, that ended only by
+strewing the street with the dead and wounded.
+
+Mr. Forrest, it is true, had a certain professional popularity, but
+nothing to awaken a personal enthusiasm for him. Viewing the matter in
+this light, some have thought, there was a mysterious underground
+influence at work, that has never yet been discovered. But one needs not
+to go far to find the causes that produced it.
+
+In the first place, ever since our revolt from England, especially since
+the second war with her, in which the contest for the supremacy of the
+seas was decided, the spirit of rivalry between the two countries has been
+intense and often bitter. No matter what the contest was, whether between
+two boats, or two bullies in the ring, it at once assumed the magnitude of
+a national one, and no matter how conducted, the winner was always charged
+with unfairness. It so happened that Forrest and Macready were the two
+popular tragic actors on either side of the Atlantic. If they had stayed
+at home, nothing would have been thought of it, but each invaded the
+domain of the other, and laid claim to his laurels. Of course criticism
+followed, national prejudices were aroused, and national peculiarities
+ridiculed. The press took sides, and fanned the excitement. Among other
+things, it was currently reported that when Forrest was in London,
+Macready went to see him act, and publicly hissed him. This was generally
+believed, and of course it alone would insure the latter an unwelcome
+reception from Forrest's admirers here, should he ever appear on our
+stage.
+
+Apparently unconscious of this hostility toward him, Macready came over in
+the spring of 1849, and at once made an engagement at the Astor-place
+Opera House, corner of Eighth Street and Lafayette Place. He was to appear
+as Macbeth; and the play was announced sometime beforehand. Forrest at the
+same time had an engagement at the Broadway Theatre. On the 7th of May,
+the following two significant placards appeared side by side in all the
+streets.
+
+ASTOR PLACE OPERA HOUSE.
+
+_This evening will be performed_
+
+MACBETH.
+
+MACBETH ... Macready. LADY MACBETH ... Mrs. Pope.
+
+BROADWAY THEATRE.
+
+_This evening will be performed_
+
+MACBETH.
+
+MACBETH ... Mr. Forrest. LADY MACBETH ... Mrs. Wallack.
+
+This public exhibition of rivalry stimulated the hostility of those
+opposed to Macready, and there were some fears of disturbance; but nothing
+serious was anticipated--in fact, it was rather a good advertisement, and
+promised full houses. Niblo, one of the managers of the Opera House,
+unwisely gave out tickets for more people than the building would hold,
+and when, before evening, he found they were taken, he was alarmed. It
+looked as if they had been so eagerly bought up for other purposes than
+merely to hear Macready. He therefore went to the Chief of Police, and
+requested the presence of a force in case any disturbance should be
+attempted. It was promised, but as it turned out, most of it came too late
+to be of any service.
+
+A tremendous crowd assembled in front of the building long before dark,
+and the moment the doors were open, a rush was made, and the human tide
+poured in, and flowing swiftly over the house, soon filled every part of
+it, except the boxes. These filled up more slowly; but long before the
+curtain rose, the house was packed to repletion, while the amphitheatre
+and parquette were crowded with hard-looking men--a dense mass of bone and
+muscle. The fashionable portion of the audience in the boxes began to feel
+anxious, for not only were all the seats occupied, but all the aisles and
+every foot of standing room. Some were in their shirt-sleeves, others were
+ragged and dirty, while all had their hats on. Such an audience had never
+before been seen in the Opera House, and it boded no good. Still, this
+heterogeneous mass was orderly, but it was noticed that at short intervals
+telegraphic signals were made by those nearest the stage to those in the
+wings of the amphitheatre, and answered, indicating a thoroughly arranged
+plan. The time before the play was to commence passed slowly, but the
+hard-looking crowd seemed very patient. Occasionally, to vary the
+monotony, some joke would be passed around, and once a man who was above
+called out to those below, imitating the English pronunciation: "I say,
+Jim, come 'hup 'ere! 'ere's some of Macready's hangels--'haint they sweet
+'uns?" If a lorgnette was levelled from one of the boxes, those noticing
+it below would put their thumbs to their noses and gyrate with their
+fingers in return. On the whole, however, the strange-looking crowd were
+orderly, although the quiet had an ominous look.
+
+But at half-past seven, the hour for the play to commence, that regular
+stamping, common to most theatres, began. But in this case, it did not
+continue for a little while and then die away, but beginning in a low
+rumble, every moment gathered strength and grew louder, till it rolled
+like thunder through the building, shaking the very walls, and making the
+glasses in the great central chandelier jingle, as though knocked together
+by invisible hands. As the mighty sound echoed through the recesses and
+dressing-rooms behind the scenes, Niblo became agitated, and stepping
+forward on the stage, peered behind the edge of the curtain, and surveyed
+the strange scene. Turning to Mr. Bowyer, of the chief's bureau, who was
+by his side, he said: "This looks rather dubious, Mr. Bowyer." "Yes," he
+replied, "the 'Boy's' are here certainly. What made you sell so many
+tickets? People are making a tremendous rush at the doors yet, and the
+house is full; over full already." Niblo then turned to his partner, and
+said: "What do you think, Mr. Hackett. Is there going to be a
+disturbance?" "I don't know," he replied; "you must ask Mr. Bowyer."
+
+The latter, putting his eye to the crack, took a careful survey of the
+audience, and remarked: "There is mischief in the parquette and
+amphitheatre, but probably no actual violence will be attempted; the
+'boys' will make a noise, and endeavor to prevent the play from
+proceeding, but possibly they will do nothing further; they seem to be
+patient and good-natured, but Mr. Macready may expect a rough reception."
+
+Macready, who had been dressing, now approached and also took a peep from
+behind the curtain. His gaze was long and searching. The scrutiny did not
+satisfy him, and he turned away and began to pace backward and forward in
+one of the wings, moody and thoughtful. The stamping had ceased while the
+orchestra was playing, but it now commenced again, apparently louder than
+ever. Lady Macbeth in full dress now came on the stage, pale and agitated.
+She also took a peep from behind the curtain. The spectacle frightened
+her, and turning to Mr. Hackett, she whispered, rather than exclaimed, "My
+God! Mr. Hackett, what is the matter? Are we to be murdered to-night?" "My
+dear Madam," he replied, "keep calm, there is no cause for alarm;
+everything will go on smoothly;" but his pale face and anxious look belied
+his words. It seemed now as if the house would come down under the
+continuous, furious stamping. Hackett turned to Bowyer, and asked if the
+chief had come. The latter replied he did not know; and another silence
+followed in the group behind the curtain, while they stood and listened to
+the thundering tramp, tramp, that rose like muffled thunder. At length
+Hackett asked: "How many policemen are there in the house?" "I don't
+know," replied Bowyer. "But the chief should have known," retorted the
+former. "What do you want the police to do, Mr. Niblo?" quietly asked
+Bowyer. The latter hesitated a moment, when the attaches of the theatre
+came crowding forward in alarm, and asking by their scared looks what it
+all meant.
+
+Macready and Mrs. Pope, in full costume, were at this time standing apart,
+talking together, evidently discussing the best course to be pursued. The
+uproar seemed to grow louder, and prudence dictated a suspension of the
+play; but Macready, after a moment's hesitation, determined to risk it,
+and suddenly gave the signal to raise the curtain. The bell tinkled, and
+the curtain slowly rose, revealing the gorgeous scene and the actors
+standing in a blaze of light. Instantly the tumult ceased, and a deep
+sudden hush succeeded. Those roughs were evidently taken aback by the
+dazzling splendor that burst upon them. It was a new revelation to them,
+and for the moment they seemed to forget the object of their coming, and
+to be wholly absorbed in the vision before them.
+
+The first scene passed off quietly, and the fears of a disturbance were
+allayed. In the second, taking Duncan for Macbeth, the crowd began to
+hiss, but soon finding their mistake ceased. It was evident that some one
+better posted than the mass had control of this wild element, so eager to
+be let loose. At length Macbeth came on, and was received with deafening
+cheers by those in the boxes. As these died away, a hiss ran through the
+amphitheatre and parquette, followed by cat-calls, cock-crowing, and
+sounds of every imaginable description. Macready had hardly uttered a
+single sentence, before his voice was totally drowned in the uproar.
+Forced to stop; he quietly folded his arms and faced the storm, expecting
+it would soon blow over. Finding himself mistaken--that if anything it
+grew louder and fiercer, his disdain turned into foolish anger, and
+advancing to the footlights, and throwing all the contempt and scorn into
+his face that he was master of, he deliberately walked the entire breadth
+of the stage, gazing haughtily as he did so, into the faces of the roughs
+nearest him, who were bawling their throats hoarse. This did not mend
+matters any, as he easily could have foreseen, had he known this type of
+American character better. He then attempted to go on and outbellow, if
+possible, the audience. But it was like shouting amid the roar of
+breakers. Nobody heard a word he said, still he stuck to it till he got
+through that portion of the act. It was now Lady Macbeth's turn, and the
+appearance of a woman, it was thought, would command that respect which in
+America is almost always accorded to one. But her reception was worse than
+that of Macready, for not content with shouts and yells they heaped
+disgusting epithets on her, and were so vulgar in their ribaldry that she
+flew in affright from the stage, "blushing," it was said, "even through
+the rouge on her face." Macready, however, showing, if nothing else, good
+English pluck, determined to go on. But he had scarcely finished the first
+sentence, when some potatoes struck the stage at his feet; then rotten
+eggs, breaking and spattering their sickening contents over his royal
+robes; while howls that seemed to come from the lower regions arose on
+every side. It was Pandemonium broke loose, and those in the boxes,
+thoroughly alarmed, jumped to their feet and stood as if paralyzed, gazing
+on the strange spectacle below. Macready's passions were now thoroughly
+aroused, and he stubbornly stood his ground. Suddenly a chair hurled from
+above, and evidently aimed at his head, struck the stage at his feet and
+broke into fragments, followed by the shout, "Go off the stage, you
+English fool! Hoo! Three cheers for Ned Forrest!" which were given with a
+will. Then came another chair, narrowly missing Macready's head, who, now
+alarmed for his personal safety, fled from the stage, and the curtain
+fell. But the bedlam that had been let loose did not stop. Hoots, curses,
+threats of vengeance, and the confused sounds of a mob given wholly over
+to passion, struck terror into all hearts; and Macready, fearing a rush
+would be made for him behind the scenes, left the theatre by a private
+door, and jumping into a carriage was rapidly driven to his hotel. The
+manager, alarmed for the safety of the building, attempted to announce his
+departure to the audience, but in vain. They would not listen to him, and
+as a last resort he chalked in large letters on a board, "_Macready has
+left the theatre_" and hoisted it before the footlights. This had the
+desired effect, and the headlong crowd, with shouts and laughter, began to
+tumble out. Once in the street, they sent up a loud hurrah, and dispersed
+in groups to their various drinking places, to talk over their victory and
+damn all Englishmen.
+
+The fact that the mob refrained from damaging the theatre, shows that they
+did not desire destruction; they had only done in their rough way what
+other men deemed respectable, and even legislators, have often done, and
+almost as boisterously, to prevent an obnoxious person from being heard.
+They certainly had many respectable precedents for their course, and Mr.
+Macready should have done what others have been compelled to do--given up
+the attempt and waited for a more propitious time. That a man has a right
+to play or speak, is true; but men of all grades have always asserted the
+right to show their displeasure of the acting of the one or the sentiments
+of the other. Not that there is any excuse for such conduct as we have
+described, but it can be hardly called a serious riot, although by
+whomsoever committed is unquestionably riotous in its character.
+
+Of this contemptible, disgraceful interference of his friends in his
+quarrel, Forrest had nothing to say--he kept a studied silence. How a man
+with any self-respect could have refrained from denouncing it, and
+repudiating all sympathy and connection with it by a public card, it will
+be difficult for men of ordinary sensibility to imagine.
+
+Macready now determined to throw up his engagement altogether, but after
+much consultation and deliberation changed his mind. A letter was
+addressed to him by many of the most wealthy and prominent citizens of the
+city, in which they expressed their regret at the treatment he had
+received, and urged him not to yield to such a lawless spirit. They
+promised that he should be protected in his rights, and hoped he would
+give the city an opportunity to wipe out the stain that had been put upon
+its character. This he unwisely consented to do, and the next Thursday was
+fixed for his appearance in the same play. When the placards announcing it
+were pasted up, there appeared immediately alongside of them another,
+announcing the appearance on the same evening of Forrest, in the Broadway
+Theatre, in the character of the "Gladiator."
+
+In the meantime other posters appeared, and among them the following in
+startling capitals:
+
+"WORKINGMEN!
+
+SHALL AMERICANS OR ENGLISH RULE IN THIS CITY?
+
+The crew of the British steamer have threatened all Americans who shall
+dare to offer their opinions this night at the
+
+ENGLISH ARISTOCRATIC OPERA HOUSE.
+
+WORKINGMEN! FREEMEN! STAND UP TO YOUR LAWFUL RIGHTS."
+
+It will be observed, that this artful appeal was like a two-edged sword,
+cutting both ways. It aimed at the same time to stir up the hatred of the
+lower classes against the upper, by the word aristocratic; and the
+national hatred of the English, by calling it the _English
+aristocratic_ Opera House to be guarded by English sailors. Both
+parties now began active preparations for the eventful night--the rioters
+by increasing and organizing their forces, and setting on foot plans to
+get possession of the house; the friends of Macready, to prevent this from
+being done, and at the same time secure sufficient aid from the
+authorities to suppress all open violence. To keep the rowdies from
+occupying the house, tickets were sold or given away only to those known
+to be friendly to Macready; while to suppress violence, three hundred
+police were promised, to be supported if necessary by two regiments of
+soldiers, who were ordered to be under arms at their quarters, ready to
+march at a moment's notice.
+
+As the day advertised for the play approached, the excitement deepened,
+and serious trouble seemed unavoidable. On the appointed evening, a strong
+body of police was quietly placed inside of the house, with definite
+instructions how to act. In the meantime, an immense crowd had assembled
+in front of the building, and, when at last the doors opened, a rush was
+made for them. But the police kept the crowd back, and only those who had
+tickets were admitted. When the house was fairly filled, the doors were
+closed and fastened. In the meantime the windows had been barricaded, with
+the exception of one, which was overlooked. This the now disappointed
+rabble assailed with stones, sending them through it, in among the
+startled audience. They tried also to break down one of the doors, but the
+policemen's clubs stopped them. Then commenced a series of yells and
+shouts, mingled with horrid oaths and threats as the baffled wretches
+surged around the building. Finding nothing else to vent their rage on,
+they attacked the lamps in the neighborhood, breaking them to pieces, and
+putting out the lights.
+
+In the meantime, the play inside, with this wild accompaniment without,
+commenced. Notwithstanding all the care that had been taken, a large
+number of roughs had succeeded in procuring tickets, showing that some
+professedly respectable men had been in collusion with them. Although the
+rioters inside were in a minority, they were not daunted, and being
+determined that the play should not go on, commenced stamping and yelling
+so, that Macready's voice from the outset was completely drowned.
+
+The police in disguise had mingled all day with the rioters, and
+ascertained what the mode of action inside the house was to be. At a
+certain point in the play, a signal was to be given, on seeing which the
+entire body was to make a rush for the stage and seize Macready. The Chief
+of Police arranged his plans accordingly, and imparted them to the force
+under him. He therefore made no effort to stop the noise, but waited for
+the expected signal. At length it was given, and the entire body of
+rioters rose with a yell and sprang forward. But at that moment, the chief
+gave _his_ signal, which was lifting his hat from his head. Every eye
+of those determined policemen had been intently watching it, and as it now
+rose, they sprang with a single bound upon the astonished rowdies, and
+before they could recover from their surprise, most of them were outside
+of the building, while the ringleaders were kept back and caged inside.
+
+The play now went on, but it was a spiritless affair. Every ear was turned
+to hear the muffled roar of the voices outside, which every moment
+increased in power as the mighty multitude kept swelling in numbers.
+
+The afterpiece was omitted, and Macready escaping through a private door,
+hastened to his hotel. It seemed for a time that the building would be
+torn down; but at length, a regiment of the National Guard, preceded by a
+body of cavalry, was seen marching steadily up Broadway. The crowd parted
+as it advanced, and as it turned into Eighth Street, the sharp word of
+command, "right wheel," rang out distinct and clear over the uproar. The
+rioters, instead of being intimidated, rushed to a pile of paving-stones
+that unfortunately happened to be near, and arming themselves with these,
+began to pelt the horses, which soon became unmanageable, so that the
+cavalry force had to retire.
+
+The infantry then advanced, but were received with such a deluge of stones
+that they, too, fell back to Broadway. Here they rallied, and at the order
+forward, moved steadily on the mob, and forced their way to the front of
+the Opera House. While forming line here on the sidewalk, they were
+assailed so fiercely with paving-stones, that the soldiers fell rapidly.
+The rioters were in close quarters, and the heavy stones, hurled at such a
+short distance, were almost as deadly as musket-balls. Captain Pond soon
+fell wounded, when the second in command told the sheriff that if he did
+not give the order to fire, the troops would be withdrawn, for they
+couldn't stand it. Recorder Talmadge, unwilling to resort to such a
+desperate measure, attempted to harangue the mob. He begged them, in God's
+name, to disperse and go home--if they did not, the soldiers would
+certainly fire on them, etc. The only reply was hoots and yells of
+defiance, and paving-stones. The Recorder then forced his way up to
+General Hall, standing at the right of the battalion, and said: "You must
+order your men to fire; it is a terrible alternative, but there is no
+other." The General asked for the Mayor, for he was doubtful of his
+authority to do so, without his order. "He won't be here," replied
+Talmadge. General Sandford then said: "Well, the National Guards will not
+stand and be pounded to death with stones; nearly one-third of the force
+is already disabled." After a little more hurried conversation, the
+sheriff said, "If that be so, you have permission to fire." The uproar all
+this time was deafening, and the order, "Ready!" of General Sandford,
+could hardly be heard; but the sharp, quick rattle of steel rose
+distinctly over the discord. Still terribly repugnant to shoot down
+citizens, General Hall and Colonel Duryea made another attempt to address
+the crowd, and begged them to cease these attacks. "Fire and be d--ned!"
+shouted a burly fellow. "Fire, if you dare--take the life of a freeborn
+American for a bloody British actor! D--n it, you dassent fire!" and he
+boldly bared his breast to the levelled muskets. "Fire, will you?" yelled
+another, as he hurled a paving-stone at General Sandford, wounding his
+sword arm. "Hit 'em again!" shouted a third, who saw the well-directed
+aim. Still averse to shedding blood, General Hall told the soldiers to
+elevate their pieces over the heads of the people, and fire at the blank
+wall of Mr. Langton's house opposite, hoping thus to frighten the mob. But
+this only awakened derision, and the leaders shouted, "Come on, boys! they
+have blank cartridges and leather flints!" In the meantime, the police,
+who had mingled with the mob, and were making arrests, began to force
+their way out, in order to escape the fire that now seemed inevitable. The
+troops moved across the street, and faced toward the Bowery, obeying the
+word of command promptly, and marching with great steadiness, although the
+pelting they received was murderous. To retreat would be pusillanimous, to
+stand there and be pelted to death worse still; and General Hall finally
+gave the order to fire point blank, but to aim low, so that men would be
+wounded, rather than killed. The command fell clear and distinct, "Fire!"
+
+A single musket shot on the extreme left was the only response. They were
+too near--their muzzles almost touching the hearts of the men, and it
+seemed terribly murderous to fire. "Fire!" shouted General Sandford.
+
+Three more musket-shots, only, followed. "Fire!" Duryea then cried out, in
+ringing tones. A swift volley ran along the line, shedding a momentary
+glare on the wild faces of the mob, the streets, and adjoining houses, and
+then came the report. This time the dead in their midst told the rioters
+that it was child's play no longer, and they fell back. But getting a new
+supply of paving-stones, they rallied, and once more advanced on the
+troops. A second volley, more murderous than the first, sent them crowding
+back on each other in terror. The troops now wheeled, and formed line
+again in front of the Opera House. It had got to be eleven o'clock, and
+more troops were ordered up, with two cannon. The mob, though dismayed,
+still refused to retire, and hung sullen and threatening as a thunder-
+cloud on the skirts of the military, and a third volley was poured into
+them. The rioters now separated, and fell back into the darkness, when the
+troops were ordered to fire the fourth time, in different directions--one
+wing down Eighth Street, and the other into Lafayette Place. This last
+volley, judging from the testimony of reliable witnesses, was altogether
+needless. The conflict was over.
+
+A lawyer of Wall Street, noted for his philanthropy and kindness, resided
+in Fourth Avenue, and being informed by a friend, late in the evening,
+that men were lying dead and wounded in Astor Place, he hastened down to
+see if he could be of any assistance to the poor creatures. Reaching
+Lafayette Place, he saw in the dim light a line of soldiers drawn up,
+though he saw no mob, only a few scattered men, who seemed to be
+spectators. Suddenly he heard the order to fire, and the next moment came
+a flash and report. He could not imagine what they were firing at; but
+suddenly he felt his arm numb, and the next moment he grew faint and
+dropped on the sidewalk, his arm broken to shivers. The brother of a well-
+known banker was shot in Broadway by a random bullet; and a man, while
+stepping out of a car in Third Avenue, was shot dead. Other innocent
+persons fell victims, as they always must, if they will hang on the skirts
+of a mob from curiosity. Men anxious to witness a fight must take the
+chances of getting hurt.
+
+Great excitement followed; an indignation meeting was called in the Park,
+coroners' juries stultified themselves, and a senseless outcry was made
+generally. Twenty-two were killed and thirty wounded. It was a terrible
+sacrifice to make for a paltry quarrel between two actors about whom
+nobody cared; and in this light alone many viewed it, forgetting that when
+the public peace is broken, it matters not how great or insignificant the
+cause, it must be preserved; and if the police or military are called out
+to do it, and are attacked, they must defend themselves, and uphold the
+laws, or be false to their trust. The authorities have to do with riots,
+not their causes; put them down, not deprecate their existence, or argue
+their justice.
+
+If public indignation had been turned against Forrest, it would have been
+more sensible. He knew perfectly well that if his friends persisted in
+their determination to attack Macready, the second night, blood would be
+spilt. It was _his_ quarrel, and yet he deliberately kept his lips
+closed. He neither begged them for their own sake, nor for his, or as good
+citizens, to forbear, and let his rival alone; nor after it was known that
+many had been killed, did he express a single word of regret; apparently
+having no feeling but gratification, that even at such a fearful sacrifice
+his hated rival had been driven from the field. But responsibility is not
+so easily shaken off, and in real life as well as in tragedy, conscience
+will force a man to cry:
+
+"Out! damned blood spot! Out, I say!"
+
+Macready left the country, and the excitement died away; but the painful
+memories of this absurd yet deadly riot will remain till the present
+generation has passed from the stage.
+
+We cannot close this account more fitly than by relating an anecdote of
+General Scott connected with it, that has never been made public. He was
+living at the time in Second Avenue, nearly opposite Astor Place. He was
+occupying the upper part of the house that evening, and his wife the
+lower. When the first volley over the heads of the people was fired, he
+hastened down, and sent off a servant to ascertain what it meant. Before
+the latter returned, he heard a second volley. Hurrying below, he
+despatched a second servant to find out what was going on, and went back
+to his room. A third volley smote on his ear, and deeply agitated he
+hurried below, and began to pace the room in an excited manner. His wife,
+observing how much he was moved, remarked pleasantly: "Why, General, you
+are frightened!" This was rather a staggerer to the old hero, and he
+turned and exclaimed: "Am I a man to be frightened, madam? It is
+_volley_ firing, madam--_volley_ firing. They are shooting down
+American citizens!" The old chieftain had heard that firing too often on
+the field of battle, to be ignorant of its meaning. He had seen ranks of
+living men reel and fall before it; nay, stood amid the curling smoke when
+his staff was swept down by his side, calm and unmoved, but here he was
+unmanned. Over the ploughed and blood-stained field, he had moved with
+nerves as steady as steel, and pulse beating evenly; but now he paced his
+safe and quiet room with his strong nature painfully agitated, and all
+because American citizens were being shot down by American citizens. The
+fact speaks volumes for the nobleness of his nature, and that unsullied
+patriotism which sheds tenfold lustre on his well-earned laurels.
+
+[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS METROPOLITAN FIRE DEPARTMENT.]
+
+[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS METROPOLITAN POLICE, 300 Mulberry Street.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+POLICE RIOT--DEAD-RABBITS' RIOT--BREAD RIOT.
+
+Creation of the Metropolitan District.--Collision between Mayor Wood's
+Police and the Metropolitan Police.--Seventh Regiment called out.--Dead-
+Rabbits' Riot.--Severe Fight between the Roach Guards and Dead Rabbits.--
+Police driven back.--Barricades erected.--Military called out.--Killed and
+Wounded.--Bread Riot.--Financial Distress.
+
+The year 1857 was a remarkable one in the history of New York City, and
+indeed of the whole country. The year previous had been characterized by
+intense political excitement, for the presidential campaign had been
+carried on as a sectional fight or a war between the upholders and enemies
+of the institution of slavery as it existed at the South. Pennsylvania
+alone by her vote defeated the antislavery party, and the South, seeing
+the danger that threatened it, had already begun to prepare for that
+tremendous struggle, that afterwards tested to the utmost the resources
+and strength of the North; while a financial storm overwhelmed the entire
+country in disaster. To these were added local causes, which affected New
+York City particularly, and made it a year of uncommon disturbance.
+
+The Republican party being largely in the ascendant in the State,
+determined to revolutionize the municipal government, and place the
+Democratic city partially under Republican rule. Many bills were passed
+during the session of Legislature, peculiarly obnoxious to the city
+authorities, but that which excited the most bitter opposition was called
+the Metropolitan Police Act, by which the counties of New York, Kings,
+Westchester, and Richmond were made one police district, to be controlled
+by a board of commissioners, consisting of five members appointed by the
+Governor and Senate, and to hold office for five years. This board having
+organized, proceeded to create a police department. Mayor Wood denied the
+constitutionality of the act and retained the old police--so that there
+were two police departments existing at the same time in the city. The
+Mayor resorted to all kinds of legal measures to defeat the action of the
+board, and the question was finally referred to the Court of Appeals for
+decision.
+
+In the mean time the death of a street commissioner left a vacancy to be
+filled. Governor King, acting under the recent law, appointed Daniel D.
+Conover to fill it, while the Mayor appointed Charles Devlin. A third
+claimant for the place appeared in the deputy, who asserted his right to
+act until the decision of the Court of Appeals was rendered. Conover had
+no idea of waiting for this, and proceeded to assume the duties of his
+office. The Mayor of course resisted, and so Conover got out a warrant
+from the Recorder to arrest the former on the charge of inciting a riot,
+and another on the charge of personal violence. Armed with these papers,
+and backed by fifty of the new policemen, he proceeded to the City Hall.
+The Mayor, aware of the movement, had packed the building with his own
+police, who refused him admittance. The new police attempted to force an
+entrance, when a fight followed, in which twelve policemen were severely
+injured. While things were in this critical condition, the Seventh
+Regiment passed down Broadway on its way to the boat for Boston, whither
+it was going to receive an ovation. A request for its interference was
+promptly granted, and marching into the Park they quickly quelled the
+riot, and the writs were served on the Mayor.
+
+Intense excitement followed, and so great was the fear of a terrible
+outbreak, that nine regiments were put under arms, ready to march at a
+moment's notice.
+
+But on the 1st of July the Court of Appeals decided the act to be
+constitutional, and the disturbance ended. But of course, while this
+strife was going on between the police, but little was done to arrest
+disorder in the city. The lawless became emboldened, and in the evening
+before the 4th of July a disturbance began, which for a time threatened
+the most serious consequences.
+
+DEAD-RABBITS' RIOT.
+
+The origin of the term "Dead Rabbits," which became so well known this
+year from being identified with a serious riot, is not certainly known. It
+is said that an organization known as the "Roach Guards," called after a
+liquor dealer by that name, became split into two factions, and in one of
+their stormy meetings some one threw a dead rabbit into the room, and one
+party suddenly proposed to assume the name.
+
+These two factions became bitterly hostile to each other; and on the day
+before the 4th of July came in collision, but finally separated without
+doing much damage. They were mostly young men, some of them being mere
+boys.
+
+The next day, the fight was renewed at Nos. 40 and 42 Bowery Street, and
+clubs, stones, and even pistols were freely used. The "Dead Rabbits" were
+beaten and retired, yelling and firing revolvers in the air, and attacking
+everybody that came in their way. Their uniform was a blue stripe on their
+pantaloons, while that of the Roach Guards was a red stripe. People in the
+neighborhood were frightened, and fastened their doors and windows. No
+serious damage was done, however.
+
+About ten o'clock, a policeman in Worth Street, while endeavoring to clear
+the sidewalk, was knocked down and severely beaten. At length, breaking
+away from his assailants, he hastened to the central office in White
+Street, and reported the state of things. A squad of police was
+immediately dispatched to arrest the ringleaders. On reaching Centre
+Street they found a desperate fight going on, and immediately rushed in,
+to put a stop to it. The belligerents at once made common cause against
+them. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict followed, but the police at length
+forced the mob to retreat. The latter, however, did not give up the
+contest, but mounting to the upper stories and roofs of the tenement-
+houses, rained down clubs and stones so fiercely, that the police were
+driven off with only two prisoners.
+
+Comparative quiet was now restored, though the excitement spread in every
+direction. It lasted, however, only an hour or two, when suddenly a loud
+yell was heard near the Tombs, accompanied with the report of fire-arms,
+and crowds of people came pouring down Baxter and Leonard Streets, to get
+out of the way of bullets. Some wounded men were carried by, and the
+utmost terror and confusion prevailed. The air was filled with flying
+missiles and oaths, and shouts of defiance. Now the Dead Rabbits would
+drive their foes before them, and again be driven back. The bloody fight
+thus swayed backwards and forwards through the narrow streets for a long
+time. At length twenty-five Metropolitan Police appeared on the scene,
+while fifty more were held in reserve. Though assailed at every step with
+clubs and stones, they marched steadily on, clearing the crowd as they
+advanced, and forcing the Dead Rabbits into the houses, whither they
+followed them, mounting even to the roof, and clubbing them at every step.
+After clearing the houses, they resumed their march, when they were again
+attacked by the increasing crowd, many of them armed with muskets and
+pistols. Barricades were now erected, behind which the mob rallied, and
+the contest assumed the aspect of a regular battle. The notorious Captain
+Rynders came on the ground, between six and seven o'clock, and attempted
+to restore quiet. Not succeeding, however, he repaired to the office of
+the Police Commissioners, and told Commissioner Draper, if he had not
+police force enough to disperse the mob, he should call out the military.
+The latter replied that he had made a requisition on Major-General
+Sandford, for three regiments, and that they would soon be on the ground.
+But it was nine o'clock before they made their appearance. The police then
+formed in two bodies of seventy-five men each, and supported, one by the
+Seventy-first Regiment and the other by the Eighth, marched down White and
+Worth Streets. This formidable display of force overawed the rioters, and
+they fled in every direction. This ended the riot, although the military
+were kept on duty during the night.
+
+At times, the fight was close and deadly, and it was reported that eight
+were killed and some thirty wounded.
+
+BREAD RIOT.
+
+In the autumn, there came a financial crisis, that was so wide-spread and
+disastrous that the lower classes suffered for want of food. Banks
+suspended specie payment, manufactories were forced to stop work, and
+paralysis fell on the whole industry of the nation. It was estimated that
+ten thousand persons were thrown out of employment. These soon used up
+their earnings, and destitution and suffering of course followed. Their
+condition grew worse as cold weather came on, and many actually died of
+starvation. At length they became goaded to desperation, and determined to
+help themselves to food. Gaunt men and women, clad in tatters, gathered in
+the Park, and that most fearful of all cries, when raised by a mob,
+"Bread," arose on every side. Propositions were made to break open the
+stores, and get what they needed. Flour was hoarded up in them because so
+little could be got on from the West. The granaries there were groaning
+with provisions; but there was no money to pay for the transportation.
+There was money East, but kept locked up in fear. As this became known to
+the mob, their exasperation increased. To know that there were both food
+enough and money enough, while they were starving to death, was enough to
+drive them mad, and there were ominous mutterings. Fortunately, the
+authorities saw in time the threatened danger, and warded it off. A great
+many were set to work on the Central Park and other public works, while
+soup-houses were opened throughout the city, and private associations
+formed to relieve the suffering; and the winter passed without any
+outbreak, though more than five thousand business-houses in the country
+failed, with liabilities reaching three hundred millions of dollars.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+DRAFT RIOTS OF 1863.
+
+Cause of the Riots--The London _Times_.--Draft called a despotic
+Measure.--The despotic Power given to Washington by Congress.--Despotic
+Action sometimes Necessary, in order to save the Life of the Nation.--The
+Rights of Government.--Drafting the Legitimate Way to raise an Army--It is
+not Unequal or Oppressive.
+
+The ostensible cause of the riots of 1863 was hostility to the draft,
+because it was a tyrannical, despotic, unjust measure--an act which has
+distinguished tyrants the world over, and should never be tolerated by a
+free people. Open hostility to oppression was more than once hinted in a
+portion of the press--as not only a right, but a duty.
+
+Even the London _Times_ said, "It would have been strange, indeed, if
+the American people had submitted to a measure which is a distinctive mark
+of the most despotic governments of the Continent." As if the fact that a
+measure, because resorted to by a despotic government, was therefore
+necessarily wrong. It might as well be said, that because settling
+national difficulties by an appeal to arms has always been a distinctive
+feature of despotic governments, therefore the American people should
+refuse to sustain the government by declaring or prosecuting any war; or
+that because it has always been a distinctive feature of despotic
+governments to have naval and military schools, to train men to the art of
+war, therefore the American people should not submit to either. It is not
+of the slightest consequence to us what despotic governments do or not do;
+the simple question is, whether the measure is necessary for the
+protection of our own government, and the welfare of the people. To leave
+this untouched, and talk only about despotism, the right of the people,
+and all that, is mere demagogism, and shows him who utters it to be unfit
+to control public opinion. Besides, there is a great difference between
+measures that are despotic, which are put forth to save the nation's life,
+or honor, and those put forth to destroy freedom, and for selfish ends.
+Not that, intrinsically, despotic measures are always not to be deprecated
+and avoided, if possible; for if tolerated in one case, they may be
+exacted in another.
+
+[Illustration: FORT LAFAYETTE, NEW YORK HARBOR.]
+
+[Illustration: FORT HAMILTON, from whence U.S. Troops were sent to aid in
+suppressing the Draft Riot of 1863.]
+
+Liberty can never be guarded too carefully, or the barriers erected around
+the rights of every individual respected too scrupulously. But everything
+in this world is a choice between two evils. The greatest wisdom cannot
+avoid _all_ evils; it can only choose the least. Sound statesmanship
+regards any stretch of power better than the overthrow of the nation.
+Probably there never was a more able and wise body of men assembled, or
+more jealous of any exercise of arbitrary power, than the First Congress
+of the United States; and yet, almost in the commencement of our struggle
+for independence, when events wore such a gloomy aspect that failure
+seemed inevitable, rising above its fears of despotic measures, in its
+greater fear of total defeat, it conferred on Washington powers that made
+him to a large extent military dictator. He was authorized to raise
+sixteen battalions of infantry, three thousand light-horse, three
+regiments of artillery, together with a corps of engineers, and _appoint
+the officers himself_. He had, also, full power, when he deemed it
+necessary, to call on the several States for the militia; to appoint
+throughout _the entire army all the officers under brigadiers_; fill
+up all vacancies; to take whatever he wanted for the use of his troops,
+wherever he could find it, with no other restriction than that he must pay
+for it, which last was nullified, because he was empowered to _seize and
+lock up every man who refused to receive in pay Continental money_. It
+would seem impossible that a body of men who were so extremely sensitive
+in bestowing power on a military commander, and so watchful of the rights
+of individuals, could have committed such an act; and yet, who does not
+see that, under the circumstances, it was wise. Now, granting that
+conscription is a despotic measure, no truthful, candid man will deny
+that, in case of a war, where men must be had, and can be got in no other
+way, that it would be the duty of government to enforce it. It is idle to
+reply that the supposition is absurd--that in this country such a thing
+can never happen; for what has been in the world can be again. Besides,
+this does meet the question of the _right_ of the Government, that
+must be settled before the emergency comes. Now, we do not believe there
+is sounder principle, or one that every unbiassed mind does not concede
+with the readiness that it does an axiom, that, if necessary to protect
+and save itself, a government may not only order a draft, but call out
+_every_ able-bodied man in the nation. If this right does not inhere
+in our government, it is built on a foundation of sand, and the sooner it
+is abandoned the better.
+
+But we go farther, and deny that a draft is a despotic measure at all, but
+is a just and equitable mode of raising an army. True, if troops enough
+can be raised on a reasonable bounty, it is more expedient to do so; but
+the moment that bounty becomes so exorbitant as to tempt the cupidity of
+those in whom neither patriotism nor sense of duty have any power,
+volunteering becomes an evil. We found it so in our recent war. The bounty
+was a little fortune to a certain class, the benefit of which they had no
+idea of losing by being shot, and hence they deserted, or shammed
+sickness, so that scarce half the men ever got to the front, while those
+who did being influenced by no motive higher than cupidity, became
+worthless soldiers. A draft takes in enough men of a higher stamp to
+leaven the mass. The first Napoleon, when asked what made his first "army
+of Italy" so resistless, replied that almost every man in it was
+intelligent enough to act as a clerk. The objection that a rich man, if
+drafted, can buy a substitute, while the poor man, with a large family
+depending upon him, must go, if of any weight at all, lies against the
+whole structure of society, which gives the rich man at every step
+immunities over the poor man. When pestilence sweeps through a city, the
+rich man can flee to a healthy locality, while the poor man must stay and
+die; and when the pestilence of war sweeps over the land, must one attempt
+to reverse all this relation between wealth and poverty?
+
+When society gets in that happy state, that the rich man has no advantages
+over the poor, there will be no need either of drafting or volunteering.
+Yet, after all, it is not so unequal as it at first sight appears. War
+must have money as well as men, and the former the rich have to furnish;
+and if they do this, it is but fair that they should be allowed to furnish
+with it also the men to do their fighting. Besides, there must be some
+rule that would exempt the men that carry on the business of the country.
+
+We have said this much, because the riots in New York, which might have
+ended in national destruction, were brought about by preaching views
+directly the opposite of these.
+
+The military spirit is so prevalent in the nation, that in any ordinary
+war the Government can get all the troops it wants by giving a moderate
+bounty, and wages but a little greater than can be secured at any ordinary
+business or occupation. Still, the right to raise them differently should
+never be denied it.
+
+When the old militia system was given up in the State, and a certain
+number of regiments were raised and equipped and drilled for active duty,
+and for which the people paid taxes, it was thought they would furnish all
+the quota that would ever be called for from the State--and in any
+ordinary war will. The crisis, however, in which we found ourselves had
+never been anticipated, and hence not provided against, and when Congress
+attempted to do it in what seemed to it the best way, an outcry was raised
+of injustice and oppression. It was hard, doubtless, but there are a great
+many hard things in the world that have been and have to be borne. The
+feeling of hostility unquestionably would have been less intense, had not
+so many of those to be drafted been bitterly opposed to the war. Believing
+it to have been brought about by the reckless demagogism and fanaticism of
+their political opponents, and levied as it was against those who had been
+their warm political friends, indeed, chief dependence for political
+success, it was asking a good deal, to require them to step to the front,
+and fight in such a war. Whether this feeling was right or wrong, had
+nothing to do with the influence it actually exerted.
+
+On this feeling was based, in fact, the real hostility to the draft, in
+which a portion of the press shared. But, as we said before, we having
+nothing to do with the justice or injustice of this belief or feeling; we
+only state the fact, with our denial that it furnished any excuse for the
+denunciations uttered against the draft as a wrong use of power, or the
+refusal to submit to it on that account. The Government, whether wrong or
+right, must be supported, or abandoned and given over to revolution. In
+ordinary times, denunciation of its measures, and the most strenuous
+opposition to them, is the right and often the duty of every conscientious
+man. This right, exercised by the press, is one of the most effectual
+checks against abuses, and the most powerful lever to work reform and
+changes. But in a great crisis, to set one's self against a measure on
+which the fate of the nation hangs, is a flagrant abuse of that right; for
+the effort, if successful, will not work change and an improved condition
+of things, but immediate, irretrievable ruin, and put the nation beyond
+the reach of reform.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Rights of Municipalities.--Interference of the Legislature with the City
+Government.--Conflict between the Governor and Police Commissioners.--A
+Wrong becomes a Practical Blessing.--Provost Marshals.--Riot not
+anticipated.--Bad time to commence the Draft.--Preparations of
+Superintendent Kennedy.--The Police System.--Attack on Provost Marshal
+Captain Erhardt.--Telegrams of the Police.--Kennedy starts on a Tour of
+Observation.
+
+The rights of municipalities have been conceded from the first dawn of
+constitutional liberty indeed municipal freedom may be said to be the
+first step in the onward progress of the race toward the full recognition
+of its rights. To interfere with a great commercial city like New York,
+except by general laws, is as a rule unwise, impolitic, and, indeed,
+unjust. Like a separate State, it had better suffer many and great evils,
+than to admit the right of outward power to regulate its internal affairs.
+To do so, in any way, is fraught with mischief; but to do so as a
+political party, is infinitely more pernicious. It leaves a great
+metropolis, on which the welfare of the commercial business of the nation
+mainly depends, a foot-ball for ambitious or selfish politicians to play
+with. But as there are exceptions to all rules, so there may be to this--
+still they should always be exceptions, and not claimed as a settled
+policy.
+
+We mention this, because the interference of the Legislature, or rather
+the dominant part of it, in the internal policy of New York, about the
+time the war commenced, was in itself a mischievous and tyrannical act,
+while, under the circumstances that soon after occurred, it proved of
+incalculable benefit.
+
+With the city stripped of its military, and the forts in the harbor of
+their garrisons, the police, under the old regime, during the draft riots,
+would have been trustless and powerless, even if the city government had
+attempted to uphold the national authority, which is doubtful. The
+Republicans established a Board of Police Commissioners, the majority of
+which were of their own political faith, who had the entire control of the
+department. Under their hands, an entire different set of men from those
+formerly selected, composed the force, and a regular system of drills, in
+fact, a thorough organization, adopted.
+
+But in 1862 the Democrats elected their governor, though they failed to
+secure the Legislature. Mr. Seymour, immediately on his inauguration,
+summoned the Commissioners to appear before him, the object of which was
+to change the character of the board. The latter understood it, and
+refused to appear. Legal proceedings were then commenced against them, but
+they were staved off, and in the meantime the Legislature had got to work,
+and took the matter in hand; and Messrs. Bowen, Acton, and Bergen, were
+made to constitute the board--John A. Kennedy being superintendent of
+police. Mr. Bowen, the president of the board, having been appointed
+brigadier-general, resigned, and Mr. Acton, under the law, became
+president. This political character of the board, so diametrically opposed
+to the feelings and wishes of the vast majority of the citizens, tested by
+the ordinary rules and principles of a Republican Government, was unjust;
+a palpable, deliberate encroachment on the right of self-government. But
+as we remarked, just now, it was fortunate for the country that such a
+state of things existed. In the extraordinary, not anticipated, and
+perilous condition in which we found ourselves, everything was changed.
+Neither constitutions nor laws had been framed to meet such an emergency,
+and both, in many cases, had to be suspended. What was right before, often
+became wrong now, and vice versa. The article inserted in the Constitution
+of the State, that the moment a bank refused specie payment, it became
+bankrupt, was a wise and just provision, but to enforce it now, would be
+financial ruin, and it was not done.
+
+This usurpation of the government of New York by the Republican party,
+which seemed so unjust, was, doubtless, under the circumstances, the
+salvation of the city. It was, moreover, highly important to the whole
+country, in the anomalous war which threatened our very existence, that
+the controlling power of the city should be in sympathy with the General
+Government, but it was especially, vitally so, when the latter put its
+provost marshals in it to enforce the draft. That this _mode_ of
+enforcing the draft by provost marshals, was an encroachment on the rights
+and powers of the separate States, there can be no doubt. It is equally
+clear that the proper way was to call on the separate governors for their
+quota, and let _them_ enforce the draft. If they refused to do it,
+then it was time for the General Government to take the matter in its own
+hand. This, however, was no encroachment on _individual_ rights. The
+oppressive nature of the act and the result were the same to the person,
+whether enforced by the State or General Government. Still it was a total
+departure from the practice of the General Government since its first
+organization, and it moreover established a dangerous precedent, which the
+sooner it is abandoned the better. But this had nothing to do with the
+opposition to the draft. That was a personal objection.
+
+With the Police Department in sympathy with the rioters, it is not
+difficult to see what the end would have been. We do not mean by that,
+that the heads of the department would not have endeavored to do their
+duty, but it would have been impossible to control the kind of element
+they would inevitably have to deal with. This even the long-tried, trusted
+leaders of the Democratic party acknowledged. In fact, the police force
+would not have been in a condition, with ever so good a will, to have
+acted with the skill and promptness it did.
+
+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.
+
+A general provost marshal had been appointed over the whole city, which
+was subdivided into various districts, in each of which was an assistant
+provost marshall. Although there had been no provision for a general
+assistant provost marshal or aid, yet Colonel Nugent acted in this
+capacity. The drafting was to take place in the separate districts, under
+the direction of the assistant provost marshals.
+
+Although there had been some rumors of resistance to it, they received
+very little credence, and no special provision was made for such an
+emergency. The city was almost denuded of the military; the regiments
+having been called to Pennsylvania to repel Lee's invasion; yet so little
+fear was entertained, that even the police department was not requested to
+make any special preparation. The Invalid Corps, as it was called,
+composed of the maimed and crippled soldiers who could no longer keep the
+field, were thought to be quite sufficient to preserve the peace.
+
+The draft commenced on Saturday in the Eleventh and Ninth Districts, and
+passed off quietly; and it was thought the same order would be maintained
+throughout, and if any force were necessary to repress violence, it would
+be when the conscripts were required to take their place in the ranks.
+
+Still Superintendent Kennedy of the Police Department feared there might
+be some difficulty experienced by the officers in charge of the draft,
+even if no serious resistance should be offered. Some of the enrolling
+officers, a short time previous, while taking the names of those subject
+to draft, had been assailed with very abusive language, or their questions
+received in sullen silence or answered falsely; fictitious names often
+being given instead of the true ones. In the Ninth District, embracing the
+lower part of the city, the provost marshal, Captain Joel T. Erhardt, came
+near losing his life in the performance of this duty. At the corner of
+Liberty Street and Broadway a building was being torn down, preparatory to
+the erection of another, and the workmen engaged in it threatened the
+enrolling officer who came to take down their names, with violence, and
+drove him off.
+
+Captain Erhardt, on the report being made to him, repaired to head-
+quarters, and requested of Colonel Nugent a force of soldiers to protect
+the officer in the discharge of his duty. But this the latter declined to
+do, fearing it would exasperate the men and bring on a collision, and
+requested the Captain to go himself, saying, if he did, there would be no
+difficulty. Captain Erhardt declined, on the ground that he was not an
+enrolling officer. But Colonel Nugent persisting, the Captain finally told
+him, if he ordered him, as his superior officer, to go, he would. Nugent
+replied that he might so consider it. Erhardt then said he would go, but
+only on one condition, that if he got in trouble and asked for help, he
+would send him troops. To this he agreed, and Captain Erhardt proceeded to
+the building on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street, and stepping on
+a plank that led from the sidewalk to the floor, asked a man on a ladder
+for his name. The fellow refused to answer, when an altercation ensuing,
+he stepped down, and seizing an iron bar advanced on the provost marshal.
+The latter had nothing but a light Malacca cane in his hand, but as he saw
+the man meant murder he drew a pistol from his pocket, and levelled it
+full at his breast. This brought him to a halt; and after looking at
+Erhardt for awhile he dropped his bar. Erhardt then put up his pistol, and
+went on with his enrolling. The man was dogged and angry, and watching his
+opportunity, suddenly made a rush at the provost marshal. The latter had
+only time to deal him, as he sprang forward, one heavy blow with his cane,
+when they closed. In a moment both reeled from the plank and fell to the
+cellar beneath, the provost marshal on top. Covered with dirt, he arose
+and drew his pistol, and mounted to the sidewalk.
+
+The foreman sympathized with the workmen, and Erhardt could do nothing.
+Determined to arrest them for resisting the draft, he despatched a
+messenger to Colonel Nugent for the promised force. None, however, was
+sent. He, in the meantime, stood with drawn pistol facing the men, who
+dared not advance on him. Aid not arriving, he sent again, and still later
+a third time. He stood thus facing the workmen with his pistol for three
+hours, and finally had to leave without making any arrests. This failure
+of Colonel Nugent to fulfil his promise and perform his duty came near
+costing Erhardt his life, and then and there starting the riot. The next
+day he had the foreman arrested, and completed his work of enrolling.
+
+The time selected for commencing the draft was unfortunate. Saturday, of
+all days in the week, was the worst. It was a new thing, and one under any
+circumstances calculated to attract universal attention among the lower
+classes, and provoke great and angry discussion. Hence, to have the draft
+commence on Saturday, and allow the names to be published in the papers on
+Sunday morning, so that all could read them, and spend the day in talking
+the matter over, and lay plans for future action, was a most unwise,
+thoughtless procedure. If there had been any choice as to the day, one, if
+possible, should have been chosen that preceded the busiest day of the
+week. To have the list of twelve hundred names that had been drawn read
+over and commented on all day by men who enlivened their discussion with
+copious draughts of bad whiskey, especially when most of those drawn were
+laboring-men or poor mechanics, who were unable to hire a substitute, was
+like applying fire to gunpowder. If a well-known name, that of a man of
+wealth, was among the number, it only increased the exasperation, for the
+law exempted every one drawn who would pay three hundred dollars towards a
+substitute. This was taking practically the whole number of soldiers
+called for out of the laboring classes. A great proportion of these being
+Irish, it naturally became an Irish question, and eventually an Irish
+riot. It was in their eyes the game of hated England over again--
+oppression of Irishmen. This state of feeling could not be wholly
+concealed. Kennedy, aware of it, felt it necessary, on Monday morning, to
+take some precautionary measures. Still, in the main, only small squads of
+policemen were sent to the various points where the drafting was to take
+place, and merely to keep back the crowd and maintain order, in case a few
+disorderly persons should attempt to create disturbance. It was true, a
+rumor had been put in circulation that a body of men had planned to seize
+the arsenal, and Kennedy, as a matter of precaution, sent fifty policemen
+to occupy it. But during the morning, word was brought him that the
+street-contractor's men in the Nineteenth Ward were not at work. This
+looked ominous, and he began to fear trouble. Thinking that Provost
+Marshal Maniere's office, 1190 Broadway, and that of Marshal Jenkins,
+corner of Forty-sixth Street and Third Avenue, would be more likely to be
+the points attacked, he hurried off the following telegrams:
+
+July 13, 8.35 A.M. From Central Office to Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and
+Twenty-first Precincts: Send ten men and a sergeant forthwith to No. 677
+Third Avenue, and report to Captain Porter of Nineteenth Precinct for
+duty. J. A. KENNEDY.
+
+July 13, 8.50 A.M. To Twenty-ninth Precinct: Place a squad of ten of your
+men, with a competent sergeant, at No. 1190 Broadway, during the draft--if
+you want more, inform me. J. A. K.
+
+8.55 A.M. To Sixteenth and Twentieth Precincts: Send your reserve to
+Seventh Avenue Arsenal forthwith.
+
+J. A. K.
+
+Telegrams were now pouring in from different quarters, showing that
+mischief was afoot, and at nine o'clock he sent the following despatch:
+
+"To all platoons, New York and Brooklyn: Call in your reserve platoons,
+and hold them at the stations subject to further orders."
+
+It should be noted, that ordinarily one-half of the police of the
+Metropolitan District, which took in Brooklyn, is relieved from both
+patrol and reserve duty, from six o'clock in the morning till six in the
+evening. The other half is divided into two sections, which alternately
+perform patrol and reserve duty during the day. A relief from patrol duty
+of one of these sections takes place at eight o'clock A.M., when it goes
+to breakfast. Hence, the orders issued by the Superintendent to call in
+these could not reach them without a considerable delay.
+
+It now being about ten o'clock, Mr. Kennedy, having despatched an
+additional body of men to the Twenty-ninth Precinct, got into his light
+wagon, to take a drive through the districts reported to be most
+dangerous. He went up far as the arsenal, and giving such directions as he
+thought necessary, started across the town to visit Marshal Jenkins'
+quarters in the Twenty-ninth Precinct.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Commencement of the Mob.--Its Line of March.--Its immense Size.--Attacks a
+Provost-marshal's Office, in Third Avenue.--Set on Fire.--Terrible
+Struggle of Kennedy for his Life with the Mob.--Carried to Head-quarters
+unconscious.--Acton's Preparations.--The Telegraph System.--Mob cutting
+down Telegraph Poles.--Number of Despatches sent over the Wires during the
+Riot.--Superintendent of Telegraph Bureau seized and held Prisoner by the
+Mob.
+
+Meanwhile, events were assuming an alarming aspect in the western part of
+the city. Early in the morning men began to assemble here in separate
+groups, as if in accordance with a previous arrangement, and at last moved
+quietly north along the various avenues. Women, also, like camp followers,
+took the same direction in crowds. They were thus divided into separate
+gangs, apparently to take each avenue in their progress, and make a clean
+sweep. The factories and workshops were visited, and the men compelled to
+knock off work and join them, while the proprietors were threatened with
+the destruction of their property, if they made any opposition. The
+separate crowds were thus swelled at almost every step, and armed with
+sticks, and clubs, and every conceivable weapon they could lay hands on,
+they moved north towards some point which had evidently been selected as a
+place of rendezvous. This proved to be a vacant lot near Central Park, and
+soon the living streams began to flow into it, and a more wild, savage,
+and heterogeneous-looking mass could not be imagined. After a short
+consultation they again took up the line of march, and in two separate
+bodies, moved down Fifth and Sixth Avenues, until they reached Forty-sixth
+and Forty-seventh Streets, when they turned directly east.
+
+The number composing this first mob has been so differently estimated,
+that it would be impossible from reports merely, to approximate the truth.
+A pretty accurate idea, however, can be gained of its immense size, from a
+statement made by Mr. King, son of President King, of Columbia College.
+Struck by its magnitude, he had the curiosity to get some estimate of it
+by timing its progress, and he found that although it filled the broad
+street from curbstone to curbstone, and was moving rapidly, it took
+between twenty and twenty-five minutes for it to pass a single point.
+
+A ragged, coatless, heterogeneously weaponed army, it heaved tumultuously
+along toward Third Avenue. Tearing down the telegraph poles as it crossed
+the Harlem & New Haven Railroad track, it surged angrily up around the
+building where the drafting was going on. The small squad of police
+stationed there to repress disorder looked on bewildered, feeling they
+were powerless in the presence of such a host. Soon a stone went crashing
+through a window, which was the signal for a general assault on the doors.
+These giving way before the immense pressure, the foremost rushed in,
+followed by shouts and yells from those behind, and began to break up the
+furniture. The drafting officers, in an adjoining room, alarmed, fled
+precipitately through the rear of the building. The mob seized the wheel
+in which were the names, and what books, papers, and lists were left, and
+tore them up, and scattered them in every direction. A safe stood on one
+side, which was supposed to contain important papers, and on this they
+fell with clubs and stones, but in vain. Enraged at being thwarted, they
+set fire to the building, and hurried out of it. As the smoke began to
+ascend, the onlooking multitude without sent up a loud cheer. Though the
+upper part of the building was occupied by families, the rioters, thinking
+that the officers were concealed there, rained stones and brick-bats
+against the windows, sending terror into the hearts of the inmates. Deputy
+Provost Marshal Vanderpool, who had mingled in the crowd, fearing for the
+lives of the women and children, boldly stepped to the front, and tried to
+appease the mob, telling them the papers were all destroyed, and begged
+them to fall back, and let others help the inmates of the building, or
+take hold themselves. The reply was a heavy blow in the face. Vanderpool
+shoved the man who gave it aside, when he was assailed with a shower of
+blows and curses. Fearing for his life, he broke through the crowd, and
+hastened to the spot where the police were standing, wholly powerless in
+the midst of this vast, excited throng.
+
+In the meantime, the flames, unarrested, made rapid way, and communicating
+to the adjoining building, set it on fire. The volumes of smoke, rolling
+heavenward, and the crackling and roaring of the flames, seemed for a
+moment to awe the mob, and it looked silently on the ravaging of a power
+more terrible and destructive than its own.
+
+At this time Superintendent Kennedy was quietly making his way across the
+town toward the office of with a heavy club, endeavored to break in his
+skull, but Kennedy dodged his blows. Careful only for his head, he let
+them beat his body, while he made desperate efforts to break through the
+mass, whose demoniacal yells and oaths showed that they intended to take
+his life. In the struggle the whole crowd, swaying to and fro, slowly
+advanced toward Lexington Avenue, coming, as they did so, upon a wide mud-
+hole. "Drown him! drown, him!" arose at once on every side, and the next
+moment a heavy blow, planted under his ear, sent him headforemost into the
+water.
+
+Falling with his face amid the stones, he was kicked and trampled on, and
+pounded, till he was a mass of gore. Still struggling desperately for
+life, he managed to get to his feet again, and made a dash for the middle
+of the pond. The water was deep, and his murderers, disliking to get wet,
+did not follow him, but ran around to the other side, to meet him as he
+came out. But Kennedy was ahead of them, and springing up the bank into
+Lexington Avenue, saw a man whom he knew, and called out: "John Eagan,
+come here and save my life!" Mr. Eagan, who was a well-known and
+influential resident of that vicinity, immediately rushed forward to his
+assistance, and arrested his pursuers. But the Superintendent was so
+terribly bruised and mangled, that Eagan did not recognize him. He,
+however, succeeded in keeping the mob back, who, seeing the horrible
+condition their victim was in, doubtless thought they had finished him.
+Other citizens now coming forward, a passing feed wagon was secured, into
+which Kennedy was lifted, and driven to police head-quarters. Acton, who
+was in the street as the wagon approached, saw the mangled body within,
+did not dream who it was. The driver inquired where he should take him.
+"Around to the station," carelessly replied Acton. The driver hesitated,
+and inquired again, "Where to?" Acton, supposing it was some drunkard,
+bruised in a brawl, replied rather petulantly, "Around to the station."
+The man then told him it was Kennedy. Acton, scanning the features more
+closely, saw that it indeed was the Superintendent himself in this
+horrible condition. As the officers gathered around the bleeding, almost
+unconscious form, a murmur of wrath was heard, a sure premonition what
+work would be done when the hour of vengeance should come.
+
+Kennedy was carried into head-quarters, and a surgeon immediately sent
+for. After an examination had shown that no bones were broken, he was
+taken to the house of a friend, and, before the week closed, was on his
+feet again.
+
+Acton, now the legal head of the police force, soon showed he was the
+right man in the right place. Of a nervous temperament, he was quick and
+prompt, yet cool and decided, and relentless as death in the discharge of
+his duty. Holding the views of the first Napoleon respecting mobs, he did
+not believe in speech-making to them. His addresses were to be locust
+clubs and grape-shot. Taking in at once the gravity of the situation, he,
+after despatching such force as was immediately available to the scene of
+the riot, telegraphed to the different precincts to have the entire
+reserve force concentrated at head-quarters, which were in Mulberry
+Street, near Bleecker.
+
+He saw at once, to have his force effective it must be well in hand, so
+that he could send it out in any direction in sufficient strength to bear
+down all opposition. Subsequent events proved the wisdom of his policy,
+for we shall see, after it had been accomplished, the police never lost a
+battle.
+
+There being thirty-two precincts in the limits of the Metropolitan Police,
+a vast territory was covered. These were reached by a system of telegraph
+wires, called the Telegraph Bureau, of which James Crowley was
+superintendent and Eldred Polhamus deputy. There were three operators--
+Chapin, Duvall, and Lucas. A telegraph station was in each precinct--thus
+making thirty-two, all coming to a focus at head-quarters. These are also
+divided into five sections--north, south, east, west, and central. The
+Commissioners, therefore, sitting in the central office, can send messages
+almost instantaneously to every precinct of the city, and receive
+immediate answers. Hence, Mr. Acton was a huge Briareus, reaching out his
+arms to Fort Washington in the north, and Brooklyn in the south, and at
+the same time touching the banks of both rivers. No other system could be
+devised giving such tremendous power to the police--the power of instant
+information and rapid concentration at any desired point. That it proved
+itself the strong right arm of the Commissioners, it needs only to state,
+that during the four days of the riot, between five and six thousand
+messages passed over the wires, showing that they were worked to their
+utmost capacity, day and night. The more intelligent of the mob understood
+this, and hence at the outset attempted to break up this communication, by
+cutting down the poles on Third Avenue. This stopped all messages to and
+from the precincts at Fort Washington, Manhattanville, Harlem, Yorkville,
+and Bloomingdale, as well as with the Nineteenth Precinct.
+
+But fortunately, the orders to these had passed over the wires before the
+work was completed. Subsequently, the rioters cut down the poles in First
+Avenue, in Twenty-second Street, and Ninth Avenue, destroying
+communication between several other precincts.
+
+Mr. Crowley, the Superintendent of the Telegraph Bureau, was made
+acquainted early, Monday, by mere accident with this plan of the rioters.
+Coming to town in the Third Avenue cars from Yorkville, where he resided,
+he suddenly found the car arrested by a mob, and getting out with the
+other passengers, discovered men chopping furiously away at the telegraph
+poles; and without stopping to think, rushed up to them and ordered them
+to desist. One of the ruffians, looking up, cried out, "he is one of the
+d--d operators." Instantly yells arose, "Smash him," "Kill him," when
+those nearest seized him. By great adroitness he disarmed their suspicions
+sufficiently to prevent further violence, though they held him prisoner
+for an hour. At last, seeing an opportunity when more important objects
+attracted their attention, he quietly worked his way out and escaped.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Soldiers beaten by the Mob.--Gallant Fight of Sergeant McCredie.--Mob
+Triumphant.--Beat Police Officers unmercifully.--Fearful Scenes.--Fifty
+thousand People block Third Avenue.--A whole Block of Houses burning.--
+Attack on a Gun Factory.--Defeat of the Broadway Squad.--Houses sacked in
+Lexington Avenue.--Telegraph Dispatches.--Bull's Head Tavern burned.--
+Block on Broadway burned.--Burning of the Negroes' Orphan Asylum.--Attack
+on Mayor Opdyke's House.--A Crisis nobly met.--Gallant Fight and Victory
+of Sergeant Carpenter.--A thrilling Spectacle.
+
+In the meantime, the mob that stood watching the spreading conflagration
+in Third Avenue increased rapidly, fed by tributaries from the tenement-
+houses, slums, and workshops in that vicinity. But they were soon startled
+from their state of comparative quietness, by the cry of "the soldiers are
+coming." The Invalid Corps, a small body sent from the Park, was
+approaching. As it came up, the soldiers fired, either blank cartridges,
+or over the heads of the crowd, doubtless thinking a single discharge
+would disperse it. The folly of such a course was instantly shown, for the
+mob, roused into sudden fury, dashed on the small body of soldiers before
+they could reload, and snatching away their muskets, pounded them over the
+head, and chased them like sheep for ten blocks. One soldier was left for
+dead on the pavement, beaten to a jelly. Another, breaking from the crowd,
+attempted to climb some rocks near Forty-second Street, when his pursuers
+grabbed him and dragged him to the top, where they tore off his uniform,
+and beat him till he was senseless, and then threw him down to the bottom
+and left him.
+
+In the meantime, Sergeant McCredie, "fighting Mac," as he was called, from
+the Fifteenth Precinct, Captain C. W. Caffrey, arrived on the scene with a
+few men. Marching down Forty-third street to Third Avenue, they looked up
+two blocks, and to their amazement beheld the broad avenue, as far as they
+could see, blocked with the mob, while before it, bearing swiftly down on
+them, and running for life, came the terror-stricken Invalid Corps. At
+this juncture, other squads sent from various precincts arrived, swelling
+this force to forty-four. It was a mere handful among these enraged
+thousands; but McCredie, who at once took command, determined to stand his
+ground, and meet as best he could the overwhelming numbers that came
+driving down like a storm, filling the air with yells and oaths, and
+brandishing their clubs over their heads. He thought that another police
+force was beyond the mob, on the north, and if he could press through and
+form a junction with it, the two combined would be strong enough to hold
+their own. He therefore quickly formed his men in line across the street,
+and awaited the shock. As the disorderly mass following up the fugitives
+drew near, McCredie ordered a charge, and this mere handful of men moved
+swiftly and steadily upon it. The rioters, stunned by the suddenness and
+strength of the blow, recoiled, and the police, following up their
+advantage, drove them back, step by step, as far as Forty-sixth street.
+Here the sergeant, instead of meeting another body of police, as he
+expected, met a heavier body of rioters that were blocking up Forty-sixth
+Street on both sides of the avenue. Backed by these, the main body rallied
+and charged on the exhausted police force in turn, and almost surrounded
+them. To render their already desperate situation hopeless, another mob
+suddenly closed in behind them from Forty-fifth street.
+
+Thus attacked in front and rear with clubs, iron bars, guns and pistols,
+and rained upon with stones and brick-bats from the roofs of the houses,
+they were unable longer to keep together, and broke and fled--part up the
+side streets, and some down the avenue--bruised, torn, and bleeding.
+
+The desperate nature of this first conflict can be imagined, when, out of
+the fourteen men composing Sergeant McCredie's original force, only five
+were left unwounded. At the very outset of the charge, the sergeant
+himself was struck with an iron bar on the wrist, which rendered the arm
+almost useless. In the retreat, four men assailed him at once. Knocking
+down two, he took refuge in the house of a German, when a young woman told
+him to jump between two mattresses. He did so, and she covered him up just
+as his pursuers forced their way in. Streaming through the house from
+cellar to garret, they came back, and demanded of the young woman where
+the man was hid. She quietly said he had escaped by the rear of the house.
+Believing she told the truth, they took their departure. Officer Bennett
+was knocked down three times before he ceased fighting. The last time he
+was supposed to be dead, when the wretches began to rob him even of his
+clothing, stripping him of every article except his drawers. He was soon
+after taken up and carried to St. Luke's Hospital, and placed in the dead-
+house, where he lay for several hours. When the sad news was brought to
+his wife, she hastened to the hospital, and fell weeping on the lifeless
+form of her husband. She could not believe he was dead, and laying her
+hand on his heart, found to her joy that it pulsated. She immediately flew
+to the officials of the hospital, and had him brought in, and restoratives
+applied. He revived, but remained unconscious for three days, while the
+riot raged around him. Officer Travis, in the flight down the avenue, saw,
+as he looked back, that his foremost pursuer had a pistol. Wheeling, he
+knocked him down, and seized the pistol, but before he could use it, a
+dozen clubs were raining blows upon him, which brought him to the ground.
+The infuriated men then jumped upon him, knocking out his teeth, breaking
+his jaw-bone and right hand, and terribly mutilating his whole body.
+Supposing him to be dead, they then stripped him stark naked and left him
+on the pavement, a ghastly spectacle to the passers-by. Officer Phillips
+ran the gauntlet almost unharmed, but was pursued block after block by a
+portion of the mob, till he reached Thirty-ninth street. Here he attempted
+to enter a house, but it was closed against him. As he turned down the
+steps, one of the pursuers, in soldier's clothes, levelled his musket at
+him and fired. Missing his aim, he clubbed his weapon, and dealt him a
+deadly blow. Phillips caught the musket as it descended, and wrenching it
+from his grasp, knocked the fellow down with it, and started and ran
+across some vacant lots to Fortieth Street. But here he was headed off by
+another portion of the mob, in which was a woman, who made a lunge at him
+with, a shoemaker's knife. The knife missed his throat, but passed through
+his ear. Drawing it back, she made another stab, piercing his arm. He was
+now bleeding profusely, and his death seemed inevitable, when a stranger,
+seeing his condition, sprang forward, and covering his body, declared he
+would kill the first man that advanced. Awed by his determined manner, the
+fiends sullenly withdrew. Officers Sutherland and Mingay were also badly
+beaten. Officer Kiernan, receiving a blow on his head with a stone,
+another on the back of his neck with a hay-bale rung, and two more on the
+knees, fell insensible, and would doubtless have been killed outright, but
+for the wife of Eagan, who saved Kennedy. Throwing herself over his body,
+she exclaimed, "for God's sake do not kill him." Seeing that they had got
+to attack this lady to get at Kiernan, they passed on.
+
+The scene in Third Avenue at this time was fearful and appalling. It was
+now noon, but the hot July sun was obscured by heavy clouds, that hung in
+ominous shadows over the city, while from near Cooper Institute to Forty-
+sixth Street, or about thirty blocks, the avenue was black with human
+beings,--sidewalks, house-tops, windows, and stoops all filled with
+rioters or spectators. Dividing it like a stream, horse-cars arrested in
+their course lay strung along as far as the eye could reach. As the glance
+ran along this mighty mass of men and women north, it rested at length on
+huge columns of smoke rolling heavenward from burning buildings, giving a
+still more fearful aspect to the scene. Many estimated the number at this
+time in the street at fifty thousand.
+
+In the meantime the fire-bell had brought the firemen on the ground, but
+the mob would not let them approach the burning houses. The flames had
+communicated with the adjoining block and were now making fearful headway.
+At length Engineer Decker addressed the mob, which by this time had grown
+thinner by the main mass moving farther down town, who told them that
+everything relating to the provost marshal's office was destroyed, and now
+the fire was destroying private property, some of which doubtless belonged
+to persons friendly to them, and finally persuaded them to let the engines
+work. Water was soon deluging the buildings, and the fire at length
+arrested, but not until four were consumed with all their contents.
+
+The drawing commenced in the Eighth District, 1190 Broadway, Captain
+Maniere provost marshal, on the same morning, and continued quietly until
+about 12 o'clock, when it was adjourned, and policemen who had been
+stationed there to guard it were sent over to the Ninth District, where
+the mob was carrying everything before it. But coming in small bodies,
+they were easily overcome and scattered. Sergeant Ellison, especially, got
+badly beaten; and Sergeant Wade, who came up soon after, and charged
+gallantly on the mob, shared the same fate, and had to be taken to St.
+Luke's Hospital. The work of destruction having commenced, it went on
+after this with the wild irregularity characteristic of mobs. The news of
+the uprising and destruction of property, as it spread through those
+portions of the city where the low Irish dwelt, stirred up all the
+inmates, and they came thronging forth, till there were incipient mobs on
+almost every corner. From this time no consecutive narrative can be given
+of the after doings. This immense mass seemed to split up into three or
+four sections, as different objects attracted their attention; and they
+came together and separated apparently without any concert of action. A
+shout and a cry in one direction would call off a throng, while a similar
+shout in another would attract a portion thither. Some feeling the need of
+arms, and remembering that a gun factory was at the corner of Second
+Avenue and Twentieth Street, called out to the crowd, and soon a large
+body was rushing in that direction. The Police Commissioners had also
+thought of this, and hastily sent off the Broadway squad to occupy it, and
+they succeeded, by going singly and in pairs, in reaching it--thirty-five
+all told. These men, selected for their size, being all six feet or
+upward, were ordered to hold the place at all hazards.
+
+In the meantime the mob endeavored to gain admittance, but warned off by
+Sergeant Burdick, left. But scarcely a quarter of an hour had elapsed,
+when they returned heavily reinforced, armed with all kinds of weapons,
+and yelling and hooting like fiends. Stones and bricks came crashing
+through the windows, but still the squad, though every man was armed with
+a carbine, did not fire.
+
+The mob then tried to set the factory on fire, but failed. Enraged at
+being baffled, a powerful man advanced on the door with a sledge-hammer,
+and began to pound against it. At length one of the panels gave way, and
+as a shout arose from those looking on, he boldly attempted to crawl
+through. The report of a solitary carbine was heard, and the brains of the
+man lay scattered on the floor. This staggered the mob for a moment, but
+soon fear gave way to rage, and shots and stones were rained against the
+building, smashing in the windows, and rapidly making a clean breach
+through the door. Burdick sent to Captain Cameron for aid, but he replied
+that he could not reach him.
+
+At 3:45 the following telegram was sent from the Eighteenth Precinct:
+
+"The mob have attacked the armory, Second Avenue and Twenty-first Street.
+There is danger of firing the building."
+
+Fifteen minutes later came: "It is impossible for us to protect the
+armory at Second Avenue and Twenty-first Street."
+
+_Answer_--"Draw your men off. D. C."
+
+The squad, in evacuating the building, found themselves cut off both in
+front and at the sides.
+
+The only mode of escape was through a hole in the rear wall, some eighteen
+feet from the ground, and scarcely a foot and a half in diameter. Piling
+up boxes to reach this aperture, these large men squeezed themselves
+through one by one, feet foremost, and swinging to a gutter-trough,
+dropped into the yard below. Climbing from thence over a wall into a
+stone-yard, they sped across it to the Eighteenth Precinct Station in
+Twenty-second Street. Here taking off their uniforms, they made their way
+singly, or in groups of two or three, back to the central office.
+
+No sooner did they leave the building than the mob entered it, and the
+work of pillage commenced. Every man armed himself with a musket. The
+stacks of weapons left, after they had taken all they wanted, were broken
+up or rendered useless. One thrown out of the window fell on a man's head
+in the street and killed him.
+
+While the armory was being attacked, another mob was sacking and burning
+houses on Lexington Avenue, near Forty-seventh Street. Within five minutes
+from the announcement of this fact, came from the Sixth Precinct the
+following dispatch: "A mob of about seven hundred attacked some colored
+people in Baxter Street, and then went to the saloon of Samuel Crook, in
+Chatham Street, and beat some colored waiters there."
+
+A few minutes later from Sixteenth came: "A crowd of about three hundred
+men have gone to the foot of Twenty-fourth Street, to stop men in the
+foundry from working"
+
+At the same time the following was received from the Twenty-first
+Precinct: "The mob avow their determination of burning this station. Our
+connection by telegram may be interrupted at any moment."
+
+Another from the Twentieth said: "A very large crowd is now going down
+Fifth Avenue, to attack the _Tribune_ building."
+
+As fast as the wires could work, followed "from the Twenty-fourth
+Precinct:"
+
+"The mob have fired the buildings corner of Broadway and Twenty-fourth
+Street."
+
+All this time, while new notes of alarm were sounded, and the police
+department was struggling to get its force in hand, the work of
+destruction was going on in the upper part of the city. Bull's Head
+Tavern, in Forty-sixth Street, attracted the attention of the mob. The
+sales of the immense herds of cattle in the adjoining yard had been
+suspended, and the hotel closed. The crowd, however, forgetting the draft,
+and intent only on pillage, streamed up around it, and shouted, "Fire it!
+fire it!" While some were calling for axes and crowbars, ten powerful men
+jumped on the stoop, and with a few heavy blows sent the hall door flying
+from its hinges. The yelling crowd then rushed in, and after helping
+themselves to what they wanted, applied the torch, and soon the entire
+building was a mass of flame.
+
+[Illustration: THE RIOT IN LEXINGTON AVENUE.]
+
+At this time another mob was sacking houses in Lexington Avenue. Elegant
+furniture and silver plate were borne away by the crowd, while the ladies,
+with their children and servants, fled in terror from the scene. The
+provost marshal's head-quarters were also set on fire, and the whole block
+on Broadway, between Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Streets, was burned
+down, while jewelry stores and shops of all kinds were plundered and their
+contents carried off. A vast horde followed the rioters for the sole
+purpose of plunder, and loaded down with their spoils, could be seen
+hastening home in every direction.
+
+While these fires were under full headway, a new idea seemed to strike the
+mob, or at least a portion of it. Having stopped the draft in two
+districts, sacked and set on fire nearly a score of houses, and half
+killed as many men, it now, impelled by a strange logic, sought to destroy
+the Colored Orphan Asylum on Fifth Avenue, extending from Forty-third to
+Forty-fourth Street. There would have been no draft but for the war--there
+would have been no war but for slavery. But the slaves were black, ergo,
+all blacks are responsible for the war. This seemed to be the logic of the
+mob, and having reached the sage conclusion to which it conducted, they
+did not stop to consider how poor helpless orphans could be held
+responsible, but proceeded at once to wreak their vengeance on them. The
+building was four stories high, and besides the matrons and officers,
+contained over two hundred children, from mere infants up to twelve years
+of age. Around this building the rioters gathered with loud cries and
+oaths, sending terror into the hearts of the inmates. Superintendent
+William E. Davis hurriedly fastened the doors; but knowing they would
+furnish but a momentary resistance to the armed multitude, he, with
+others, collected hastily the terrified children, and carrying some in
+their arms, and leading others, hurried them in a confused crowd out at
+the rear of the building, just as the ruffians effected an entrance in
+front. Then the work of pillage commenced, and everything carried off that
+could be, even to the dresses and trinkets of the children, while heavy
+furniture was smashed and chopped up in the blind desire of destruction.
+Not satisfied with this, they piled the fragments in the different rooms,
+and set fire to them. At this juncture Chief Engineer Decker arrived, and
+determined, if possible, to save the building, addressed the crowd, as he
+had in the morning, hoping to induce them to forbear further violence, and
+let him extinguish the flames. But they had now got beyond argument of any
+kind, and knocking him down twice, pitched him into the street. But ten
+brave firemen at this juncture rushed to his side, and together fought
+their way through the crowd into the building, where they were joined by
+two assistant engineers, Lamb and Lewis. They at once began to scatter and
+extinguish the burning fragments, keeping back for a while, by their bold
+bearing, the rioters. The latter, however, soon rallied in force, and some
+mounting to the loft, set it on fire in every part. Decker and his few
+gallant allies, finding it impossible to save the building, retreated into
+the street, and soon the massive structure was a sheet of flame.
+
+The crowd now proceeded to Mayor Opdyke's house, and gathering in front of
+it, sent up shouts and calls for the Mayor. They were, however, deterred
+at that time from accomplishing their purpose by an appeal from Judge
+Barnard, who addressed them from the steps of an adjoining house.
+
+Soon after, an immense mob was reported coming down Broadway, for the
+purpose, some thought, of attacking the negro waiters in the Lafarge
+House, between Amity and Bleecker Streets, but in fact to attack police
+head-quarters in Mulberry Street, and break up the very centre of
+operations. It was a bold stroke, but the ringleaders had been drinking
+all day, and now, maddened by liquor, were ready for the most desperate
+attempts. When the news of this movement reached head-quarters, the
+commissioners saw that a crisis had come. The mob numbered at least five
+thousand, while they could not muster at that moment two hundred men. The
+clerk, Mr. Hawley, went to the commissioners' room, and said: "Gentlemen,
+the crisis has come. A battle has got to be _fought now_, _and won
+too_, or all is lost." They agreed with him. "But who," they asked,
+"will lead the comparatively small force in this fight?" He replied that
+he thought that Sergeant Carpenter should be selected, as one of the
+oldest and most experienced officers on the force. "Well," they said,
+"will you go down to his room and see what he says about it?" He went, and
+laid before him the perilous condition of things, and that an immediate
+and successful battle _must_ be fought.
+
+Carpenter heard him through, and taking in fully the perilous condition of
+things, paused a moment, and then rising to his full height and lifting
+his hand, said, with a terrible oath, "I'll go, and I'll win that fight,
+or _Daniel Carpenter will never come back a live man_." He walked out
+and summoned the little force, and as "Fall in, men; fall in," was
+repeated, they fell into line along the street. When all was ready, Acton
+turned to Carpenter, every lineament of whose face showed the stern
+purpose that mastered him, and quietly said, "_Sergeant make no
+arrests_."
+
+It was to be a battle in which no prisoners were to be taken. "All
+_right_" replied Carpenter, as he buttoned up his coat and shouted
+"Forward." Solid, and silent save their heavy, measured tread on the
+pavement, they moved down Bleecker Street towards Broadway. As they turned
+into the latter street, only a block and a half away, they saw the mob,
+which filled the entire street far as the eye could reach, moving
+tumultuously forward. Armed with clubs, pitchforks, iron bars, and some
+with guns and pistols, and most of them in their shirt-sleeves and
+shouting as they came, they presented a wild and savage appearance.
+Pedestrians fled down the side streets, stores were hastily closed, stages
+vanished, and they had the street to themselves. A huge board, on which
+was inscribed "No Draft," was borne aloft as a banner, and beside it waved
+the Stars and Stripes.
+
+The less than two hundred policemen, compact and firm, now halted, while
+Carpenter detached two companies of fifty each up the parallel streets to
+the right and left, as far as Fourth Street. Coming down this street from
+both directions, they were to strike the mob on both flanks at the same
+time he charged them in front. He waited till they had reached their
+positions, and then shouted, "_By the right flank Company front, double-
+quick_, CHARGE." Instantaneously every club was swung in air, and solid
+as a wall and swift as a wave they swept full on the astonished multitude;
+while at the same time, to cut the monster in two, the two companies
+charged in flank. Carpenter, striding several steps in advance, his face
+fairly blazing with excitement, dealt the first blow, stretching on the
+pavement a powerful ruffian, who was rushing on him with a huge club. For
+a few minutes nothing was heard but the heavy thud of clubs falling on
+human skulls, thick and fast as hailstones on windows. The mob, just
+before so confident and bold, quailed in terror and would have broke and
+fled at once, but for the mass behind which kept bearing down on them.
+This, however, soon gave way before the side attacks and the panic that
+followed. Then the confusion and uproar became terrible, and the mass
+surged hither and thither, now rolling up Broadway, and again borne back
+or shoved up against the stores, seeking madly for a way of escape. At
+length, breaking into fragments, they rushed down the side streets, hotly
+pursued by the police, whose remorseless clubs never ceased to fall as
+long as a fugitive was within, reach. Broadway looked like a field of
+battle, for the pavement was strewn thick with bleeding, prostrate forms.
+It was a great victory and decisive of all future contests.
+
+Having effectually dispersed them, Carpenter, with the captured flag,
+marched up to Mayor Opdyke's house, when, finding everything quiet, he
+returned to head-quarters. This successful attack of the police was
+received with cheers by those spectators who had witnessed it.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+No Military in the City.--The Mayor calls on General Wool, commanding
+Eastern Department, for Help.--Also on General Sandford.--General Wool
+sends to General Brown, commanding Garrison in the Harbor, for U. S.
+Troops.--Marines of the Navy Yard ordered up.--Eventually, West Point and
+several States appealed to for Troops.--General Brown assumes Command.--
+Attack of Mob on the _Tribune_ Building.--Its severe Punishment.--
+Government Buildings garrisoned.--Difficulty between Generals Brown and
+Wool.--Head-quarters.--Police Commissioners' Office Military Head-
+quarters.
+
+The terrible punishment the rioters received at the hands of Carpenter
+had, however, only checked their movements for a time; and, as the sun
+began to hang low in the summer heavens, men looked forward to the coming
+night with apprehension.
+
+In the meantime, however, the authorities, conscious of the perilous
+condition of the city, had resorted to every means of defence in their
+power. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, nearly the whole of its
+military force, on which it depended in any great emergency, was absent.
+Lee's brilliant flank movement around Hooker and Washington, terminating
+in the invasion of Pennsylvania, had filled the country with
+consternation. His mighty columns were moving straight on Philadelphia,
+and the Government at Washington, roused to the imminent danger, had
+called for all the troops within reach, and New York had sent forward
+nearly every one of her regiments. Ordinary prudence would have dictated
+that the draft should be postponed for a few days, till these regiments,
+now on their way back, or preparing to return, should arrive. It was
+running a needless risk to urge it in such a crisis--indeed, one of the
+follies of which the Administration at this time was so needlessly guilty.
+
+General Wool, at this juncture, commanded the Eastern Department, with his
+head-quarters at the corner of Bleecker and Greene Streets. Mayor Opdyke
+immediately called on him for help, and also on Major-general Sandford,
+commanding the few troops that were left in the city. The latter
+immediately issued an order requesting the Seventh Regiment to meet that
+evening, at their drill-rooms, at eight o'clock, to consult on the
+measures necessary to be taken in the present unexpected crisis, and
+another to the late two-years' volunteers then in the city, to report at
+the same hour in Grand Street, to Colonel William H. Allen, for temporary
+duty.
+
+General Wool, also, during the afternoon, while the rioters were having it
+all their own way, sent an officer to the adjutant-general of General
+Brown, commanding the troops in garrison in New York harbor, ordering up a
+force of about eighty men immediately.
+
+General Brown, on his way from his office to Fort Hamilton, was informed
+by Colonel Stinson, chief clerk, that a serious riot was raging in the
+city, and that General Wool had sent to Fort Hamilton for a detachment of
+some eighty men, and that a tug had gone for them. Surprised at the
+smallness of the number sent (he was, by special orders of the War
+Department, commandant of the city, and commander of all the forts and
+troops in the harbor except Fort Columbus), he immediately ordered the
+company at Fort Wood to the city, and sent a tug for it. He then made a
+requisition on the quartermaster for transportation of all the other
+companies, and proceeded without delay to Fort Hamilton. General Brown's
+office was close to General Wool's; but he did not think proper to consult
+him on the movement.
+
+General Brown, immediately on his arrival at Fort Hamilton, directed that
+all the troops there, as well as at Forts Lafayette and Richmond, be got
+in readiness to move at a moment's notice, and also that a section of
+artillery be organized, in case it should be wanted. Having taken these
+wise precautions he hastened up to the city, and reported to General Wool.
+The result proved the wisdom of his forecast. A new order was at once
+dispatched for the remaining troops, and just at twilight, Lieut. McElrath
+saw two steamers making directly for the fort. They were hardly fastened
+to the dock, when an officer stepped ashore and handed him an order from
+General Brown to send up at once all the efficient troops in the forts,
+and have their places supplied as best he could with some volunteer
+artillery companies.
+
+The reports coming in to police head-quarters had shown that it was no
+common uprising of a few disaffected men to be put down by a few squads of
+police or a handful of soldiers. The Mayor, after consulting with the
+Police Commissioners, felt that it was the beginning of a general outbreak
+in every part of the city, and by his representations persuaded General
+Wool to apply to Rear-admiral Paulding, commanding the Navy Yard, for a
+force of marines, and eventually to Colonel Bowman, Superintendent of West
+Point, and also to the authorities of Newark, and Governors of New York,
+New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island for troops.
+
+General Brown, after reporting to General Wool, repaired to police head-
+quarters, which he adopted as his own, and issued the following order:
+
+"HEAD-QUARTERS, NEW YORK, July 13, 1863.
+
+"In obedience to the orders of the Major-general commanding the Eastern
+Department, the undersigned assumes command of the United States troops in
+this city.
+
+"Lieutenant-colonel Frothingham and Captain Revolle are of the staff of
+the undersigned, and will be obeyed accordingly.
+
+"HARVEY BROWN,
+
+"_Brevet Brigadier-general_."
+
+He also sent a dispatch to General Sandford, at the arsenal, notifying him
+of his action, and requesting him to come down and consult with him on the
+course to be pursued. General Sandford, after awhile, did come down, and,
+to General Brown's amazement, insisted that all the troops should be sent
+up to the arsenal. General Brown, seeing the utter madness of such a
+disposition of his force, refused decidedly to permit it to be done. This
+was of course denying Sandford's claim to be his superior officer. It was
+well for the city that he took this ground.
+
+Mayor Opdyke also issued a proclamation, calling on the rioters to
+disperse.
+
+But while these measures were being set on foot, the rioters were not
+idle.
+
+[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON THE TRIBUNE BUILDING.]
+
+All day long a crowd had been gathering in the Park around the City Hall,
+growing more restless as night came on. The railroad-cars passing it were
+searched, to see if any negroes were on board, while eyes glowered
+savagely on the _Tribune_ building. They had sought in an eating-
+house for the editor, to wreak their vengeance on him. Not finding him,
+they determined that the building, from which was issued the nefarious
+paper, should come down, but were evidently waiting for help to arrive
+before commencing the work of destruction. The mob, which Carpenter had so
+terribly punished in Broadway, were marching for it, designing to burn it
+after they had demolished police head-quarters. Their dispersion delayed
+the attack, and doubtless broke its force, by the reduction of numbers it
+caused. There seemed enough, however, if properly led, to effect their
+purpose, for the Park and Printing-house Square were black with men, who,
+as the darkness increased, grew more restless; and "Down with it! burn
+it!" mingled with oaths and curses, were heard on every side.
+
+At last came the crash of a window, as a stone went through it. Another
+and another followed, when suddenly a reinforcing crowd came rushing down
+Chatham Street. This was the signal for a general assault, and, with
+shouts, the rabble poured into the lower part of the building, and began
+to destroy everything within reach. Captain Warlow, of the First Precinct,
+No. 29 Broad Street, who, with his command, was in the gallant fight in
+Broadway, after some subsequent fighting and marching, had at length
+reached his head-quarters in Broad Street, where a despatch met him, to
+proceed at once to the _Tribune_ building. He immediately started off
+on the double-quick. On reaching the upper end of Nassau Street, he came
+to a halt, and gave the club signal on the pavement, to form column.
+Captain Thorne, of the City Hall, in the meantime, had joined his force to
+him, with the gallant Sergeant Devoursney. Everything being ready, the
+order to "Charge" was given, and the entire force, perhaps a hundred and
+fifty strong, fell in one solid mass on the mob, knocking men over right
+and left, and laying heads open at every blow. The panic-stricken crowd
+fled up Chatham Street, across the Park, and down Spruce and Frankfort
+Streets, punished terribly at every step. The space around the building
+being cleared, a portion of the police rushed inside, where the work of
+destruction was going on. The sight of the blue-coats in their midst, with
+their uplifted clubs, took the rioters by surprise, and they rushed
+frantically for the doors and windows, and escaped the best way they
+could. In the meantime, those who had taken refuge in the Park found
+themselves in the lion's jaws. Carpenter had hardly rested from his march
+up Fifth Avenue to Mayor Opdyke's house, when he, too, received orders to
+hasten to the protection of the _Tribune_ building. Taking one
+hundred of his own men, and one hundred under Inspector Folk, of Brooklyn,
+who had been early ordered over, and been doing good service in the city,
+he marched down Broadway, and was just entering the Park, when the
+frightened crowd came rushing pell-mell across it. Immediately forming
+"company front," he swept the Park like a storm, clearing everything
+before him. Order being restored, Folk returned with his force to
+Brooklyn, where things began to wear a threatening aspect, and Carpenter
+took up his station at City Hall for the night.
+
+This ended the heavy fighting of the day, though minor disturbances
+occurred at various points during the evening. Negroes had been hunted
+down all day, as though they were so many wild beasts, and one, after
+dark, was caught, and after being severely beaten and hanged to a tree,
+left suspended there till Acton sent a force to take the body down. Many
+had sought refuge in police-stations and elsewhere, and all were filled
+with terror.
+
+The demonstrations in the lower part of the city excited the greatest
+anxiety about the Government buildings in that section--the Custom House
+and Sub-treasury were tempting prizes to the rioters. General Sandford,
+commanding the city military, had sent such force as he could collect
+early in the day to the arsenal, to defend it; for, should the mob once
+get possession of the arms and ammunition stored there, no one could tell
+what the end would be. United States troops also were placed in Government
+buildings to protect them. Almost the last act of the mob this evening was
+the burning of Postmaster Wakeman's house, in Eighty-sixth Street. Mrs.
+Wakeman was noted for her kindness to the poor and wretched, who now
+repaid her by sacking and burning her house. The precinct station near by
+was also destroyed.
+
+In the meanwhile, an event happened which threatened to disarrange all the
+plans that had been laid. Military etiquette often overrides the public
+good, and here, at this critical moment, General Wool chose to consider
+that, as General Sandford was Major-general, though not in the United
+States service, he, therefore, ranked Brigadier-general Brown of the
+regular army, and required him to act under the other's orders. This,
+Brown promptly refused to do, and asked to be relieved, telling General
+Wool that such a proceeding was an unheard-of thing. That he was right the
+order below will show [Footnote: [GENERAL ORDER No. 36.] WAR DEPARTMENT,
+
+_Adjutant-general's Office, Washington_, April 7th, 1863.
+
+6. The military commander's duties in reference to all troops and enlisted
+men who happen to serve within the limits of his command will be
+_precisely those of a commanding officer of a military post_.
+
+The duties of military commanders above defined, will devolve in the
+_City of New York, and the military posts in that vicinity_, on
+Brevet Brigadier-general H. Brown, Colonel Fifth U. S. Artillery.
+
+By order of the Secretary of War, (Signed) L. THOMAS, _Adjutant-
+general_.] that his troops must be under his own command, as he was
+responsible for their action to the Government, and Sandford was not.
+Wool, however, continued obstinate, and a total disruption seemed
+inevitable. Mayor Opdyke, President Acton, Governor Seymour, with several
+prominent American citizens, were present, and witnessed this disagreement
+with painful feelings. They knew that it would work mischief, if not
+paralyze the combined action they hoped to put forth in the morning.
+General Brown, finding Wool inflexible, turned away, determined to retire
+altogether. The Mayor and others followed him, and begged him not to
+abandon them in the desperate strait they were in--to think of nothing but
+saving the city. General Brown had been too hasty, sticking on a point of
+mere etiquette, with, perhaps, too much tenacity. True, an officer must
+insist on his rank as a rule, but there are emergencies when everything of
+a personal nature must be forgotten--crises where it may be an officer's
+duty to serve in any capacity, however subordinate, and trust to being
+righted afterwards. Luckily, General Brown, on a sober second thought,
+took the proper view, and returned to General Wool, and asked to be
+reinstated in his command, but giving him to understand that, though he
+would co-operate in every possible way with General Sandford, he still
+must retain distinct and separate command of his own troops. This was
+right, and whether General Wool perfectly understood the arrangement, or
+seeing how deeply the gentlemen present felt on the subject, chose not to
+press a mere point of etiquette, does not appear. We only know that if
+General Brown had given up the command of his troops, the results to the
+city would have been disastrous.
+
+While these events were passing in the St. Nicholas Hotel, the streets
+were comparatively quiet. It had been a hard day for the rioters, as well
+as for the police, and they were glad of a little rest. Besides, they had
+become more or less scattered by a terrific thunderstorm that broke over
+the city, deluging the streets with water. In the midst of it, there came
+a telegraphic dispatch to the commissioners, calling for assistance. The
+tired police were stretched around on the floor or boxes, seeking a little
+rest, when they were aroused, and summoned to fall in; and the next moment
+they plunged into the darkness and rain. They were drenched to the skin
+before they had gone a block, but they did not heed it--and then, as to
+the end, and under all circumstances, answered promptly and nobly to every
+call.
+
+Acton had now gathered a large force at head-quarters, and felt ready to
+strike at any moment.
+
+While the men flung themselves on the hard floor, like soldiers on the
+field of battle, ready to start on duty at the first call, Acting
+Superintendent Acton and his assistants never closed their eyes, but spent
+the night in telegraphing, organizing, and preparing for the fiercer
+fights of next day. Much was to be done to cover and protect a district
+that reached from Brooklyn to Westchester, and it was an anxious night.
+They had one consolation, however: though taken unawares, they had at the
+close of the day come out victors, which gave them confidence in the
+future, especially as now Brown and his trained soldiers were with them.
+
+Some fifteen or twenty policemen had been more or less severely injured,
+while the number of the killed and wounded of the mob was wholly unknown.
+Both the dead and maimed were left by the police where they fell, and were
+almost immediately hurried away by their friends.
+
+The destruction of property on this first day, consisted of four buildings
+on Third Avenue burned, also a block on Broadway between Twenty-eighth and
+Twenty-ninth Streets; two brown-stone dwellings in Lexington Avenue;
+Allerton's Hotel near Bull's Head; a cottage, corner of Forty-fifth Street
+and Fifth Avenue; the Colored Orphan Asylum, and the armory corner of
+Twenty-first Street and Second Avenue.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Telegraph Bureau.--Its Work.--Skill and Daring and Success of its Force.--
+Interesting Incidents.--Hairbreadth Escapes.--Detective Force.--Its
+arduous Labors.--Its Disguises.--Shrewdness, Tact, and Courage.--Narrow
+Escapes.--Hawley, the Chief Clerk.--His exhausting Labors.
+
+One thing Commissioners Acton and Bergen in their consultation settled
+must be done at all hazards--telegraphic communication must he kept open
+with the different precincts. Otherwise it would be impossible to
+concentrate men at any given point, quick enough to arrest the mob before
+they spread devastation and conflagration far and wide. Every hour gained
+by a mob in accumulating or organizing its forces, increases the
+difficulty of dispersing it. The rioters understood this partially, and
+had acted accordingly; but the rich spoils they had come across during the
+day, had driven, for the time being, all other thoughts but plunder out of
+their heads. Some communications had already been destroyed, and the
+rioters would evidently by morning have their eyes open to the importance
+of doing this everywhere, and their efforts must be foiled, no matter what
+the risk or sacrifice might be. They had already cut down over sixty
+poles, and rendered upwards of twelve miles of wire useless; and how much
+more would share the same fate the next day, no one could tell.
+
+The superintendent and deputy of the Telegraph Bureau, Messrs. Crowley and
+Polhamus, with the operators mentioned before, were, therefore, set at
+work this very evening in the storm, to restore the broken lines.
+
+This was a perilous undertaking, for if once discovered, their lives would
+be instantly sacrificed.
+
+The details of their operations, their disguises, ingenious contrivances,
+deceptions, and boldness in carrying out their object, would make an
+attractive chapter in itself. Often compelled to mingle with the mob,
+always obliged to conceal what they were about, not daring to raise a pole
+or handle a wire unless cautiously or secretly, they yet restored the
+lines in the north section by morning, and those in the south by Wednesday
+evening. Sometimes they were compelled to carry a wire over the top of a
+house, sometimes round it, through a back-yard; in short, every device and
+expedient was resorted to by these daring, sharp-witted men. Once Polhamus
+had his boots burned off in tramping through the burning ruins of a
+building after the wires. Once he and Mr. Crowley came near being clubbed
+to death by the police, who mistook them for rioters, so ingeniously and
+like them were they at work among the ruins. Captain Brower rescued them,
+or their services might have ended on the spot.
+
+This work was kept steadily up during the continuation of the riots. On
+one occasion, Mr. Crowley, hearing that the wires were down in the Ninth
+and Tenth Avenues, hastened thither alone, when he encountered a large
+mob. Fearing to pass through it he hesitated a moment, when he noticed a
+carriage driving in the direction he wished to go, in which was a Catholic
+priest. He immediately hailed it and was taken in. As the carriage entered
+the mob, the latter surrounded it, and supposing the inmates were
+reporters, began to yell "Down with the d--d reporters;" but the moment
+they recognized the priest, they allowed it to pass. Often the two would
+take a hack; and passing themselves off as drivers, go through infected
+districts, and search points to which they otherwise could not have gone.
+One time they were returning from an expedition through Third Avenue, and
+had reached Houston Street, when they were hailed by a gang of rioters,
+who demanded to be taken downtown. They had to comply, for the men were
+armed with pistols, and so took them in and kept along Houston Street,
+under the pretence of going down through Broadway, knowing that when they
+reached Mulberry Street they would be in hailing distance of the head-
+quarters of the police. It was just after daybreak, and Crowley and
+Polhamus urged on the horses, expecting in a few minutes to have their
+load safely locked up. The fellows evidently not liking the vicinity to
+which the drivers were taking them, ordered them to wheel about, which
+they were compelled to do, and drive under their direction to an old house
+in the Tenth Ward. There they got out, and offering the drivers a drink
+and fifty cents, let them go. On one occasion, Crowley, while examining
+the wires in Second Avenue, was suspected by the mob, who fell upon him,
+and it was only by the greatest coolness and adroitness he convinced them
+he was a rioter himself, and so escaped. At another time they were going
+along in a common wagon, when they were hemmed in by a crowd, and escaped
+by passing themselves off as farmers from Westchester. Had they been
+discovered, they would have been killed on the spot.
+
+DETECTIVE FORCE.
+
+The duties of this force are well known, but during the riots they had
+something more important to do than to work up individual cases. The
+force, with John Young as chief, and M. B. Morse as clerk, consisted in
+all of seventeen persons. These men are selected for their superior
+intelligence, shrewdness, sagacity, and undoubted courage. Full of
+resources, they must also be cool, collected, and fearless. During the
+riots they were kept at work day and night, obtaining knowledge of facts
+that no others could get, and thus supplying the different precincts and
+head-quarters with invaluable information. Their duty was a most perilous
+one, for it called them to go into the very heart of the turbulent
+districts; nay, into the very midst of the mob, where detection would have
+been followed by death, and that of the most horrible kind. Chief Young,
+with his clerk, was engaged at head-quarters, so that fifteen men had to
+perform the required work for the whole city. Sometimes alone, sometimes
+two or three together, they seemed omnipresent. In all sorts of disguises,
+feigning all sorts of employments and characters, sometimes on horseback
+and again driving an old cart or a hack, they pressed with the most
+imperturbable effrontery into the very vortex of danger. Ever on the
+watch, and accustomed to notice every expression of the countenance, they
+would discover at a single glance when they were suspected, and remove the
+suspicion at once by some clever device. Sometimes one of them, seeing
+himself watched, would quietly ascend the steps of a residence, and
+ringing the bell, make some inquiry as though he were on business, and
+then deliberately walk off; or if he thought it would not do to have his
+face too closely scanned, he would step inside and wait till the crowd
+moved on. Sometimes, with a stone or club in their hands, they would shout
+with the loudest, and engaging in conversation with the ringleaders
+themselves, ascertain their next move; then quietly slip away to the
+nearest station, and telegraph to head-quarters the information. When the
+telegraph had been cut off, they had to take the place of the wires, and
+carry through the very heart of the crowd their news to the department.
+
+On their ears again and again would ring the fearful cry, "There goes
+Kennedy's spies;" and it required the most consummate acting and self-
+possession to allay the suspicion. Often on a single word or act hinged
+their very lives. Some of these men were in the mob that made the first
+attack on Mayor Opdyke's house, and while apparently acting with it,
+learned of the intended movement down to police head-quarters, and at once
+telegraphed the fact, which enabled Carpenter to prepare for them, and
+give them the terrible beating we have described. At the burning and
+sacking of different buildings they were present, and often would follow
+unnoticed the ringleaders for hours, tracking them with the tireless
+tenacity of a sleuth hound, until they got them separate from the crowd,
+and then pounce suddenly upon them, and run them into the nearest station.
+The lawlessness that prevailed not only let loose all the thieves and
+burglars of the city, but attracted those from other places, who practised
+their vocation with impunity. To lessen this evil, the detectives one
+night quietly made visits to some half a dozen "lushing cribs," as they
+are called, in Eighth and Fourteenth Streets, and seized about thirty
+noted thieves, burglars, and garroters, and locked them up for safe-
+keeping. They also warned the negroes of threatened danger, and directed
+them, to places of safety; and in case of emergency acted as guides to the
+military in their operations. In short, they were ubiquitous,
+indefatigable, and of immense service. They played the part of unerring
+pointers to the commissioners, telling them when and where to strike; yet
+strange to say, such was their skill, their ingenuity, and exhaustless
+resources, that they all escaped being assaulted, save one named Slowly.
+He was passing through the very heart of the riotous district, in Second
+Avenue, when some one who had evidently been once in his clutches,
+recognized him, and pointing him out, shouted "Detective!" Instantly a
+rush was made for him, and he was knocked down, and kicked and stamped
+upon. Regaining, with a desperate effort, his feet, he sprang up the steps
+of a house, and fought his assailants fiercely, till the lady of the
+house, seeing his perilous situation, courageously opened the door and let
+him in, and then bolted and barred it in the face of the mob. Through some
+strange apprehension, the baffled wretches, though they howled, and swore,
+and threatened, did not force an entrance, and he escaped.
+
+In this connection, while speaking of those whose duties were uniform and
+running through the whole period of the riots, might be mentioned Seth C.
+Hawley, the chief clerk. Like Acton, he has a nervous, wiry temperament.
+This often makes a man rash and headlong, and hence not reliable; but when
+combined, as in him, with perfect self-possession and self-control,
+imparts enormous power. It matters not how nervous and excitable a man is,
+if danger and responsibility instead of confusing and unsettling him, only
+winds him up to a higher tension, till he becomes like a tightly-drawn
+steel spring. Excitement then not only steadies him, but it quickens his
+perceptions, clears his judgment, gives rapidity to his decisions, and
+terrible force to his blow. Mr. Hawley's duties were of a various and
+exhausting kind, so that during all the riots, he allowed himself only one
+hours' rest out of every twenty-four. Besides his ordinary supervisory
+duties over the clerks, etc., he had to see to the execution of the almost
+incessant orders of the commissioners, provide and issue arms, see to the
+refugees and prisoners, and act as commissary to over four thousand men on
+duty in and around head-quarters. Two men more perfectly fitted to work
+together in such a crisis as this, than he and Acton, could not well be
+found.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+SECOND DAY.
+
+Appearance of the City.--Assembling of the Mob.--Fight between Rioters and
+the Police and Soldiers.--Storming of Houses.--Rioters hurled from the
+Roofs.--Soldiers fire on the People.--Awful Death of Colonel O'Brien.--
+Fight in Pitt Street.--Deadly Conflict for a Wire Factory.--Horrible
+Impaling of a Mart on an Iron Picket.--Mystery attached to Him.--Second
+Attack on Mayor Opdyke's House.--Second Fight for the Wire Factory.--
+Telegraphic Dispatches.--Citizens Volunteering.--Raid on the Negroes.--
+They are hunted to Death.--Savage Spectacle.--Negroes seek Head-quarters
+of Police.--Appearance and State of the City.--Colonel Nugent's House
+sacked.--Fight with the Mob in Third Avenue.--Battle at Gibbon's House.--
+Policeman Shot.--Night Attack on Brooks and Brothers' Clothing Store.--
+Value of the Telegraph System.--Captain Petty.--Seymour's Speech to the
+Mob.--Cars and Stages seized.--Barricades.--Other Fights.--Acton and his
+Labors.
+
+The early July morning broke tranquilly over the great city, and the
+rattling of vehicles was heard in some of the streets, where men were
+going to their places of business. In a large portion of it everything
+wore its usual air of tranquillity, yet a close observer would notice an
+uneasiness resting on the countenances of men. Furtive glances were cast
+down side streets, and people seemed on the watch, as though in
+expectation of something to come, and the very atmosphere appeared laden
+with evil omens. Around police head-quarters, and inside the building,
+were large bodies of policemen and the U. S. troops under General Brown.
+But uptown, in the vicinity of Thirteenth Street and Second and Third
+Avenues, crowds of men began early to assemble, though perfectly quiet in
+their demeanor, while smaller knots in the adjoining wards could be seen
+discussing the events of the day before. In the meantime, exciting reports
+came from Harlem and Yorkville--as early as five o'clock, the following
+telegram was sent to the Twentieth Precinct: "Notify General Sandford to
+go immediately to Eighty-sixth Street and Harlem--mob burning." Indeed the
+air was charged with electricity, but the commissioners now felt ready to
+meet the storm whenever and wherever it should burst. A large force of
+special policemen had been sworn in, while General Brown had over seven
+hundred troops, ready to co-operate with the police. The public buildings
+were all well guarded--Sandford had a strong force in the arsenal, and the
+military and civil authorities stood waiting the next movement of the mob.
+Telegrams arriving, showed that the northern part of the city was alive
+with gathering crowds, while from Sixth Avenue on the west nearly to
+Second Avenue in the east, and down almost to Broome Street, the streets
+were black with excited men. Stores were closed, factories emptied of
+their hands, who voluntarily joined the rioters, or were forced into their
+ranks, and there was evidently a gathering of the elements in those
+directions for a fearful storm. Soon immense crowds began to patrol the
+streets in different wards, showing that simultaneous action would be
+required at various points. The troops were called out and marshalled in
+Mulberry Street, and those companies selected for immediate action drawn
+up in line. Colonel Frothingham, after an earnest conversation with the
+officers, addressed the soldiers. He told them that the fate of the city
+was in their hands, and everything depended on their good conduct. Knowing
+the temptations to disorderly conduct in the midst of the great city, he
+urged on them especially to obey implicitly their officers under all
+circumstances. His manner and words were earnest, and listened to with
+profound attention. Soon a company headed by Sergeant Carpenter, with a
+police force two hundred and fifty strong, started for Second and Third
+Avenues, where the greatest gatherings were reported to be.
+
+At this time the rioters seemed hesitating about their course of action.
+There was apparently no recognized leader, no common understanding and
+purpose, though all were engaged in animated discussions of some topic.
+Dirty, ferocious-looking women were scattered through the crowd; some of
+the men were armed, while all looked defiant and determined.
+
+There were doubtless many who had come from mere curiosity, and a few
+attempted to allay the excitement, among them a Catholic priest, who
+harangued them, urging them to maintain peace. His address seemed to have
+considerable influence on those immediately around him; but as soon as he
+left, his words were forgotten, and the mighty throng, estimated by some
+at ten thousand, began to be agitated by passion. What would have been the
+first act of violence, it is impossible to say, had they been left
+undisturbed. But at the cry of "the police and soldiers are coming,"
+everything else was forgotten.
+
+Inspector Carpenter, coming down Twenty-first Street, struck Second
+Avenue, and wheeling, moved in solid column through the crowd up to
+Thirty-second Street. The force was assailed with hoots and yells, and all
+kinds of opprobrious epithets, but no violence was shown, until it had
+crossed Thirty-second Street. The mob not only filled the street, but
+numbers, with piles of stones and brick-bats, had climbed to the roofs of
+the houses. These deeming themselves secure, suddenly, with one accord,
+rained their missiles on the rear of the column.
+
+The men fell rapidly, and two were dangerously hurt. Carpenter immediately
+halted his command, and ordered fifty men to enter the houses, and
+mounting to the roof, clear them of the assailants. Barricaded doors were
+at once broken in, and every one that opposed their progress clubbed
+without mercy, as they made their way to the upper floors. Captain Mount
+of the Eleventh Precinct, led this storming party. Officers Watson and
+Cole distinguished themselves by being the first on the roof, fighting
+their way through a narrow scuttle. As the police, one by one, stepped on
+to the roof, they rushed on the desperadoes with their clubs, and felled
+them rapidly. Those who attempted to escape through the scuttles were met
+by the police in the rooms below; or if one chanced to reach the street,
+he was knocked down by those keeping guard there. Some dropped from second
+and third story windows, and met with a worse fate than those who staid
+behind. One huge fellow received such a tremendous blow, that he was
+knocked off his feet and over the edge of the roof, and fell headlong down
+a height of four stories to the pavement beneath. Crushed to death by the
+force of the fall, he lay a mangled heap at the feet of his companions.
+
+The fight was sharp and fierce, and kept up for nearly an hour, and bodies
+scattered around showed with what deadly force the club had been wielded.
+But with the clearing of the houses there came a lull in the conflict, and
+the immense crowd looked on in sullen silence, as the police reformed in
+the street, and recommenced their march. The military force that had
+accompanied the police, had formed on the avenue, about a block and a half
+above where the latter were stationed, while the detachment was clearing
+the houses. Two howitzers were placed in position commanding the avenue.
+Colonel O'Brien, of the Eleventh New York Volunteers, who was raising a
+regiment for the war, had gathered together, apparently on his own
+responsibility, about fifty men, and appearing on the field, from his
+superior rank, assumed command. For a short time the rioters remained
+quiet, but as the police marched away, they suddenly awoke out of their
+apparent indifference. Maddened at the sight of the mangled bodies of
+their friends stretched on the pavement, and enraged at their defeat by
+the police, they now turned on the soldiers, and began to pelt them with
+stones and brick-bats. O'Brien rode up and down the centre of the street a
+few times, evidently thinking his fearless bearing would awe the mob. But
+they only jeered him, and finding the attack growing hotter and more
+determined, he finally gave the order to fire. The howitzers belched forth
+on the crowd, the soldiers levelled their pieces, and the whistling of
+minie-balls was heard on every side. Men and women, reeled and fell on the
+sidewalk and in the street. One woman, with her child in her arms, fell,
+pierced with a bullet. The utmost consternation followed. The crowd knew
+from sad experience that the police would use their clubs, but they seemed
+to think it hardly possible that the troops would fire point-blank into
+their midst. But the deadly effect of the fire convinced them of their
+error, and they began to jostle and crowd each other in the effort to get
+out of its range. In a few minutes the avenue was cleared of the living,
+when the wounded and dead were cared for by their friends. Order had been
+restored, and O'Brien, with some twenty or thirty men, marched down to
+police head-quarters, and offered his services to Genera Brown. Colonel
+Frothingham thanked him, but soon saw that the Colonel was not in a fit
+state to have command of troops, and so reported to General Brown. O'Brien
+appeared to comprehend the state of things, and asked to be excused on the
+plea of sickness. He was excused, and rode away. Whether he disbanded his
+handful of men, or they disbanded themselves, was not stated, but
+_he_ was soon back again at the scene of the riot. His residence was
+close by, but had been deserted that morning by the family, which had fled
+in alarm to Brooklyn. Scowling visages lowered on the colonel, as he rode
+slowly back among the crowd, and low muttered threats were heard. Although
+an Irishman, and well-known in that neighborhood, his sympathy with the
+Government had awakened more or less hostile feeling against him, which
+his conduct to-day kindled into deadly hate. Apparently unconscious or
+reckless of this, he dismounted, and entered a neighboring drug-store or
+saloon. After remaining a few moments he came out, and paused as he beheld
+the crowd that had assembled around the door. There was little said, but
+dark and angry countenances were bent on him from every side, and he saw
+that mischief was intended. Drawing his sword, and taking a revolver in
+the other hand, he deliberately walked out into the street. He had taken
+but a few steps, when a powerful blow on the back of his head made him
+stagger forward. In an instant a rush was made for him, and blows were
+rained so fast and fierce upon him, that he was unable to defend himself.
+Knocked down and terribly mangled, he was dragged with savage brutality
+over the rough pavement, and swung from side to side like a billet of
+wood, till the large, powerful body was a mass of gore, and the face
+beaten to a pumice. The helpless but still animate form would then be left
+awhile in the street, while the crowd, as it swayed to and fro, gazed on
+it with cool indifference or curses. At length a Catholic priest, who had
+either been sent for, or came along to offer his services wherever they
+might be needed, approached the dying man and read the service of the
+Catholic Church over him, the crowd in the meantime remaining silent.
+After he had finished, he told them to leave the poor man alone, as he was
+fast sinking. But as soon as he had disappeared, determined to make sure
+work with their victim, they again began to pound and trample on the body.
+In the intervals of the attack, the still living man would feebly lift his
+head, or roll it from side to side on the stones, or heave a faint groan.
+
+The whole afternoon was spent in this fiendish work, and no attempt was
+made to rescue him. Towards sundown the body was dragged into his own
+back-yard, his regimentals all torn from him, except his pantaloons,
+leaving the naked body, from the waist up, a mass of mangled flesh clotted
+with blood.
+
+But the dying man could not be left alone in his own yard. A crowd
+followed him thither, among which were women, who committed the most
+atrocious violence on the body, until at last, with one convulsive
+movement of the head, and a deep groan, the strong man yielded up his
+life.
+
+While this tragedy was being enacted here, similar scenes were occurring
+all over the city. Mobs were everywhere, the spirit of pandemonium was
+abroad, and havoc and revenge let loose.
+
+Lieutenant Wood, whom General Brown had sent off, with a company of
+regulars, came in conflict with a mob, two thousand strong, in Pitt and
+Delancey Streets. Marching along Houston to the Bowery, he turned down the
+latter, and kept on to Grand. On reaching Pitt Street, he beheld the
+hooting, yelling crowd coming straight towards him. He immediately formed
+his little force of one hundred and fifty men in line across the street,
+and brought them to "shoulder arms." One of the ringleaders stepped
+forward to speak to him, when Lieutenant Wood waved him off. This was the
+signal for the attack, and immediately a shower of stones fell among the
+soldiers. The officer ordered the men to fire--it was said over the heads
+of the rioters--in order to disperse them. The result was scattering shots
+in return from the latter. Wood then ordered a point-blank volley, when
+men tumbled over right and left. The crowd did not wait for a second, but
+fled in every direction. Wood then marched back to headquarters, but on
+the way slipped and sprained his ankle, which caused a report that he had
+been wounded.
+
+A bloody conflict also took place between the police and mob in the same
+avenue where Colonel O'Brien fell, below Thirtieth Street. There was a
+wire factory here, in which several thousand carbines were stored. Of
+this, some of the rioters were aware, and communicated the fact to others,
+and a plan was formed to capture them. Having discovered from the
+morning's experience that the military had been called in to aid the
+police, arms became imperatively necessary, if they hoped to make a
+successful resistance. All public depositories of arms they knew were
+guarded, but this factory was not, and hence they resolved to capture it
+without delay. Swarming around it, they forced the entrance, and began to
+throw out the carbines to their friends. The attack, however, had been
+telegraphed to head-quarters, and Inspector Dilks was despatched with two
+hundred men to save the building, and recover any arms that might be
+captured. He marched rapidly up to Twenty-first Street, and down it to the
+avenue. Here he came suddenly upon the mob, that blocked the entire
+street. As the head of the force appeared, the rioters, instead of being
+frightened, greeted it with jeers and curses. It was two hundred against a
+thousand; but the inspector did not hesitate a moment on account of the
+inequality of numbers, but instantly formed his men and ordered a charge.
+The mob, instead of recoiling, closed desperately on the police, and a
+fierce hand-to-hand encounter took place. The clubs, however, mowed a
+clean swath along the street, and the compact little force pushed like a
+wedge into the throng, and cleared a bloody space for itself. The orders
+were to recapture all the arms; for this was of more vital importance than
+the capture of men. Wherever, therefore, a musket was seen, a man would
+dash for it, and, seizing it, fight his way back into line. On the
+pavement, the sidewalk, and in the gutters, men lay bleeding and dying,
+until at last, the more resolute having been knocked on the head, the vast
+crowd, like a herd of buffalo, broke and tore madly down the street. One
+of the leaders was a man of desperate courage, and led on the mob with
+reckless fury, though bleeding freely from the terrible punishment he
+received. As his comrades turned to flee, leaving him alone, a fearful
+blow sent him reeling and staggering towards the sidewalk. As he reached
+it, he fell heavily over against the iron railing, and his chin striking
+one of the iron pickets, the sharp point entered it and penetrated through
+to the roof of his mouth. No one noticed him, or if they did, paid no
+attention to him in the headlong flight on the one hand, and swift pursuit
+on the other. Thus horridly impaled, his body hanging down along the
+sidewalk, the wretched man was left to die. At length Captain Hedden
+noticed him, and lifting up the corpse, laid it down on the sidewalk. It
+was found, to the surprise of all, to be that of a young man of delicate
+features and white, fair skin. "Although dressed as a laborer, in dirty
+overalls and filthy shirt, underneath these were fine cassimere pants,
+handsome, rich vest, and fine linen shirt." [Footnote: D.M. Barnes.] He
+was evidently a man in position far above the rough villains he led on,
+but had disguised himself so, as not to be known. He never was known. The
+corpse, during the fight that followed, disappeared with the bodies of
+many others.
+
+The street being cleared, Dilks turned his attention to the factory, which
+was filled with armed rioters, who were determined to defend it to the
+last. Detaching a portion of his force, he ordered it to take the building
+by storm. Dashing over all obstacles, the men won the stairway step by
+step, and entering the main room on the second story, felled a man at
+almost every blow. Those who succeeded in escaping down-stairs were
+knocked on the head by the force in the street, and soon no rioters were
+left but the dead and dying. How many fell in this fight it is impossible
+to tell; but one physician alone dressed the wounds of twenty-one
+desperately wounded men. Taking what guns they could find and had captured
+in the street, the force marched triumphantly back, cheered on their way
+by the spectators.
+
+In the meantime, Mayor Opdyke's house in Fifth Avenue had again been
+attacked and partially sacked. Captain Maniere, one of the provost
+marshals, however, assembled a small force, and drove out the rioters, who
+were mostly young men and boys, before the work of destruction was
+complete. The news of this attack had been telegraphed to head-quarters of
+the police, and Captain Helme, of the Twenty-seventh Precinct, despatched
+to its defence. At his approach the rioters dispersed. Soon after, he was
+ordered with his command over to the Second Avenue, accompanied by a
+detachment of troops under Captain Franklin. This was in the afternoon--
+the mob had reassembled, and reinforced by those who had been dispersed at
+Thirty-fourth Street, where Colonel O'Brien fell, had overcome the small
+body of police at the wire factory, and again taken possession of it. They
+had found some boxes of guns that had been overlooked by Dilks, and having
+armed themselves, determined to hold it. Even women joined in the defence.
+As the force approached, it was greeted with shouts of defiance and
+missiles of every kind. An immense crowd was gathered outside, while the
+windows of the five-story building were filled with angry, excited faces,
+and arms wildly gesticulating. Charging on this dense mass, and clubbing
+their way to the building, the police entered it, and streaming up the
+stairways, cleared it floor by floor, some being knocked senseless, others
+leaping from windows, to be killed by the fall, and others escaping down-
+stairs, to be met by the force in the street. A thorough search was now
+made for arms, and the building emptied of them. Taking possession of
+these, the police and military took up their line of march for head-
+quarters. They had not proceeded far, however, before the mob that had
+scattered in every direction began to pour back again into the avenue, and
+close on the military that were bringing up the rear. Following them with
+hoots and yells that were unheeded, they became emboldened, and pressing
+nearer, began to hurl stones and bricks, and everything they could lay
+their hands on, against the soldiers. The latter bore it for awhile
+patiently; but this only made the wretches more fierce and daring. Seeing
+there was but one way to end this, Captain Franklin ordered his men to
+"About face;" and "ready, aim, fire," fell in quick succession. The
+yelling, shouting crowd were in point-blank range, and the volley told
+with deadly effect. The street was strewed with dead and dying, while the
+living fled down the avenue.
+
+In the meantime, mobs had sprung up in every part of the city; some larger
+and some smaller; some after negroes, others firing buildings or sacking
+them.
+
+Some idea of the pressure on the Police Commissioners during this
+forenoon, and the condition the city was in, may be gathered from the
+following despatches, which are only a small portion of those received and
+answered in two hours:
+
+10.20. From Thirteenth. Send military here immediately.
+
+10.22. To Seventh. Find military and send them to Thirteenth Street
+forthwith.
+
+10.45. From Sixteenth. A mob has just attacked Jones' soap factory; stores
+all closed.
+
+10.50. To Twenty-sixth. Tell Inspector Leonard to send one hundred men
+here forthwith.
+
+10.55. To Twentieth. From General Brown. Send to arsenal and say a heavy
+battle is going on. Captain Wilkins and company of regulars will report to
+me here at once.
+
+11.18. From Sixteenth. Mob is coming down to station-house; we have no
+men.
+
+11.20. From Eighteenth. The mob is very wild, corner Twenty-second Street
+and Second Avenue. They have attacked the Union steam factory.
+
+11.35. To Twenty-sixth. Send another one hundred men here forthwith.
+
+11.35. From Twentieth. Send one hundred men to disperse mob assailing
+Mayor Opdyke's house.
+
+11.38. To Twenty-first. Can you send a few men here?
+
+11.40. From Twenty-second. The mob has gone to Mr. Higgins' factory, foot
+of Forty-third Street, to burn it.
+
+11.45. From Eighteenth. What shall we do? The mob is about 4,500 strong.
+
+_Answer_. Clear them down, if you can.
+
+11.50. From Eighteenth. We must leave; the mob is here with guns.
+
+11.50. From Twentieth. Mob tearing up track on Eleventh Avenue.
+
+11.58. The mob have just sacked a large gun-store in Grand Street, and are
+armed, and are on the way to attack us.
+
+12.10. To Fifteenth. Send your men here forthwith.
+
+12.35. From Twentieth. Send two hundred men forthwith to Thirty-fifth
+Street arsenal.
+
+12.36. From Twenty-first. The mob have just broken open a gun-store on
+Third Avenue, between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets, and are
+arming.
+
+12.40. From Twenty-first. Send help--the crowd is desperate.
+
+And so on.
+
+Between these rapid telegrams asking for help, were others making and
+answering inquiries. And so it was kept up from daylight till midnight for
+three days in succession. These urgent calls for help coming from every
+quarter at the same time, would have thrown into inextricable confusion a
+less clear head than Acton's. It was a terrible strain on him, and had it
+continued a little longer, would have cost him his life. In the midst of
+it all he received anonymous letters, telling him he had but one more day
+to live.
+
+But while the police head-quarters were thus crowded with business, and
+the commissioners were straining every nerve to meet the frightful state
+of things in the city, other means were being taken to add to their
+efficiency.
+
+Governor Seymour had reached the city, and after being closeted with Mayor
+Opdyke, had issued a proclamation, calling on the rioters to disperse, and
+saying that they would be put down at all hazards.
+
+At a meeting of the merchants and bankers in Wall Street, it was resolved
+to close up business, and form volunteer companies of a hundred men each,
+to serve under the military. General Wetmore was one of the first to offer
+his services. The high-spirited citizen, William E. Dodge, was among the
+most prominent advocates of the measure, and soon found himself a captain
+under orders. The steamboat of the harbor police was busy in bringing
+troops and cannon from Riker's and Governor's Island, and rapidly steaming
+from point to point on the river, to prevent destruction around the docks.
+Around the arsenal cannon were placed. At the city armory, corner of White
+and Elm Streets, were a company of the Eighty-fourth New York Militia, and
+some of the Zouaves and other troops. The Sub-treasury and Custom House
+were defended by the Tenth National Zouaves and a hundred and fifty armed
+citizens. In front of the Government stores in Worth and White streets,
+the Invalid Corps and a company of marines patrolled, while howitzers
+loaded with grape and canister, stood on the corner of the street. Nearly
+four hundred citizens had been sworn in at police head-quarters as special
+policemen, and had been furnished with clubs and badges. All this time the
+fight was going on in every direction, while the fire-bells continually
+ringing increased the terror that every hour became more wide-spread.
+Especially was this true of the negro population. From the outset, they
+had felt they were to be objects of vengeance, and all day Monday and to-
+day those who could leave, fled into the country. They crowded the ferry-
+boats in every direction, fleeing for life. But old men and women, and
+poor families, were compelled to stay behind, and meet the fury of the
+mob, and to-day it became a regular hunt for them. A sight of one in the
+streets would call forth a halloo, as when, a fox breaks cover, and away
+would dash a half a dozen men in pursuit. Sometimes a whole crowd streamed
+after with shouts and curses, that struck deadly terror to the heart of
+the fugitive. If overtaken, he was pounded to death at once; if he escaped
+into a negro house for safety, it was set on fire, and the inmates made to
+share a common fate. Deeds were done and sights witnessed that one would
+not have dreamed of, except among savage tribes.
+
+At one time there lay at the corner of Twenty seventh-Street and Seventh
+Avenue the dead body of a negro, stripped nearly naked, and around it a
+collection of Irishmen, absolutely dancing or shouting like wild Indians.
+Sullivan and Roosevelt Streets are great negro quarters, and here a negro
+was afraid to be seen in the street. If in want of something from a
+grocery, he would carefully open the door, and look up and down to see if
+any one was watching, and then steal cautiously forth, and hurry home on
+his errand. Two boarding-houses here were surrounded by a mob, but the
+lodgers, seeing the coming storm, fled. The desperadoes, finding only the
+owner left behind, wreaked their vengeance on him, and after beating him
+unmercifully, broke up the furniture, and then fired the buildings. A
+German store near by, because it was patronized extensively by negroes,
+shared the same fate, after its contents had been distributed among
+themselves. A negro barber's shop was next attacked, and the torch applied
+to it. A negro lodging-house in the same street next received the visit of
+these furies, and was soon a mass of ruins. Old men, seventy years of age,
+and young children, too young to comprehend what it all meant, were
+cruelly beaten and killed. The spirit of hell seemed to have entered the
+hearts of these men, and helpless womanhood was no protection against
+their rage. Sometimes a stalwart negro would break away from his
+murderers, and run for his life. With no place of safety to which he could
+flee, he would be headed off in every direction, and forced towards the
+river. Driven at last to the end of a pier, he would leap off, preferring
+to take his chances in the water rather than among these bloody men. If
+bruised and beaten in his desperate struggle for life, he would soon sink
+exhausted with his efforts. Sometimes he would strike out for a ship, but
+more often dive under the piers, and hold on to a timber for safety, until
+his yelling pursuers had disappeared, when he would crawl stealthily out,
+and with terrified face peer in every direction to see if they had gone.
+Two were thus run off together into the East River. It was a strange
+spectacle to see a hundred Irishmen pour along the streets after a poor
+negro. If he could reach a police station he felt safe; but, alas! if the
+force happened to be away on duty, he could not stay even there. Whenever
+the police could strike the track of the mad hunt, they stopped it
+summarily, and the pursuers became the pursued, and received the
+punishment they had designed for the negro. All this was in the nineteenth
+century, and in the metropolis of the freest and most enlightened nation
+on earth.
+
+[Image: Hanging and burning a negro in Clarkson Street.]
+
+The hunt for these poor creatures became so fearful, and the utter
+impossibility to protect them in their scattered localities so apparent,
+that they were received into the police stations. But these soon proved
+inadequate, and they were taken to head-quarters and the arsenal, where
+they could be protected against the mob. Here the poor creatures were
+gathered by hundreds, and slept on the floor, and were regularly fed by
+the authorities.
+
+It is impossible to give a detailed account of what transpired in every
+part of the city. If there had been a single band of rioters, no matter
+how large, a force of military and police, properly armed, could have been
+concentrated to have dispersed it. But bodies of men, larger or smaller,
+bent on violence and devastation, were everywhere; even out at Harlem
+eight buildings were burned, and the lower end of Westchester was in a
+state of agitation and alarm. A mob of thousands would be scattered, only
+to come together at other points. A body of police and military plunging
+through the heaving multitude, acted often only as a stone flung into the
+water, making but a momentary vacuum. Or, if they did not come together
+again, they swung off only to fall in, and be absorbed by a crowd
+collected in another part of the city. The alarm of Monday had only been
+partial, but to-day it culminated. Families, husbands, and sons left their
+business, and with arms patrolled the streets. Stores were shut up, stages
+and cars stopped running, and all business was suspended.
+
+The blood flowing through the thousand arteries of this great mart seemed
+suddenly frozen in its channels, and its mighty pulsations to stop at the
+mandate of lawless men. The city held its breath in dread, but there were
+firm hearts at police head-quarters. Acton never flinched, and in General
+Brown he found a soldier that knew his duty, and would do it at all
+hazards. Still, the uprising kept swelling into vaster proportions,
+embracing a still larger territory.
+
+Broadway was deserted. A few hacks could be seen, but with very different
+occupants than those which they ordinarily contained. The iron shutters
+were closed on the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and a stack of arms stood in the
+hall-way. Crowds of respectable citizens, not on duty, were making all
+haste toward railroad depots and steamboat landings. Every boat, as it
+swung from the dock, was loaded to its utmost capacity with people leaving
+a city that seemed doomed to destruction; going, many knew not where, only
+out of New York. Cars were packed, and long trains were made up to carry
+the crowds in haste to get away. But travel on the Hudson River Road was
+soon stopped by the mob, that tore up the track to prevent communication
+with other parts of the State, and the arrival of troops.
+
+The Harlem and Third Avenue tracks were also torn up, as the rioters were
+determined to isolate the great city, which they had doomed to
+destruction. Passing from one object to another, now acting as if from
+plan, and now intent only on destruction and plunder, the crowd streamed
+from point to point with shouts and yells, that sent terror through the
+adjoining streets. Suddenly, some one remembered that they were in the
+vicinity of Colonel Nugent's house, in Yorkville, the assistant provost
+marshal general, and shouting out the news, a rush was made for it, and it
+was sacked from top to bottom.
+
+As the police were gathered together either at the precinct stations or
+head-quarters, ordinary patrol duty was out of the question; hence, many
+isolated, acts of violence could be committed with impunity. This freedom
+from close surveillance, coupled with the contagion of the lawless spirit
+which was abroad, made every section of the city where the lower classes
+lived more or less restless. It was impossible for the police to divide
+itself up so to furnish protection in individual cases, and yet be in
+sufficient force to cope with the mobs, that numbered by thousands.
+Although the whole city was heaving like a troubled sea, yet the main
+gathering this day had been in the upper part and on both sides of it. The
+terrific contests we described farther back were in the Second Avenue, on
+the east side, but, nearly opposite, in the Sixth Avenue, crowds had been
+gathering since early in the forenoon.
+
+For a long time they swayed backward and forward, apparently without any
+definite purpose, and moved only by the spirit of disorder that had taken
+possession of the city. But about two o'clock, these various bodies began
+by mutual attraction to flow together, and soon became one immense mass,
+and impelled by some information or other, gathered threateningly around a
+large mansion on the corner of Forty-sixth Street and Fifth Avenue. They
+had supplied themselves with all sorts of weapons, revolvers, old muskets,
+stones, clubs, barrel-staves--in short, everything that could be found,
+that might be of service in a fight--and soon commenced plundering the
+residence. But their movements had been telegraphed to head-quarters, and
+Captain Walling, of the Twentieth Precinct, was dispatched thither, with a
+company of regulars under Captain Putnam, a descendant of "Old Put." The
+report soon spread through the crowd, that bayonets could be seen coming
+up the avenue. Marching up to Forty-sixth Street, the force turned into
+it, towards the Fifth Avenue; and breaking into the charge step, with the
+order "no prisoners" ringing in their ears, struck the mob almost in the
+centre, cutting it in two, like a mighty cleaver. There was no need of
+bayonets--the police, at the head of the military, went right through it,
+and scattered the men in every direction. The force then divided into
+squads, and each one taking a section of the mob, followed it up on a
+swift run, and smote them right and left for several blocks. The larger
+portion went down Sixth Avenue, and seeing only a portion of the police
+pursuing, turned and showed fight, when the leader received a bullet in
+the head and fell. Seeing their leader fall, the mob wheeled and took to
+their heels.
+
+Captain Walling in one instance saw a crowd with fire-arms standing in an
+alley-way. Just then a fire-engine and company came down the street, and
+he with his small force got behind it, and kept concealed until opposite
+the unsuspecting crowd, when, with a shout, they dashed on it. A volley
+received them,--with answering volley, the police charged into the narrow
+opening. The rioters fled into a tenement-house, from which came yells and
+screams of terrified women and children. Walling had some sharpshooters
+with him, to pick off those beyond the reach of the clubs. One fellow,
+armed, was seen astraddle of the ridge pole of a house. The next moment a
+sharpshooter covered him, and he tumbled headlong to the ground. The same
+afternoon he saw some twenty or thirty men attempting to stave in a
+hardware store, evidently after pistols. Walling charged on them alone,
+and with one terrible blow, his club sent the leader to the pavement with
+his brains oozing out.
+
+Although the draft was almost forgotten by the rioters, in the thirst for
+plunder and blood, still men in the streets and some of the papers talked
+of its being unconstitutional, and to be contested in the courts--others
+that it had been and would be suspended, as though any disposal of it now
+could affect the conduct of the rioters. Force was the only argument they
+would listen to. The riot had almost ceased to wear any political aspect
+since the attack on the _Tribune_ office, the day before, had been
+defeated. An occasional shout or the sight of a negro might now and then
+remind one of its origin, but devastation and plunder were the great
+objects that urged on the excited masses. The sacking of Opdyke's house
+was done chiefly by a few youngsters, who were simply following the
+example set them the day before; while the burning of negro buildings, the
+chasing and killing of negroes, seemed to have only a remote connection
+with the draft, and was simply the indulgence of a hatred they were
+hitherto afraid to gratify. So the setting fire to the Weehawken ferry
+afterwards, could be made to grow out of politics only so far as a man who
+kept a liquor saloon there was a known Republican. This seemed a weak
+inducement to draw a crowd so far, when more distinguished victims were
+all around them. It is more probable that some personal enemy of parties
+in the vicinity, finding the mob ready to follow any cry, led them
+thither; for one man seemed to be the leader, who, mounted on a fine
+cavalry horse, and brandishing a sword, galloped backwards and forwards
+through the crowd, giving his orders like a field officer. Mobs springing
+up everywhere, and flowing together often apparently by accident, each
+pursuing a different object: one chasing negroes and firing their
+dwellings; others only sacking; a house, and others still, wreaking their
+vengeance on station-houses, while scores, the moment they got loaded down
+with plunder, hastened away to conceal it--all showed that the original
+cause of the uprising had been forgotten. A strong uncertainty seemed at
+times to keep them swaying backwards and forwards, as though seeking a
+definite object, or waiting for an appointed signal to move, and then at
+some shout would rush for a building, a negro, or station-house.
+
+The mob was a huge monster--frightful both in proportions and appearance,
+yet not knowing where or how to use its strength. The attack on Mr.
+Gibbon's house at Twenty-ninth Street and Eighth Avenue, during this
+afternoon, was attributed to the fact that he was Mr. Greeley's cousin,
+and that the former sometimes slept there--rather a far-fetched inference,
+as though a mob would be aware of a fact that probably not a dozen
+immediate neighbors knew.
+
+Some one person might have raised a cry of "Greeley's house," which would
+have been sufficient to insure its destruction. The police being notified
+of this attack, sent a squad of men with a military force to disperse the
+mob. Captain Ryer formed his troops in front of the house, and Sergeant
+Devoursney did the same with a part of his men, while the other portion
+was sent into the building, that was filled with men, women, and children,
+loading themselves down with the spoils. The appearance of the caps and
+clubs in the rooms created a consternation that would have been ludicrous,
+but for the serious work that followed. No defence was made, except by a
+few persons singly. One fellow advanced to the door with a pistol in his
+hand, and fired, sending a ball through Officer Hill's thigh. The next
+instant the latter felled him to the floor with his club, and before he
+could even attempt to rise he was riddled with balls. Some of the women
+fell on their knees, and shrieked for mercy; while one strong Irish woman
+refused to yield her plunder, and fought like a tigress. She seized an
+officer by the throat, and trying to strangle and bite him, would not let
+go till a blow sobered her into submission.
+
+Some were loaded with shawls and dresses, and one burly, ferocious-looking
+Irishman carried under his arm a huge bundle of select music. As the
+police chased the plunderers down-stairs, and out into the street, in some
+unaccountable way the troops got so confused that they fired a volley that
+swept the police as well as the rioters. Officer Dipple was so severely
+wounded that he died the following Sunday, while Officers Hodson and
+Robinson both received flesh wounds.
+
+In the upper part of the city, few buildings, except those too near police
+and army head-quarters, or too well defended, offered much spoil except
+private houses, and these had been the chief objects of attack. But Brooks
+and Brothers' clothing store in Catharine Street, situated in a part of
+the city thickly populated with the very class mobs are made of, became
+toward evening an object of great attraction to groups of hard-looking men
+and women. As night settled down, the heavens being overcast, it became
+very dark; for in all the neighboring houses the lights were extinguished
+by the inmates, who were terribly alarmed at the rapidly increasing crowd
+in the street. To deepen and complete the gloom the rioters turned off the
+gas. Officer Bryan, of the Fourth Ward, telegraphed to head-quarters the
+threatening appearance of things, and a force of fifty or sixty men were
+at once despatched to the spot. In the mean time Sergeant Finney, with
+Platt and Kennedy, stood at the entrance to defend the building till the
+police could arrive.
+
+For awhile the three determined police officers, standing silent in the
+darkness, overawed the leaders. But soon from the crowd arose shouts, amid
+which were heard the shrill voices of women, crying, "Break open the
+store." This was full of choice goods, and contained clothing enough to
+keep the mob supplied for years. As the shouts increased, those behind
+began to push forward those in front, till the vast multitude swung
+heavily towards the three police officers. Seeing this movement, the
+latter advanced with their clubs to keep them back. At this, the shouts
+and yells redoubled, and the crowd rushed forward, crushing down the
+officers by mere weight. They fought gallantly for a few minutes; but,
+overborne by numbers, they soon became nearly helpless, and were terribly
+beaten and wounded, and with the utmost exertions were barely able to
+escape, and make their way back to the station. The mob now had it all its
+own way, and rushing against the doors, burst bolts and bars asunder, and
+streamed in. But it was dark as midnight inside, and they could not
+distinguish one thing from another; not even the passage-ways to the upper
+rooms of the building, which was five stories high. They therefore lighted
+the gas, and broke out the windows. In a few minutes the vast edifice was
+a blaze of light, looking more brilliant from the midnight blackness that
+surrounded it. The upturned faces of the excited, squalid throng below
+presented a wild and savage spectacle in the flickering light. Men and
+women kept pouring in and out, the latter loaded with booty, making their
+way home into the adjacent streets, and the former rushing after their
+portion of the spoils. Coats and pantaloons, and clothing of every
+description, were rapidly borne away; and it was evident, give them time
+enough, the crowd would all disappear, and there would be scarcely enough
+left to finish the work of destruction. Thinking only of the rich prize
+they had gained, they seemed to forget that retribution was possible, when
+suddenly the cry of "Police! police!" sent a thrill of terror through
+them. Sergeant Delaney, at the head of his command, marched swiftly down
+the street, until close upon the mob, when the order, "Double-quick," was
+given, and they burst with a run upon them. For a moment, the solid mass,
+by mere weight, bore up against the shock; but the clubs soon made a lane
+through it broad as the street. Just then a pistol-shot rung from a house,
+almost over their heads. Many of the rioters were armed with muskets, and
+the comparatively small police force, seeing that firearms were to be
+used, now drew their revolvers, and poured a deadly volley right into
+their midst. Several fell at the first discharge; and immediately terror
+seized that portion of the multitude nearest the police, especially the
+women, and many fell on their knees, crying for mercy. Others forced their
+way recklessly over their companions, to get out of reach. As the police
+made their way to the front of the store, they formed line, while Sergeant
+Matthew, of the First Precinct, with his men, entered the building. The
+scene here became more frightful than the one without. The rioters on the
+first floor made but little resistance, and, thinking only of escape,
+leaped from the windows, and rushed out of doors like mad creatures. But
+as they attempted to flee, those without knocked them over with their
+clubs. Having cleared this story, the police mounted to the second, where
+the rioters, being more closely penned, showed fight. Pistol-shots rang
+out, and some of the police officers had narrow escapes. One powerful
+bully fought like a tiger, till two policemen fell upon him with their
+clubs, and soon left him stark and stiff. At last they drove the whole
+crowd into a rear building, and kept them there till they had time to
+secure them.
+
+Just as the store was cleared, Sergeant Carpenter, who had been sent as a
+reinforcement in case of need, came up with a hundred and fifty men, and
+charging on the crowd, sent them flying down the narrow streets. After
+quiet had been restored, a military force arrived and took possession of
+the building.
+
+Just previous to this, another attempt was made to burn the _Tribune_
+building, but was easily repelled. The _Times_ office, near by,
+warned by the fate of its neighbor the night before, had established a
+regular garrison inside, while it brilliantly illuminated the open space
+all around it, in the circle of which the rioters did not care to come.
+
+The invaluable service of the telegraph was tested to-day, not merely in
+enabling General Brown and the commissioners to despatch men quickly to a
+threatened point, but to keep a force moving from one ward to another, as
+messages came in, announcing the incipient gathering in different
+districts. Word sent to the station in the neighborhood where they were
+acting, would instantly change their route; and knots of men, which if
+left alone would soon have swelled into formidable mobs, were broken up,
+for they found military and police force marching down on them before they
+could form a plan of action. Nor was this all. A force sent to a certain
+point, after dispersing the mob, would be directed to make a tour through
+the disaffected districts--all the time keeping up its communication with
+head-quarters, so that if any serious demonstration was made in that
+section of the city, it could be ordered there at once, thus saving half
+the time it would take to march from head-quarters. Thus, for instance,
+Captain Petty was ordered this morning to head-quarters from the City
+Hall, where he had passed the night, and directed to take two hundred men
+(including his own precinct force), and go to the protection of a soap
+factory in Sixteenth Street, Eighth and Ninth Avenues. He moved off his
+command, marching rapidly up Broadway and down Sixteenth Street. The mob
+saw it coming two blocks off, and immediately scattered in every
+direction, which awakened the supreme contempt of the captain. He now
+marched backward and forward, and through the cross streets, up as far as
+Nineteenth Street, scattering every fragment of the mob that attempted to
+hold together, and finally returned to head-quarters. This was a long
+march, but the men had scarcely rested, when the captain was hurried off
+to aid in the protection at the wire factory in Second Avenue. In the
+fierce fight that followed, he, with ten men at his back, charged up the
+broad stairway, fighting his way step by step to the fifth story. Caught
+up here at the top of the building, the rioters were clubbed without
+mercy. Some, to escape the terrible punishment, plunged down the hatchway;
+others attempted to dash past the men, and escape down the stairs. At one
+time eight bodies lay in the door-way, blocking it up. He then marched
+back to head-quarters. He had been marching and fighting all day. Similar
+exhausting duties were performed by other commands, both police and
+military. Inspector Dilks, with his force gathered from various precincts,
+passed the entire day in marching and fighting. The men, weary and hungry,
+would reach head-quarters or certain points, hoping to get a little rest
+and refreshment, when the hurried order would come to repair to a point a
+mile off, where the mob was firing and sacking houses, and off they would
+start on the double-quick. Uncomplaining and fearless of danger, and never
+counting numbers, both police and soldiers were everywhere all this day,
+and proved themselves as reliable, gallant, and noble a set of men as ever
+formed or acted as the police force of any city in the world.
+
+In the meantime, Governor Seymour and the Mayor of the city were not idle.
+The latter at the City Hall, fearing an attack, asked Acton for a guard of
+protection, and fifty men were sent him. Report of the mob assembled
+there, reached Governor Seymour, at the St. Nicholas, and he immediately
+hastened thither, and addressed the crowd from the steps, which allayed
+excitement for the time. This speech was variously commented upon. Some of
+the criticisms were frivolous, and revealed the partisan, rather than the
+honest man. If the Governor had not previously issued a proclamation to
+the whole city, in which he declared without reservation that the mobs
+should be put down at all hazards--if this speech had been his only
+utterance, then the bitter denunciations against him would have been
+deserved. It would have been pusillanimous, cowardly, and unworthy the
+Governor of the State. But he spoke in his official capacity, not only
+firmly, emphatically, and in no ambiguous terms, but he had hurried up the
+military, and used every means in his power to accumulate and concentrate
+the forces under his control to put down the riot. No faint-heartedness or
+sentimental qualmishness marked any of his official acts. Prompt,
+energetic, and determined, he placed no conditions on his subordinates in
+the manner of putting down the mob, and restoring the supremacy of the
+law. But here in this address he was speaking to men who, as a body at
+least, had as yet committed no overt act; and many doubtless were
+assembled expecting some public declaration from the City Hall. He was not
+addressing the plunderers and rioters that were firing houses and killing
+negroes, but a mixed assembly, the excitement of which he thought best to
+allay, if possible. Some said he began his address with "My friends;"
+others, "Fellow-citizens." Whether he did one, or the other, or neither,
+is of no consequence and meant nothing. To have commenced, "Ye villains
+and cut-throats, disperse at once, or I'll mow you down with grape-shot!"
+might have sounded very brave, but if that was all he was going to say, he
+had better kept his room.
+
+A _proclamation_ like this address would have been infamous. Here is
+where the mistake was made in the criticisms heaped upon it. His official
+acts were all such as became the Chief Magistrate of New York. The speech,
+therefore, must be judged rather by the rules of taste and propriety,
+than, by those which apply to him officially. If a man's official acts are
+all right, it is unjust to let them go for nothing, and bring into
+prominence a short address made without premeditation in the front of an
+excited, promiscuous assembly, moved by different motives. That it was
+open to criticism in some respects, is true. It should have been imbued
+more with the spirit of determination to maintain order and suppress
+violence, and less been said of the measures that had or would be taken to
+test the constitutionality of the draft, and of his purpose, if it were
+decided in the courts to be wrong, to oppose it. Such talk had better be
+deferred till after order is restored. When men begin to burn and plunder
+dwellings, attack station-houses, hang negroes, and shoot down policemen,
+it is too late to attempt to restore peace by talking about the
+constitutionality of laws. The upholding of laws about the
+constitutionality of which there is no doubt, is the only thing deserving
+of consideration. The Common Council of the city exhibited in this respect
+a most pusillanimous spirit, by offering resolutions to have the
+constitutionality of the law tested, when, the entire constitution and
+laws of the State were being subverted! Unquestionably, some charity
+should be extended to men who are pleading for those whose votes elevated
+them to office. Brutuses are rare nowadays; and politicians do not like to
+shoot down their own voters--they would much rather make more voters out
+of men no more fit to exercise the right of suffrage than horses and
+mules.
+
+Governed by a similar spirit, Archbishop Hughes, although he had yielded
+to the pressure made on him and issued an address to the Irish, calling on
+them to abstain from violence, yet accompanied it with a letter to Horace
+Grreeley, directly calculated to awaken or intensify, rather than allay
+their passions. He more than intimated that they had been abused and
+oppressed, and thought it high time the war was ended. The proclamation
+was short, but the letter was a long one, full of a vindictive spirit, and
+showing unmistakably with whom his sympathies were.
+
+Towards evening a mob assembled over in Ninth Avenue, and went to work
+with some system and forethought. Instead of wandering round, firing and
+plundering as the whim seized them, they began to throw up barricades,
+behind which they could rally when the military and police came to attack
+them. Indeed, the same thing had been done on the east side of the city;
+while railroads had been torn up, and stages stopped, to keep them from
+carrying policemen, rapidly from one quarter to another. During the day,
+Colonel Frothingham had stood in Third Avenue, and stopped and emptied
+every car as it approached, and filled it with soldiers, to be carried to
+the upper part of the city. Acton, too, had sent round to collect all the
+stages still running in Broadway and the Bowery, and in a short time they
+came rumbling into Mulberry Street, forming a long line in front of head-
+quarters. A telegram from Second Avenue demanded immediate help, and the
+police were bundled into them and hurried off. One driver refused to stir,
+saying, roughly, he was not hired to carry policemen. Acton had no time to
+argue the case, and quickly turning to a policeman, he said: "Put that man
+in cell Number 92." In a twinkling he was jerked from his seat and hurried
+away. Turning to another policeman, he said: "Mount that box and drive."
+The next moment the stage, with a long string of others, loaded inside and
+out with the bluecoats, was whirling through the streets. He had done the
+same with the Sixth Avenue cars. The son-in-law of George Law
+remonstrated, saying that it would provoke the mob to tear down the
+railroad buildings. There was no time to stand on ceremony; the cars were
+seized, and the company, to save their property, paid a large sum to the
+ringleaders of the rioters. In fact, a great many factories and buildings
+were bought off in the same way; so that the leaders drove quite a
+thriving business.
+
+But, as before remarked, the commencement of barricades to obstruct the
+movements of the police and military, after the Parisian fashion, was a
+serious thing, and must be nipped in the bud; and Captain Walling, of the
+Twentieth Precinct, who had been busy in this part of the city all the
+afternoon in dispersing the mob, sent to head-quarters for a military
+force to help remove them. He also sent to General Sandford, at the
+arsenal, for a company of soldiers, which was promised, but never sent. At
+six o'clock a force of regulars arrived from General Brown, and repaired
+to the Precinct station-house. Captain Slott, of the Twentieth Precinct,
+took command of the police force detailed to cooperate with the troops,
+but delayed action till the arrival of the company promised from the
+arsenal. Meanwhile, the rioters kept strengthening the barricades between
+Thirty-seventh and Forty-third Streets, in Eighth Avenue, by lashing
+carts, wagons, and telegraph poles together with wire stripped from the
+latter. The cross streets were also barricaded. Time passed on, and yet
+the bayonets of he expected reinforcement from the arsenal did not appear.
+The two commanding officers now began to grow anxious; it would not do to
+defer the attack till after dark, for such work as was before them
+required daylight. At length, as the sun stooped to the western horizon,
+it was resolved to wait no longer, and the order to move forward was
+given. As they approached the first barricade, by Thirty-seventh Street, a
+volley as poured into them from behind it, followed by stones and brick-
+bats.
+
+The police now fell back to the left, and the regulars advancing, returned
+the fire. The rioters, however, stood their ground, and for a time nothing
+was heard but the rapid roll of musketry. But the steady, well-directed
+fire of the troops, at length began to tell on the mob, and they at last
+broke, and fled to the next barricade. The police then advanced, and tore
+down the barricade, when the whole force moved on to the next. Here the
+fight was renewed, but the close and rapid volley of the troops soon
+scattered the wretches, when this also was removed. They kept on in this
+way, till the last barricade was abandoned, when the uncovered crowd broke
+and fled in wild disorder. The soldiers pressed after, breaking up into
+squads, and chasing and firing into the disjointed fragments as they
+drifted down the various streets.
+
+There was more or less disturbance in this section, however, till
+midnight. At nine o'clock, an attack was made on a gun and hardware store,
+in Thirty-seventh Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, but Sergeant
+Petty was sent thither with a small force, and scattered them at the first
+charge. At midnight, an attempt was made to destroy the colored church in
+Thirtieth Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues; but before the
+rioters had accomplished their work, Captain Walling, with his entire
+force and the regulars, came up, and though met with a volley, fell on
+them in such a headlong charge, that they scattered down the street.
+
+All this time the arsenal presented the appearance of a regular camp;
+videttes were kept out, sentries established, howitzers commanded the
+streets, and everything wore the look of a besieged fortress.
+
+Sandford, whom Wool wished to take command of all the troops, evidently
+thought that he had as much as he could do to hold that building, without
+doing anything to quell the riot in the city.
+
+One of the first companies that came up from the forts the day before, and
+hence belonged to General Brown's force, got, no one could hardly tell
+how, into the arsenal, and were there cooped up as useless as though in
+garrison--for if seven hundred men with cannon sweeping every approach
+could not hold it, seven thousand could not. General Brown and Acton
+needed this company badly, but how to get it was the question. Governor
+Seymour held no direct communication with the Police Commissioners; for
+they were not on friendly terms, as they were holding their places in
+defiance of him, he having removed them some time before. Mr. Hawley, the
+chief clerk, who knew the Governor personally, acted, therefore, as the
+channel of communication between them. He now went to him, and asked him
+how things were at the arsenal. He replied, he did not know--no report had
+been sent him. Hawley then asked him to send an officer and ascertain, and
+get back the company belonging to General Brown's command. He replied he
+had no one to send. Hawley then offered to go himself, if he would give an
+order to this company of United States troops to report at once to General
+Brown at police head-quarters. He did so, and Hawley, reaching the arsenal
+in safety, gave the order to the adjutant-general, before calling on
+Sandford, so as to be sure it was obeyed.
+
+On the northern limits of the city, serious disturbances had occurred
+during the day, especially in Yorkville, to which Acton was compelled to
+send a strong force. The mob also attempted to burn Harlem bridge, but the
+heavy rain of the night before had made it so wet that it would not
+ignite. Down town, likewise, mobs had assembled before the Western Hotel
+and other places, but were dispersed before they had inflicted any damage.
+Almost the last act in the evening was an attack on the house of Mr.
+Sinclair, one of the owners of the _Tribune_.
+
+But rioters must eat and sleep like other people, and though knots of them
+could be seen in various parts of the city, the main portion seemed to
+have retired soon after midnight.
+
+In the police head-quarters, men were lying around on the floor in the
+warm July night, snatching, as best they could, a little repose. General
+Brown and staff, in their chairs or stretched on a settee, nodded in this
+lull of the storm, though ready at a moment's notice to do their duty. But
+there was no rest for Acton. He had not closed his eyes for nearly forty
+hours, and he was not to close them for more than forty to come.
+
+With his nerves strung to their utmost tension, and resolved to put down
+that mob though the streets ran blood, he gave his whole soul to the work
+before him. He infused his determined, fearless spirit into every one who
+approached him. Anonymous letters, telling him he had not another day to
+live, he flung aside with a scornful smile, to attend to the telegraph
+dispatches from the different precincts.
+
+Troops and men were stationed at various points, and gunboats were
+patrolling the rivers, and he must be on the alert every moment. The fate
+of a great city lay on his heart, and he could not sleep.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEAD SERGEANT IN 22d STREET]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+DRAFT RIOT--THIRD DAY.
+
+Scenes in the City and at Head-quarters.--Fight in Eighth Avenue.--Cannon
+sweep the Streets.--Narrow Escape of Captain Howell and Colonel Mott.--
+Battle for Jackson's Foundry.--Howitzers clear the Street.--State of
+Things shown by Telegraph Despatches.--General Sandford sends out a Force
+against a Mob, at Corner of Twenty-ninth Street and Seventh Avenue.--
+Colonel Gardin's Fight with the Mob.--Is Wounded.--Mob Victorious.--Dead
+and Wounded Soldiers left in the Street.--Captain Putnam sent to bring
+them away.--Disperses the Mob.--Terrific Night.
+
+Tuesday had been a day of constant success to the police and military, and
+many thought that the rioters were thoroughly disheartened, and but little
+more hard fighting would be done. There had been two days of exhausting
+work, and both parties were well tired out. The commissioners, certainly,
+could not stand this terrible strain much longer. Forty-eight hours
+without sleep or rest, and all the time under the intensest mental strain,
+was telling on even the wiry Acton, though he would confess to no fatigue.
+
+To one who could take in all that was passing in New York on this morning,
+the city would have presented a strange appearance.
+
+The magnitude and demonstrations of the mob had aroused great fear for the
+Navy Yard and the naval property of the Government, and the marine company
+that had been on duty with the police was recalled by Admiral Paulding for
+their protection; and this morning six war-vessels, carrying in all over
+ninety guns, shotted and trained, could be seen drawn up, so as to command
+every avenue to the yard, while the iron-clad battery _Passaic_ and a
+gun-boat lay off the Battery to protect Fort Columbus during the absence
+of its garrison. Marines armed to the teeth, and howitzers, guarded all
+the entrances to the Navy Yard. Broadway was almost deserted--no stages
+were running, street-cars had disappeared--only here and there shutters
+were taken down from the stores, and it looked like Sabbath day in the
+city. But at police head-quarters all was activity. The African church
+nearly opposite was filled with soldiers stretched on the seats and floor
+of the building. Another house, a few doors from the police building, was
+also crowded with soldiers. The owner of this empty house, having sent a
+flat refusal to Acton's request for the use of it, the latter quietly told
+the policemen to stave in the door. It took but a few minutes to send it
+from its hinges; and now the troops were quartered in it also; for all
+those in the service of the United States, under General Brown, had their
+head-quarters here.
+
+In the basement of the police building was the telegraph, with the wires
+running like nerves to every part of the city, over which inquiries and
+answers were continually passing. Rooms all around were filled with
+rations obtained from a neighboring grocery and meatmarket, taken with or
+without leave. On the main floor, on one side, in their office sat the
+weary commissioners; on the other, were Inspectors Carpenter, Dilks, and
+Leonard, fit, each one to be a general, while scattered around were police
+captains, detectives, and patrolmen. On the second story were the clerks,
+copyists, etc.; while the top floor was crowded with colored refugees, who
+had fled thither for protection. Some were standing and conversing, others
+sitting in groups on boxes, or walking from room to room; many of these
+sad and serious, as they thought of missing relatives and friends, while
+the colored man placed over them, with his shirt sleeves rolled up, was,
+with his assistants, dealing out provisions.
+
+But soon it was announced that a vast crowd, numbering some five thousand,
+was assembled near Eighth Avenue and Thirty-second Street, sacking houses
+and hanging negroes. General Dodge and Colonel Mott, with Captain Howell,
+commanding Eighth Regiment Artillery, were at once despatched thither. As
+they marched up the avenue, they saw three negroes hanging dead, while the
+crowd around filled the air with fiendish shouts. As the firm, compact
+head of the column moved forward, the mob fell back, but did not scatter.
+Colonel Mott dashed forward on horseback and cut down one of the negroes
+with his sword. This seemed to be the signal for the mob to commence the
+attack, and the next moment they rushed forward on the soldiers with
+stones, brick-bats, and slung-shots. Colonel Mott then told Captain Howell
+to bring two pieces into battery on the corner of Thirty-second Street and
+Seventh Avenue, so as to sweep the streets; but he could not get through
+the dense crowd to do so. The infantry and cavalry were then ordered up
+and told to clear the way. The former, with level bayonets, and the latter
+with drawn sabres, charged on the mass, which parted and fell back some
+distance, and then halted. Captain Howell then advanced alone, and ordered
+the rioters to disperse, or he should fire on them. To this they replied
+in sullen silence. The apparent unwillingness of the captain to fire
+emboldened them to believe that he would not fire at all. Although they
+refused to disperse, the officers, as long as they made no assault,
+declined to give the word to fire. This delay encouraged the rioters still
+more; and either believing the guns, whose muzzles pointed so
+threateningly on them, were loaded with blank cartridges, or grown
+desperate and reckless with rage, they suddenly, as though moved by a
+common impulse, rushed forward and rained stones and missiles of every
+kind on the soldiers. Seeing that their object was to seize the guns and
+turn them on the troops, the word to fire was given. The next moment a
+puff of smoke rolled out, followed with a report that shook the buildings.
+As the murderous shot tore through the crowded mass, they stopped, and
+swayed heavily back for a moment, when the pieces were quickly reloaded,
+and again sent their deadly contents into their midst, strewing the
+pavements with the dead and dying. Those, however, in the rear, being
+protected by the mass in front, refused to give way, and it was not till
+five or six rounds had been fired that they finally broke and fled down
+the side streets. The military then broke into columns and marched up and
+down the streets, scattering everything before them, and arresting many of
+the rioters.
+
+Having finished their work, they returned to head-quarters. As they left
+the district, the mob, or a portion of it, gathered together again, and
+strung up afresh the lifeless bodies of the negroes.
+
+A few hours later, Captain Brower, with a police force, was sent thither,
+to take down and remove the bodies of any negroes that might be still
+hanging. He did so without molestation.
+
+Captain Howell's murderous fire on the mob came very near causing his
+death two days after. Having the curiosity to witness the scene of his
+struggle with the mob, he took his carriage, and drove over to it. A gang
+of seven or eight ruffians, seeing his uniform, cried out, "There's the
+man who fired on us here--let us hang him." Their shouts called others to
+the spot, and almost before the captain was aware of his danger, some
+fifty men were assembled, and at once made a dash at the driver, and
+ordered him to stop. Captain Howell, quickly drawing his revolver, pointed
+it at the driver, and ordered him to turn down Thirty-first Street, and
+give his horses the whip, or he would shoot him on the spot. The man
+obeying, lashed his horses into a run. At this moment the crowd was all
+around the carriage, and one man was climbing up behind, when he fell and
+was run over. A shower of stones and brick-bats followed, breaking in the
+panels of the carriage, and narrowly missing the captain's head.
+
+One stone struck an old wound in his side, and for a moment paralyzed his
+arm. The crowd with yells and shouts followed after, when he turned and
+emptied his revolver at them through the back window, which brought them
+to a halt. Colonel Mott had a similar escape the day before. Passing down
+one of the avenues in a carriage, he was recognized by some of the
+rioters, who immediately assailed him with stones, and fired at him. One
+of the bullets passed through the cushion on which he was sitting.
+
+Soon after this affair in Seventh Avenue, word was telegraphed that
+Jackson's foundry, corner of Twenty-eighth Street, First and Second
+Avenues, was threatened. A military force was despatched forthwith to it,
+piloted by four policemen. At Twenty-first Street and First Avenue, they
+were fired on by the mob. The attack was continued through the street to
+Second Avenue, and up this to Twenty-fifth Street, without any notice
+being taken of it by the troops. Made reckless by this forbearance, the
+rioters began to close up in more dangerous proximity, when the howitzer
+was unlimbered and pointed down the avenue. The mob not liking the looks
+of this, scattered, when the column resumed its march. The mob then
+rallied, and followed after, with shouts and distant shots, till the
+foundry on Twenty-eighth Street was reached. Here another mob came up from
+First Avenue, and the two made a simultaneous attack. The command was then
+given to fire, and a volley was poured into the crowd. Rapidly loading and
+firing, the troops soon stretched so many on the pavement, that the rest
+broke and fled. The military then entered the building and held it. The
+mob gathered around it, threatening to storm it, but could not pluck up
+courage to make the attempt. They seemed especially exasperated against
+the policemen, and had the effrontery to send a committee to the officer
+in command, demanding their surrender. If their request was refused, they
+declared they would storm the building at all hazards; but if complied
+with, they would disperse. The committee had to shout out their demands
+from the street. In reply, the officer told them if they did not take
+themselves off instantly, he would fire upon them; upon which they
+incontinently took to their heels.
+
+As the day wore on, things began to wear a still more threatening aspect.
+Despatches came in from every quarter, announcing the activity of the
+mob. To a question sent to the Thirteenth Precinct, a little past twelve,
+inquiring how things were going on in Grand Street, was returned the
+following reply: "Lively; store-keepers have fired into the mob; no force
+there yet."
+
+12.20. From Twenty-first. Building corner Thirty-third Street, Second
+Avenue, is set on fire by the mob.
+
+12.50. From Fifteenth. Send assistance to Twenty-first Precinct; they are
+about attacking it.
+
+12.55. From Twenty-sixth. It is reported that Government stores in
+Greenwich, near Liberty, are on fire; fired by mob.
+
+1.10. From Twenty-seventh. Send more men here forthwith.
+
+1.25. From Fourth. Fire corner of Catharine Street and East Broadway.
+
+1.45. A man just in from Eleventh Precinct, reports a number of bands of
+robbers, numbering from fifty to one hundred each, breaking into stores in
+Houston, near Attorney Street.
+
+1.47 P.M. From Twenty-ninth. The mob have cleared Twenty-first Precinct
+station-house.
+
+2 P.M. From Twenty-ninth. A large mob surrounded Captain Green's house,
+Twenty-eighth Street, Third Avenue. He escaped out of the back window;
+they threatened to hang him.
+
+3.10 P.M. To Eleventh. Send to foot of Fourteenth Street, East River, and
+if military is there, send word here forthwith.
+
+3.15. From Twenty-fourth. Mob are firing the building on Second Avenue,
+near Twenty-eighth Street. Immediate assistance is required. Houses
+occupied by negroes, who are fleeing for their lives.
+
+3.25. From Twentieth. The mob are sacking houses at Twenty-seventh Street
+and Seventh Avenue. We have no force to send.
+
+3.30. From Twenty-first. There is an attack on the colored people in
+Second Avenue, between Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Streets.
+
+3.40. From Eleventh. Send to 242 Stanton Street, and take possession of
+cavalry swords forthwith.
+
+There were five thousand cavalry swords there, and the mob were assembling
+to capture them; and the telegram announcing the fact, and the one
+ordering a force to seize them, were received and answered the same
+minute.
+
+3.55. To Twenty-first. How do things look?
+
+_Ans_. Very bad; large crowd in Thirty-fifth Street, near Third
+Avenue, and no assistance from adjoining precinct.
+
+4 o'clock. To Twenty-first. What is going on?
+
+_Ans_. The mob have captured some five or six negroes, and are
+preparing to hang them; be quick with reinforcements.
+
+4.43. From Twentieth. News have just come in that the mob are about to
+attack the Twenty-second Precinct station-house.
+
+5.15. From Sixteenth. Send us one hundred special shields and clubs; the
+citizens are arming up well.
+
+5.15. From Twenty-ninth. Who feeds the special men?
+
+_Ans_. You must, far as able.
+
+_Reply_. No money.
+
+_Ans_. It makes no difference; they must be fed; we are responsible.
+
+5.20. From Twenty-ninth. The rioters are now on Seventh Avenue and Twenty-
+eighth Street. They have just killed a negro; say they are going to cut
+off the Croton; they have pickaxes and crowbars; and also say they will
+cut off the gas; so reported by one of our men, who has been in the crowd;
+they were about to fire corner of Twenty-eighth Street and Seventh Avenue,
+when he came away.
+
+To have cut off the water and extinguished the gas, would have been
+master-strokes; but the military arrived in time to prevent it.
+
+5.25. From First. Riot at Pier 4, North River; they have killed negroes
+there.
+
+Thus, at the same moment, from the two extreme ends of the city, came the
+news of riots and calls for help. From points five miles apart, the wires
+would bring simultaneously tidings that showed the mob omnipresent.
+
+In the midst of all these incessant exhausting labors, the following
+telegram came from the Twentieth Precinct:
+
+"General Sandford says he has so many negroes at the arsenal, that he must
+get rid of them."
+
+Acton's answer was characteristic. He had no time for formalities or
+courteous exchange of views. In an instant there flashed back over the
+wires the curt reply:
+
+"Tell General Sandford he must do the best he can with them there."
+
+General Sandford had at this time about the same number of men under his
+command at the arsenal that General Brown had at police head-quarters; yet
+the former, up to this morning, had not sent out a single company to
+assist the police to arrest the devastations of the mob. He apparently did
+not know what was going on, had hardly kept up any communication with the
+Police Commissioners or Governor Seymour, but now begs the former to
+relieve him of some colored refugees, as if the overworked commissioners
+had not enough on their hands already. This request is especially
+noteworthy, when taken in connection with his after report, in which he
+states that on this morning the riot was substantially over; so much so,
+at least, that the police could do all that was necessary without the aid
+of the military. It would seem that if he really thought that the rest of
+the work should be left to them, he might have sent off some of his
+troops, and made room for the negroes in the arsenal.
+
+At about two o'clock in the afternoon word was received that a large
+number of muskets were secreted in a store on Broadway, near Thirty-third
+Street; and Colonel Meyer was ordered to proceed thither, with thirty-
+three soldiers belonging to Hawkins' Zouaves, and take possession of them.
+Reaching the place, he found a large mob gathered, which was momentarily
+increasing. He, however, succeeded in entering the building, and brought
+out the arms. An Irishman happening to pass by in his cart, the colonel
+seized it, and pitching in the guns, closed around it, and moved off.
+
+Citizens offering their services were coming in all day, and a company was
+formed and placed under the command of Charles A. Lamont, and did good
+service. Others also were enrolled and placed on duty.
+
+Colonel Sherwood's battery of rifled cannon arrived in the afternoon, and
+was put in position in front of the arsenal, where the firing of pickets
+all day would indicate that an attack was momentarily expected. This did
+not look as if General Sandford thought the riot substantially over.
+
+At about five o'clock, it was ordered by Sandford, with an infantry force
+of one hundred and fifty, to corner of Twenty-seventh Street and Seventh
+Avenue, to quell a mob assembled in large numbers at that point, and which
+were gutting, and plundering, and firing houses. As they approached, they
+saw flames bursting from windows, while, to complete the terror of the
+scene, the body of a negro hung suspended from a lamp-post, his last
+struggle just ended. At the same time that the military arrived, firemen,
+who had come to put out the fire, reached the spot in another direction.
+One portion of the mob immediately took shelter behind the latter, so that
+the troops dared not fire and clear the streets, while another ran up to
+the house-tops, armed with guns and pistols, for the purpose of firing
+into the ranks below. The colonel told his men to keep a sharp lookout,
+and at the first shot fire. Scores of guns were immediately pointed
+towards the roofs of the houses. In the meantime, from some cause not
+fully explained, the imposing force, after this demonstration, marched
+away, leaving the mob in full possession of the field. It had hardly
+reached the protection of the arsenal again, when the plundering and
+violence recommenced; and in a short time two more negroes were amusing
+the spectators with their death throes, as they hung by the neck from
+lamp-posts. This was the second expedition sent out by Sandford, the
+commander-in-chief of the military, during the riot.
+
+Towards evening word was brought to the Seventh Regiment armory that the
+mob had gathered in great force in First Avenue, between Eighteenth and
+Nineteenth Streets.
+
+Colonel Winston, in command, immediately ordered out a force, composed in
+part of the military, and in part of enrolled citizens, and with a battery
+of two howitzers, under command of Colonel Jardine, of Hawkins' Zouaves,
+marched rapidly to the scene of disturbance. Passing down Nineteenth
+Street to the avenue, it halted, and unlimbering the pieces, trained them
+so as to command the avenue, while the infantry formed in line to support
+them. As soon as the rioters saw the guns bearing on them, they dodged
+into basements, and mounted to the windows and roofs of the tenement
+buildings that abounded in that vicinity. A number of them armed with
+muskets and pistols, and the rest with stones and brick-bats, began a
+fierce and determined attack on the troops. The howitzers, loaded with
+grape and canister, at once swept the street. After the first discharge,
+but few ventured to show themselves in the avenue, until after they heard
+the report, when they would dodge from behind corners and fire back. But
+from the tops of the houses an incessant fusillade was kept up. The
+soldiers endeavored to pick them off, but the rioters presented a small
+mark compared to that which the troops, massed in the open streets,
+furnished; and it was soon apparent that the fight was unequal. If they
+had only had a police force to enter the buildings, and hunt the men from
+the roofs, the fight would soon have been over. But the commander,
+thinking he could not spare a sufficient number to do this work, or that
+the soldiers, cumbered with their muskets, which, after the first
+discharge, would have to be clubbed, could make no headway in such a hand-
+to-hand fight, made no effort to dislodge the wretches, who loaded and
+fired with the most imperturbable coolness. One man was seen to step round
+the corner, after the discharge of the battery, and resting his gun on the
+shoulder of a fellow-rioter, take as deliberate aim at Colonel Jardine as
+he would at a squirrel on the limb of a tree, and fire. The ball struck
+the colonel in the thigh, and brought him to the pavement. Other officers
+shared his fate, while at every discharge, men would drop in the ranks.
+The howitzers rattled their shot on the deserted pavements and walls of
+the houses, but did no damage to the only portion of the enemy they had to
+fear, while the fight between the infantry and the rioters was like that
+between soldiers in the open field and Indians in ambush. Colonel Winston
+soon saw that it was madness to keep his men there, to be picked off in
+detail, and ordered a retreat. At the first sign of a retrograde movement,
+a cry rang along the avenue; and from the side streets, and basements, and
+houses, the mob swarmed forth so furiously, that it assumed huge
+proportions at once, and chased the retiring soldiers with yells and
+taunts, and pressed them so hotly that they could not bring off all their
+killed and wounded. Among those left behind was Colonel Jardine. He took
+refuge in a basement, where the mob found him, and would have killed him
+on the spot, had not one of them recognized him as an old acquaintance,
+and for some reason or other protected him from further violence; and he
+was eventually carried to the house of a surgeon near by.
+
+The mob were left masters of the field, and soon began their depredations.
+The state of things was at length reported to police head-quarters, and
+General Brown sent off Captain Putman, with Captain Shelby and a hundred
+and fifty regulars and two field-pieces, to disperse the mob and bring
+away the dead and wounded of Winston's force that might remain. They
+reached the spot between ten and eleven o'clock at night. The dimly
+lighted streets were black with men, while many, apprised of the approach
+of the military, mounted again to the roofs as before. Putnam immediately
+charged on the crowd in the street, scattering them like a whirlwind. He
+then turned his guns on the buildings, and opened such a deadly fire on
+them that they were soon cleared. Having restored order, he halted his
+command, and remained on the ground till half-past twelve.
+
+At the same time a mob was pulling down the negro houses in York Street,
+which they soon left a heap of ruins. Houses plundered or set on fire in
+various parts of the city, combined with the ringing of fire-bells,
+thunder of cannon, and marching of troops, made this night like its
+predecessor--one of horror.
+
+There was also a disturbance in Brooklyn. Shaw's and Fancher's elevators,
+and Wheeler's store on the docks, were set on fire, and a force ordered to
+put them out.
+
+The illumination of the windows from the _Times_ building this
+evening shed a brilliant glow over Printing-house Square, and flooded the
+Park to the City Hall with light, while an armed force within was ready to
+fire on any mob that should dare expose itself in the circle of its
+influence.
+
+At 12.15 the following telegram was sent:
+
+"To all stations. How are things in your precinct?"
+
+_Answer_. "All quiet."
+
+Thus the third night of this terrible riot passed away still unsubdued,
+and still Acton sat at his post, awake, while others slept, and kept
+feeling through the telegraph wires the pulse of the huge, fevered city.
+The regiments coming back from Pennsylvania might arrive at any time, and
+he was anxious to know the moment they reached the New York docks. The
+Seventh Regiment, especially, he knew was expected to reach the city that
+night by special train. Policemen were therefore kept on the watch; but
+the regiment did not arrive till after daylight. About half-past four in
+the morning, the steady ranks were seen marching along Canal Street
+towards Broadway, and soon drew up in front of St. Nicholas Hotel.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+FOURTH DAY.
+
+Proclamations by the Governor and Mayor.--City districted.--Appearance of
+the East Side of the City.--A small Squad of Soldiers chased into a
+Foundry by the Mob.--Fierce Fight between the Mob and Military in Twenty-
+ninth Street.--Soldiers driven from the Ground, leaving a dead Sergeant
+behind.--Captain Putnam sent to bring the Body away.--Mows down the
+Rioters with Canister.--Storms the Houses.--Utter Rout of the Mob.--
+Colored Orphans and Negroes taken by Police to Blackwell's Island.--
+Touching Scene.--Coming on of Night and a Thunderstorm.--Returning
+Regiments.--Increased Force in the City to put down Violence.--Archbishop
+Hughes offers to address the Irish.--Curious Account of an Interview of a
+Lady with him and Governor Seymour.--Strange Conduct of the Prelate.
+
+Only the principal disturbances of the third day were given, and of these
+the accounts were very succinct. The movements of the mobs and the
+conflicts with them were so similar in character, that a detailed
+description of them would be a mere repetition of what had gone before.
+After the police force, and the troops under General Brown had become
+organized so as to move and act together, each fight with the rioters was
+almost a repetition of its predecessor. Having adopted a plan of
+procedure, they seldom deviated from it, and the story of one fight became
+the story of all--a short struggle and a quick victory.
+
+It was hoped this morning that the rioters would conclude that they could
+not carry out their mad designs; for the enrolment of large bodies of
+citizens, and the announcement of the speedy return of several regiments,
+showed that all the force necessary to subdue them was, or soon would be,
+on hand. The day before, the Governor had issued a proclamation, declaring
+the city to be in a state of insurrection; but this morning appeared a
+proclamation from Mayor Opdyke, announcing that the insurrection was
+practically ended. It is true he called on the citizens to form voluntary
+associations, with competent leaders, to patrol their separate districts,
+to protect themselves from roaming gangs of plunderers, and so spare the
+exhausted police and military. Yet he called on the citizens to resume
+their usual avocations, and directed the railroad and stage lines to
+resume their routes. This opinion of the Mayor was strengthened by the
+positive announcement that the draft had been suspended, and the passage
+of an ordinance by the City Council, appropriating $2,500,000 towards
+paying $300 exemption money to the poor who might be drafted. It was
+plain, if the draft was the cause of the continued riot, it would now
+cease. But in spite of all this, bad news came from Harlem, and Yorkville,
+and other sections. In fact, it was evident that the Police Commissioners
+did not share fully in the pleasant anticipations of the Mayor. Having
+ascertained that the leaders of the mob, learning from experience, had
+organized more intelligently, and designed to act in several distinct and
+separate bodies in different sections, they, with General Brown, divided
+the city into four districts, in each one of which were to be stationed
+strong bodies of the police and military, so that they could act with more
+expedition and efficiency than if they were sent out from the common head-
+quarters in Mulberry Street. It would, beside, save the fatigue of long
+marches. Those separate stations were in Harlem, Eighteenth, Twenty-ninth,
+and Twenty-sixth Precincts. A good deal was also expected by an invitation
+given by Archbishop Hughes, that appeared in the morning papers, to the
+Irish to meet him next day in front of his house, where, though crippled
+from rheumatism, he would address them from the balcony. The Eighth Avenue
+cars had been started, as well as those of the Third; and many stores were
+opened. Still, on the east side of the city, in the neighborhood of First
+Avenue, most of the shops were closed.
+
+It should be here remarked to the credit of the German population, which
+were very numerous in certain localities on this side of the city, that
+they had no sympathy with the rioters; on the contrary, sent word to the
+Police Commissioners not to be concerned about their locality; they had
+organized, and would see that order was maintained there. No better title
+to American citizenship than this could be shown.
+
+[Illustration: THE RIOTERS DRAGGING COL. O'BRIEN'S BODY THROUGH THE
+STREET.]
+
+Though early in the morning, it was comparatively quiet on the east side
+of the city; yet near First Avenue knots of men could be seen here and
+there, engaged in loud and angry conversation. They looked exhausted and
+haggard, but talked defiant as ever, swearing terrible vengeance against
+the military; for, though hidden from sight, in the miserable tenement-
+houses near by, lay their dead, dying, and wounded friends by scores. Near
+Nineteenth Street, the scene of the conflict the evening previous, there
+were stones, brick-bats, shivered awning-posts, and other wrecks of the
+fight. The grog-shops were open, in which men with bloody noses, and
+bruised and battered faces, obtained the necessary stimulus to continue
+the desperate struggle. Dirty, slovenly-dressed women stood in the door-
+ways or on the steps, swearing and denouncing both police and military in
+the coarsest language. Though the immense gatherings of the preceding days
+were not witnessed, yet there was a ground-swell of passion that showed
+the lawless spirit was not subdued, though overawed. But the Police
+Commissioners were now prepared for whatever might occur. The Seventh
+Regiment had been stationed on the west side of the city, with a wide
+district to keep in order, thus enabling them to concentrate larger forces
+in other directions. But, although everything wore this favorable aspect
+to the authorities, it was evident towards noon, from the steadily
+increasing size of the groups observed in the morning, that they had
+resolved to try again their strength with the military. The state of
+things was telegraphed to police head-quarters, but the report making the
+mob not formidable, only a company of about twenty-five men were sent out.
+Finding the rioters numbered about two hundred or more, and not daring to
+fire their howitzer, lest, before it could be reloaded, the former would
+rush forward and seize it, they concluded to retire. The mob at once set
+furiously on them, and forced them to take refuge in Jackson's foundry.
+The following telegram to head-quarters announced the fact:
+
+"1.25. From Twenty-first. The mob has charged our military, about twenty-
+five in number, and driven them into Jackson's foundry, First Avenue and
+Twenty-eighth Street. The mob are armed, and every time a regular shows
+himself they fire. A few good skirmishers would pick off these riflemen
+and relieve the military."
+
+This was soon succeeded by the following:
+
+"1.54. From Twenty-first. Send military assistance immediately to First
+Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street. The mob increases, and will murder the
+military force."
+
+_Ans_. "They are on their way up."
+
+They soon arrived, and were at once furiously attacked by the mob. The
+soldiers fired into them, but they boldly held their ground, and were
+evidently bent on a desperate fight.
+
+The former now took up their stations at the junction of the streets, and
+were about to sweep them with canister, when from some cause a delay was
+ordered. This increased the boldness of the mob, and they taunted and
+derided the soldiers. But in a few minutes a reinforcement of regulars
+arrived on the ground and charged bayonets. The rioters fell back, but
+rallying, forced the soldiers to retire in turn. The latter, however,
+returned to the charge, when the mob again gave way, but still stubbornly
+refused to disperse.
+
+News of the magnitude of the struggle reached the Seventh Regiment, and
+they rapidly marched to the spot. Their steady tramp along the pavement,
+and well-set ranks, discouraged the crowd, and they marched and counter-
+marched through the streets without molestation.
+
+The mob, however, dispersed only to reassemble again in Twenty-ninth
+Street, and began to plunder the stores in the vicinity, and spread
+devastation on every side.
+
+This being reported to head-quarters, a military force was despatched to
+disperse them. The rioters, however, instead of retreating, attacked them
+with the greatest fury. Almost every house was filled with them, and they
+lined the roofs with muskets and pistols, from which they poured down a
+deadly fire. For nearly a half an hour the fire was kept up without
+cessation, and many were killed. A sergeant was knocked down by a brick-
+bat, and then seized and beaten to death. The troops finding themselves
+unable to dislodge the assailants, retreated, leaving the body of the
+sergeant in the street, where it lay for three hours. General Brown not
+having a sufficient number of troops on hand, the mob all this time had it
+their own way. It was nine o'clock before he could despatch Captain Putnam
+with a strong force to put an end to the disgraceful scene. Arriving on
+the spot, the latter addressed the crowd, saying that he had come to carry
+away the dead body of the sergeant, and should do it at all hazards. But
+he had hardly placed it in a wagon, when the crowd began to assail his
+troops. He immediately unlimbered his pieces, when it scattered in every
+direction. But the rioters came together again at the corner of Thirty-
+first Street and Second Avenue, where they were met by reinforcements, and
+made a stand. They filled the houses, and mounted to the roofs, armed with
+muskets and revolvers, and as Putnam appeared, commenced a rapid fire.
+Placing his pieces in position, this gallant officer swept the street with
+canister, which soon cleared it. Eleven of the ringleaders were shot down,
+and bodies lay thick on the pavement. But this did not intimidate those in
+the windows, or on the roofs, and they kept up a steady fire. Putnam, who
+showed by his cool courage that the fighting stock from which he came had
+not degenerated, now ordered his men to turn their fire on the buildings.
+At each discharge, the heavy volleys brought down many of the wretches,
+some pitching headlong from the roof, and dashing out their brains on the
+pavement and flagging below. But the fight was very unequal, for the
+assailants would expose their bodies as little as possible; Putnam saw
+that the houses must be stormed, and gave the order to do it. The fight
+was now transferred to the inside, and became close and murderous. In the
+narrow halls and on the stairways, numbers were of no avail, and the
+rioters fought with a desperation they had not before exhibited. There was
+no way of escape, and they seemed to prefer death to being taken
+prisoners, and for a half an hour maintained the conflict in the darkened
+rooms and passages with a ferocity that was appalling. At last, however,
+with their numbers sadly thinned, they were forced to yield, and took
+refuge in flight. Many, unable to get away, hid under beds and in closets,
+but the soldiers ferreted them out, and carried them to police head-
+quarters.
+
+The arsenal had not been attacked, as Sandford seemed every day to think
+it would be. Many colored people, as before stated, took refuge in it; and
+about noon on this day, a body of police arrived before it, with the
+children of the Colored Orphan Asylum that had been burned on Monday, in
+charge. They had since that time been scattered round in station-houses,
+but were now to be escorted to Blackwell's Island, for better security. It
+was an impressive spectacle this army of children presented, as they drew
+up in line in front of the arsenal to wait for those within to join them.
+The block was filled with them. The frightened little fugitives, fleeing
+from they scarce knew what, looked bewildered at their novel position. It
+seemed impossible that they ever could have been the objects of any one's
+vengeance. With a strong body of police in front and rear, and a
+detachment of soldiers on either side, they toddled slowly down to the
+foot of Thirty-fifth Street, from whence they were taken by boats to the
+Island.
+
+The Sixty-fifth New York Regiment arrived from Harrisburg in the
+afternoon, and just before midnight the One Hundred and Fifty-second also
+reached the city, and marched up Broadway to police head-quarters, where
+they were stowed away to get some rest.
+
+A heavy storm that set in during the evening, helped to scatter the crowd
+that would otherwise have gathered on this warm July night, but it at the
+same time gave a sombre aspect to the city. The crescent moon was veiled
+in black, and thunderous clouds that swept heavily over the city, deepened
+the gloom, and seemed portentous of greater evil. The closing of all the
+stores and shop-windows at nightfall, through fear, left the streets
+lighted only by the scattering lamps. This unusual stretch of blank dead
+walls, emitting no ray of light, rendered the darkness made by the
+overhanging storm still more impenetrable. Flashes of lightning would
+reveal small groups of men bent on plunder, in sections where the military
+and police were not stationed, but no open violence was attempted. In
+other directions, the bayonets of the soldiers would gleam out of the
+dense shadows, as they silently held the posts assigned them, ready to
+march at a moment's notice. This was the fourth night, and the cannon
+planted in the streets, and the increased military force, showed that
+peace was not yet fully restored. The Seventh Regiment was quartered in
+Thirty-fourth Street, part of the soldiers within a building, and crowding
+every window to catch the first sign of disturbance, and part stationed
+below, or marching back and forth in the street. Other troops and
+policemen were massed at head-quarters, ready to move, at the word of
+command, to any point threatened by the mob.
+
+The fourth night was passing away, and still Acton clung to his post, and
+refused to take even a moment's rest. His whole nature had been keyed up
+to meet the grave responsibilities that lay upon him, and through the
+wires he still watched every threatened point in the city, with sleepless
+vigilance. In the meantime, over a thousand special policemen had been
+sworn in, and five hundred or more citizens had voluntered their services,
+while the steady arrival of returning regiments swelled the military force
+into formidable proportions.
+
+During the day, Senators Connolly and O'Brien had waited on General Brown,
+and asked him to remove the military from their ward, as their presence
+excited the people. The General very bluntly refused, saying he should not
+permit his troops to retire from before an armed mob. He was asked also to
+order the troops to leave Jackson's foundry for the same reason, and gave
+an equally emphatic refusal. There was now to be no compromise with the
+rioters, no agreement entered into. They had got beyond the character of
+citizens with rights to be respected--they were assassins and murderers,
+to whom was submitted the simple question of subjection to law and
+authority, or death.
+
+The fighting through the day had been severe, but the disturbance had not
+been so wide-spread and general. Outside of the city, there had been
+threatening rumors. It was reported that there was danger of an uprising
+in Westchester, where some leading Democrats had taken open opposition to
+the draft, and a gun-boat had gone up as far as Tarrytown; but nothing
+serious occurred.
+
+The rioters being almost exclusively Irish, it was thought that an address
+from Archbishop Hughes would go far to quiet the ringleaders, and he had
+therefore issued the following call, already referred to:
+
+To the men of New York, who are now called in many of the papers rioters.
+
+MEN!
+
+I am not able, owing to rheumatism in my limbs, to visit you, but that is
+not a reason why you should not pay me a visit in your whole strength.
+Come, then, tomorrow (Friday) at two o'clock, to my residence, north-west
+corner of Madison Avenue and Thirty-sixth street. There is abundant space
+for the meeting, around my house. I can address you from the corner of the
+balcony. If I should not be able to stand during its delivery, you will
+permit me to address you sitting; my voice is much stronger than my limbs.
+I take upon myself the responsibility of assuring you, that in paying me
+this visit or in retiring from it, you shall not be disturbed by any
+exhibition of municipal or military presence. You who are Catholics, or as
+many of you as are, have a right to visit your bishop without molestation.
+
+JOHN HUGHES, Archbishop of New York.
+
+NEW YORK, _July_ 16, 1863.
+
+A curious incident was related subsequently in one of the New York papers,
+respecting the manner in which an interview was brought about between him
+and Governor Seymour, and which resulted in the resolution of the
+Archbishop to address the rioters. The substance of the account was, that
+a young widow of high culture, formerly the wife of a well-known lawyer of
+this city--a woman living in an atmosphere of art, and refinement, and
+spending her time in study, became so excited over the violence and
+bloodshed that the authorities seemed unable to suppress, and finding that
+the Irish were at the bottom of the trouble, determined to appeal to
+Archbishop Hughes personally, to use his high authority and influence to
+bring these terrible scenes to a close.
+
+Acting on this determination, she set out this morning for the
+Archbishop's residence, but on arriving was told that he was at the
+residence of Vicar-general Starrs, in Mulberry Street. Hastening thither,
+she asked for an interview. Her request was denied, when she repeated it;
+and though again refused, would not be repelled, and sent word that her
+business was urgent, and that she would not detain him ten minutes. The
+Archbishop finally consented to see her. As she entered the library, her
+manner and bearing--both said to be remarkably impressive--arrested the
+attention of the prelate. Without any explanation or apology, she told him
+at once her errand--that it was one of mercy and charity. She had been
+educated in a Roman Catholic convent herself, in which her father was a
+professor, and she urged him, in the name of God, to get on horseback, and
+go forth into the streets and quell the excitement of his flock. She told
+him he must, like Mark Antony, address the people; and in rescuing this
+great metropolis from vandalism, would become a second Constantine, an
+immortal hero. It was his duty, she boldly declared; and though she did
+not profess to be a Jeanne d'Arc or Madame Roland, but a plain woman of
+the present day, she would ride fearlessly by his side, and if he were
+threatened, would place her body between him and danger, and take the blow
+aimed at him. The cautious and crafty prelate was almost carried away by
+the impassioned and dramatic force of this woman, but he told her it would
+be presumption in him to do so; in fact, impossible, as he was so crippled
+with rheumatism and gout, that he could not walk. She then asked him to
+call the crowd, and address them from the balcony of his house. He replied
+that he was just then busy in writing an answer to an attack on him in the
+_Tribune_. She assured him that such a controversy was worse than
+useless--that another and higher duty rested on him. She pressed him with
+such importunity and enthusiasm, that he finally consented; but as a last
+effort to get rid of her, said he feared the military would interfere and
+attack the mob. She assured him they would not, and hurried off to the St.
+Nicholas to see Governor Seymour about it. She found the ante-room filled
+with officials and other personages on important business, waiting their
+turn to be admitted. But her determined, earnest manner so impressed every
+one with the importance of her mission, that precedence was granted her,
+and she found herself at once beside the astonished Governor. Without any
+preliminaries, she told him she had just come from the head of the church,
+and wanted his excellency to visit him immediately. No business was of
+such vital importance as this. The self-possessed Governor coolly replied
+that he should be glad to see the Archbishop, but business was too
+pressing to allow him to be absent even a half an hour from his duties.
+She hastened back to Archbishop Hughes, and prevailed on him to write a
+note to Governor Seymour, asking him to call and see him, as he was unable
+to get out. Fortified with this, she now took a priest with her, and
+providing herself with a carriage, returned to head-quarters, and
+absolutely forced, by her energy and determination and persuasive manner,
+the Governor to leave his business, and go to the Archbishop's. The
+invitation to the Irish to meet him was the result of this interview.
+
+Why Archbishop Hughes took no more active part than he did in quelling
+this insurrection, when there was scarcely a man in it except members of
+his own flock, seems strange. It is true he had published an address to
+them, urging them to keep the peace; but it was prefaced by a long,
+undignified, and angry attack on Mr. Greeley, of the _Tribune_, and
+showed that he was in sympathy with the rioters, at least in their
+condemnation of the draft. The pretence that it would be unsafe for him to
+pass through the streets, is absurd; for on three different occasions
+common priests had mingled with the mob, not only with impunity, but with
+good effect. He could not, therefore, have thought himself to be in any
+great danger. One thing, at any rate, is evident: had an Irish mob
+threatened to burn down a Roman Catholic church, or a Roman Catholic
+orphan asylum, or threatened any of the institutions or property of the
+Roman Church, he would have shown no such backwardness or fear. The mob
+would have been confronted with the most terrible anathemas of the church,
+and those lawless bands quailed before the maledictions of the
+representative of "God's vicegerent on earth." It is unjust to suppose
+that he wished this plunder and robbery to continue, or desired to see
+Irishmen shot down in the streets; it must, therefore, be left to
+conjecture, why he could not be moved to any interference except by
+outside pressure, and then show so much lukewarmness in his manner--in
+fact, condemning their opponents almost as much as themselves.
+
+The excitement consequent on the draft, exhibited in outbreaks in various
+parts of the country, and in the vicinity of New York, was increased by
+the reports of violence and fighting in the latter city. In Troy there was
+a riot, and the mob, imitating the insane conduct of the rioters in New
+York, proceeded to attack an African church. But a priest, more bold or
+more patriotic than Archbishop Hughes, interfered and saved it. That the
+latter, armed with nothing but the crucifix, could have effected as much
+as the police and military together, there can be but little doubt. This
+open and decided sympathy with law and order, and bitter anathemas against
+the vandals who sought the destruction of the city, were the more
+demanded, as such a large proportion of the police force were Roman
+Catholics, and in their noble devotion to duty, even to shooting down
+their own countrymen and men of a similar faith, deserved this
+encouragement from the head of the church.
+
+[Illustration: BURNING OF THE SECOND AVENUE ARMORY.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+CLOSING SCENES.
+
+Tranquil Morning.--Proclamation of the Mayor.--Mob cowed.--Plunderers
+afraid of Detection.--Dirty Cellars crowded with rich Apparel, Furniture,
+and Works of Art.--Archbishop Hughes' Address.--Useless Efforts.--Acton's
+Forty-eight Hours without Sleep over.--Change in Military Commanders in
+the City.--General Brown relinquishes his Command.--True Words.--Noble
+Character and Behavior of the Troops and Police.--General Brown's
+invaluable Services.
+
+This week of horrors--a week unparalleled in the history of New York--was
+drawing to a close. It had been one of terror and dismay to the
+inhabitants, who thought only of the immediate effects on themselves of
+the triumph of the mob. A great city laid in ashes, given, up to robbers
+and cut-throats, is at any time a terrible spectacle; but New York in
+ruins at this time was a republic gone--a nation, uncrowned and left
+desolate; but the battle, both for the nation and city, had been nobly
+fought and won; and Friday, the fifth day of this protracted struggle,
+dawned bright and tranquil. The storm of the night before had passed away,
+and the streets, thoroughly washed by the drenching rain, stretched clean
+and quiet between the long rows of buildings, emblematic of the
+tranquillity that had returned to the city.
+
+The cars were seen once more speeding down to the business centres, loaded
+with passengers. Broadway shook to the rumbling of the heavy omnibuses;
+shutters were taken down, and the windows again shone with their rich
+adornments. The anxious look had departed from the pedestrians, for the
+heavy cloud, so full of present woe and future forebodings, had lifted and
+passed away.
+
+The following proclamation of Mayor Opdyke will show the true state of
+things on this morning, and what the people had most to fear:
+
+"The riotous assemblages have been dispersed. Business is running in its
+usual channels. The various lines of omnibuses, railway, and telegraph
+have resumed their ordinary operations. Few symptoms of disorder remain,
+except in a small district in the eastern part of the city, comprising a
+part of the Eighteenth and Twenty-first Wards. The police is everywhere
+alert. A sufficient military force is now here to suppress any illegal
+movement, however formidable.
+
+"Let me exhort you, therefore, to pursue your ordinary business. Avoid
+especially all crowds. Remain quietly at your homes, except when engaged
+in business, or assisting the authorities in some organized force. When
+the military appear in the street, do not gather about it, being sure that
+it is doing its duty in obedience to orders from superior authority. Your
+homes and your places of business you have a right to defend, and it is
+your duty to defend them, at all hazards. Yield to no intimidation, and to
+no demand for money as the price of your safety. If any person warns you
+to desist from your accustomed business, give no heed to the warning, but
+arrest him and bring him to the nearest station-house as a conspirator.
+
+"Be assured that the public authorities have the ability and the will to
+protect you from those who have conspired alike against your peace,
+against the government of your choice, and against the laws which your
+representatives have enacted.
+
+"GEORGE OPDYKE, Mayor."
+
+Down-town there was scarcely anything to show that New York had for nearly
+a week been swept by one of the most frightful storms that ever desolated
+a city. Even in the disaffected districts, no crowds were assembled. In
+the corner groggeries, small groups of men might be seen, discussing the
+past, and uttering curses and threats; and ruined houses and battered
+walls and hanging blinds here and there arrested the eye, showing what
+wild work had been wrought; but it was evident that the struggle was over.
+The mob was thoroughly subdued, and the law-breakers now thought more of
+escaping future punishment than of further acts of violence. Bruised heads
+and battered forms were scattered through the low tenement-houses in every
+direction, which friends were anxious to keep concealed from the notice of
+the authorities. In dirty cellars and squalid apartments were piled away
+the richest stuffs--brocaded silks, cashmere shawls, elegant chairs,
+vases, bronzes, and articles of virtu, huddled promiscuously together,
+damning evidences of guilt, which were sure not to escape, in the end, the
+searching eye of the police, who had already begun to gather up the
+plunder. Thus the objects mostly coveted but a few hours ago now awakened
+the greatest solicitude and fear.
+
+Even if the military under General Brown and the police had not shown the
+mob that they were its masters, the arrival of so many regiments,
+occupying all the infected districts, was overwhelming evidence that the
+day of lawless triumph was over, and that of retribution had come. Some
+acts of individual hostility were witnessed, but nothing more.
+
+Archbishop Hughes had his meeting, and some five thousand assembled to
+hear him. They were on the whole a peaceable-looking crowd, and it was
+evidently composed chiefly, if not wholly, of those who had taken no part
+in the riot. None of the bloody heads and gashed faces, of which there
+were so many at that moment in the city, appeared. The address was well
+enough, but it came too late to be of any service. It might have saved
+many lives and much destruction, had it been delivered two days before,
+but now it was like the bombardment of a fortress after it had
+surrendered--a mere waste of ammunition. The fight was over, and to use
+his own not very refined illustration, he "spak' too late." The reports
+that came in to Acton from all the precincts convinced him of this, and he
+began to think of rest.
+
+The strain was off, and overtasked nature made her demand, and he was
+compelled to yield to it. The tremendous work that had been laid upon him
+had been right nobly accomplished. Had he been a weak and vacillating man,
+the rioters would have acquired a headway that could not have been
+stopped, without a more terrible sacrifice of life and property--perhaps
+even of half the city. Comprehending intuitively the gravity of the
+situation, and the danger of procrastination or temporizing, he sprang at
+once for the enemy's throat, and never ceased his hold until he had
+strangled him to death. If he had waited to consult authorities about the
+legality of his action, or listened to the voice of pity, or yielded to
+the clamors of leading politicians or threats of enemies, both he and the
+city, in all human probability, would have been swept away in the
+hurricane of popular fury.
+
+On this day a most remarkable announcement was published: that a sudden
+change had been made in the military command of the troops of the city and
+harbor. General Dix superseded General Wool, and Canby, General Brown.
+That Wool should have been removed at any time, might have been expected;
+not from incapacity, but on account of his age, and because any one could
+perform the mere nominal duties that devolved on him. But why General
+Brown should have been removed at this critical moment, when he and the
+Police Commissioners were performing their herculean task so faithfully
+and well, is not so plain; unless it was the result of one of those freaks
+of passion or despotic impulse, for which the Secretary of War was so
+ignobly distinguished. But unlike many other blunders which the War
+Department committed at this time, it did not result in any evil
+consequences, for the fight was over. But of this fact the Secretary of
+War was ignorant when he made out the order.
+
+General Brown, in relinquishing his command, spoke warmly of the noble
+behavior of the troops during the riots, saying: "Engaged night and day in
+constant conflict with the mob, they have in some fifteen or twenty severe
+contests--in most of them outnumbered more than ten to one, many of the
+mob being armed--whipped and effectually dispersed them, and have been
+uniformly successful. In not a single instance has assistance been
+required by the police, when it has not been promptly rendered; and all
+property, public and private, which has been under their protection, has
+been perfectly and efficiently protected; and with pride he desires to
+record, that in this city, surrounded by grog-shops, but one single
+instance of drunkenness has fallen under his observation.
+
+"To Lieutenant-colonel Frothingham, his able and efficient adjutant-
+general, he tenders his thanks for his untiring assistance.
+
+"Having during the present insurrection been in immediate and constant co-
+operation with police department of this city, he desires the privilege of
+expressing his unbounded admiration of it. Never in civil or military life
+has he seen such untiring devotion and such efficient service.
+
+"To President Acton and Commissioner Bergen he offers his thanks for their
+courtesy to him and their kindness to his command.
+
+"HARVEY BROWN, _Brigadier-general_."
+
+The praise he bestows both on the police and soldiers was richly deserved;
+and he may well say that "with pride he desires to record that in this
+city, surrounded with grog-shops, but one single instance of drunkenness
+has fallen under his observation." With all a soldier's tendency to
+indulge in spirituous liquor, to be thrown right amid drinking-places,
+which by harboring rioters had lost all claim to protection--part of the
+time suffering from want of food, and often drenched to the skin, and
+weary from hard fighting and want of sleep--not to step away occasionally
+in the confusion and darkness of night, and solace himself with
+stimulating drinks, was something marvellous. After hard fighting, and
+long marching, and short rations, a soldier feels he has a right to
+indulge in liquor, if he can get it; and their abstinence from it in such
+lawless times, not only speaks well for their discipline, but their
+character. A single instance shows under what perfect control the troops
+were. One day Colonel Ladue, seeing that his men were exhausted and
+hungry, desired to let them have a little beer to refresh them, and the
+following telegram was sent from the precinct where they were on duty:
+
+"5.45 P.M. From 9th. Colonel Ladue wishes his men allowed to have beer in
+station-house."
+
+_Answer_. "Mr. Acton says he is opposed to beer, but the colonel can
+give his men as much as he pleases."
+
+"Acton is opposed to beer," but the troops are not under his command, and
+he has no heart to deny the poor fellows the station-house in which to
+refresh themselves after their hard day's work. This incident also shows
+the strict discipline maintained in the police department.
+
+General Brown had done a noble work. Taking his place beside the Police
+Commissioners, he bent all his energies to the single task of carrying out
+their plans, and save the city from the hands of the rioters. He never
+thought what deference might be due him on the score of etiquette, or on
+account of his military rank; he thought only of putting down the mob at
+all hazards. His refusal, at first, to serve under General Sandford was
+not merely that it was an improper thing to place a general of the regular
+army under the orders of a mere militia general, [Footnote: Because he was
+especially assigned to the command of the city by the Secretary of War.]
+having no rank whatever in the United States army, but he knew it would
+paralyze his influence, and in all human probability result in the useless
+sacrifice of his troops. The absurdity of not moving until he received
+orders from his superior officer, cooped up in the arsenal, where he
+remained practically in a state of siege, was so apparent that he refused
+to countenance it. He was willing that President Acton should be his
+superior officer, and give his orders, and he would carry them out; for
+thus he could act efficiently and make his disciplined battalion tell in
+the struggle; but for the sake of his own reputation and that of his
+troops, he would not consent to hold a position that would only bring
+disgrace on both. His views are clearly expressed in his reply to a highly
+complimentary letter addressed to him by the mayor and a large number of
+prominent citizens, for the signal services he had rendered. He says: "I
+never for a moment forgot that to the police was confided the conservation
+of the peace of the city; and that only in conjunction with the city
+authorities, and on their requisition, could the United States forces be
+lawfully and properly employed in suppressing the riot, and in restoring
+that peace and good order which had been so lawlessly broken. Acting in
+accordance with this principle, and as aids to the gallant city police,
+the officers and soldiers of my command performed the most unpleasant and
+arduous duty, with that prompt energy and fearless patriotism which may
+ever be expected from the soldiers of the Republic."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+Continued Tranquillity.--Strange Assortment of Plunder gathered in the
+Cellars and Shanties of the Rioters.--Search for it exasperates the
+Irish.--Noble Conduct of the Sanitary Police.--Sergeant Copeland.--
+Prisoners tried.--Damages claimed from the City.--Number of Police
+killed.--Twelve hundred Rioters killed.--The Riot Relief Fund.--List of
+Colored People killed.--Generals Wool and Sandford's Reports.--Their
+Truthfulness denied.--General Brown vindicated.
+
+On Saturday morning it was announced that the authorities at Washington
+had resolved to enforce the draft. It had been repeatedly asserted during
+the riot that it was abandoned, and the report received very general
+credence. Still, the official denial of it produced no disturbance. The
+spirit of insurrection was effectually laid.
+
+It is a little singular, that, in all these tremendous gatherings and
+movements, no prominent recognized leaders could be found. A man by the
+name of Andrews had been arrested and imprisoned as one, but the charge
+rested wholly on some exciting harangues he had made, not from any
+_active_ leadership he had assumed.
+
+There were, perhaps, in the city this morning not far from ten thousand
+troops--quite enough to preserve the peace, if the riot should break out
+afresh; and orders therefore were given to arrest the march of regiments
+hastening from various sections to the city, under the requisition of the
+Governor. Still, the terror that had taken possession of men could not be
+allayed in an hour, and although the police had resumed their patrols, and
+dared to be seen alone in the streets, there was constant dread of
+personal violence among the citizens. Especially was this true of the
+negro population. Although many sought their ruined homes, yet aware of
+the intense hatred entertained toward them by the mob, they felt unsafe,
+and began to organize in self-defence. But the day wore away without
+disturbance, and the Sabbath dawned peaceably, and order reigned from the
+Battery to Harlem. The military did not show themselves in the street, and
+thousands thronged without fear the avenues in which the fighting had
+taken place, to look at the ruins it had left behind. On Monday there was
+more or less rebellious feeling exhibited by the rioters, on account of
+the general search of the police for stolen goods, and the arrest of
+suspected persons. It exhibited itself, however, only in threats and
+curses--not a policemen was assaulted. It was amusing, sometimes, to see
+what strange articles the poor wretches had stowed away in their dirty
+cellars. There was everything from barrels of sugar and starch to tobacco
+and bird-seed. Said a morning paper: "Mahogany and rosewood chairs with
+brocade upholstering, marble-top tables and stands, costly paintings, and
+hundreds of delicate and valuable mantel ornaments, are daily found in low
+hovels up-town. Every person in whose possession these articles are
+discovered disclaims all knowledge of the same, except that they found
+them in the street, and took them in to prevent them being burned. The
+entire city will be searched, and it is expected that the greatest portion
+of the property taken from the buildings sacked by the mob will be
+recovered." The rivers and outlets to the city were closely watched, to
+prevent its being carried off. In the meantime, arrests were constantly
+made.
+
+It would be invidious to single out any portion of the police for special
+commendation, where all did their duty so nobly; but it is not improper to
+speak of the sanitary police, whose specific duties do not lead them to
+take part in quelling mobs.
+
+They have to report all nuisances, examine tenement-houses and unsafe
+buildings, look after the public schools, but more especially examine
+steam-boilers, and license persons qualified to run steam-engines. Hence,
+it is composed of men of considerable scientific knowledge. But all such
+business being suspended during the riot, they at once, with their
+Captain, B. G. Lord, assumed the duties of the common policemen, and from
+Monday night till order was restored, were on constant duty, participating
+in the fights, and enduring the fatigues with unflinching firmness, and
+did not return to their regular duties till Monday morning.
+
+The drill-officer also, Sergeant T. S. Copeland, became, instead of a
+drill-officer, a gallant, active leader of his men in some of the most
+desperate fights that occurred. His military knowledge enabled him to form
+commands ordered hastily off, with great despatch. But not content with
+this, he led them, when formed, to the charge, and gave such lessons in
+drill, in the midst of the fight, as the police will never forget.
+
+With the details of what followed we have nothing to do. The Grand Jury
+indicted many of the prisoners, and in the term of the court that met the
+3d of August, twenty were tried and nineteen convicted, and sentenced to a
+longer or shorter term of imprisonment. Of course a large number on
+preliminary examinations got off, sometimes from want of sufficient
+evidence, and sometimes from the venality of the judges before whom they
+were brought. Claims for damages were brought in, the examination of which
+was long and tedious. The details are published in two large volumes, and
+the entire cost to the city was probably three millions of dollars. Some
+of the claims went before the courts, where they lingered along
+indefinitely. The number of rioters killed, or died from the effects of
+their wounds, was put down by the Police Commissioners at about twelve
+hundred. Of course this estimate is not made up from any detailed reports.
+The dead and wounded were hurried away, even in the midst of the fight,
+and hidden in obscure streets, or taken out of the city for fear of future
+arrests or complications. Hence there was no direct way of getting at the
+exact number of those who fell victims to the riot. The loss of life,
+therefore, could only be approximated by taking the regular report of the
+number of deaths in the city for a few weeks before the riots, and that
+for the same length of time after. As there was no epidemic, or any report
+of increased sickness from any disease, the inference naturally was, that
+the excess for the period after the riots was owing to the victims of
+them. Many of these were reported as sunstrokes, owing to men exposing
+themselves to the sun with pounded and battered heads. The Police
+Commissioners took great care to keep all the wounded policemen indoors
+until perfectly cured. Only one ventured to neglect their orders, and he
+died of a sunstroke.
+
+The difference of mortality in the city for the month previous to the
+riots, and the month during and subsequent, was about twelve hundred,
+which excess Mr. Acton thought should be put down to the deaths caused
+directly and indirectly by the riots. Although many policemen were
+wounded, only three were killed or died from the injuries they received.
+
+Immediately after the riot, Mr. Leonard W. Jerome and others interested
+themselves in raising a fund for the relief of members of the Police,
+Militia, and Fire Departments who had sustained injuries in the discharge
+of their duty in suppressing the riots. Subscriptions to the amount of
+$54,980 were paid in, and $22,721.53 distributed by the Trustees of the
+Riot Relief Fund, in sums from $50 to $1,000, each, through Isaac Bell,
+Treasurer, to 101 policemen, 16 militiamen, and 7 firemen.
+
+The balance was securely invested, to meet future emergencies, a portion
+of which was paid to sufferers by the Orange Riot of 1871.
+
+The following is the list of colored people known to be killed by the mob,
+together with the circumstances attending their murder, as given by David
+Barnes, in his Metropolitan record, to which reference has heretofore been
+made.
+
+COLORED VICTIMS OF THE RIOT.
+
+WILLIAM HENRY NICHOLS (colored). Nichols resided at No. 147 East Twenty-
+eighth Street. Mrs. Staat, his mother, was visiting him. On Wednesday,
+July 15th, at 3 o'clock, the house was attacked by a mob with showers of
+bricks and stones. In one of the rooms was a woman with a child but three
+days old. The rioters broke open the door with axes and rushed in. Nichols
+and his mother fled to the basement; in a few moments the babe referred to
+was dashed by the rioters from the upper window to the yard, and instantly
+killed. The mob cut the waterpipes above, and the basement was being
+deluged; ten persons, mostly women and children, were there, and they fled
+to the yard; in attempting to climb the fence, Mrs. Staat fell back from
+exhaustion; the rioters were instantly upon her; her son sprang to her
+rescue, exclaiming, "Save my mother, if you kill me." Two ruffians
+instantly seized him, each taking hold of an arm, while a third, armed
+with a crowbar, calling upon them to hold his arms apart, deliberately
+struck him a savage blow on the head, felling him like a bullock. He died
+in the N. Y. Hospital two days after.
+
+JAMES COSTELLO (colored).--James Costello, No. 97 West Thirty-third
+Street, killed on Tuesday morning, July 14th. Costello was a shoemaker, an
+active man in his business, industrious and sober. He went out early in
+the morning upon an errand, was accosted, and finally was pursued by a
+powerful man. He ran down the street; endeavored to make his escape; was
+nearly overtaken by his pursuer; in self-defence he turned and shot the
+rioter with a revolver. The shot proved to be mortal; he died two days
+after. Costello was immediately set upon by the mob. They first mangled
+his body, then hanged it. They then cut down his body and dragged it
+through the gutters, smashing it with stones, and finally burnt it. The
+mob then attempted to kill Mrs. Costello and her children, but she escaped
+by climbing fences and taking refuge in a police station-house.
+
+ABRAHAM FRANKLIN (colored).--This young man, who was murdered by the mob
+on the corner of Twenty-seventh Street and Seventh Avenue, was a quiet,
+inoffensive man, of unexceptionable character. He was a cripple, but
+supported himself and his mother, being employed as a coachman. A short
+time previous to the assault, he called upon his mother to see if anything
+could be done by him for her safety. The old lady said she considered
+herself perfectly safe; but if her time to die had come, she was ready to
+die. Her son then knelt down by her side, and implored the protection of
+Heaven in behalf of his mother. The old lady said that it seemed to her
+that good angels were present in the room. Scarcely had the supplicant
+risen from his knees, when the mob broke down the door, seized him, beat
+him over the head and face with fists and clubs, and then hanged him in
+the presence of his parent. While they were thus engaged, the military
+came and drove them away, cutting down the body of Franklin, who raised
+his arm once slightly and gave a few signs of life. The military then
+moved on to quell other riots, when the mob returned and again suspended
+the now probably lifeless body of Franklin, cutting out pieces of flesh,
+and otherwise shockingly mutilating it.
+
+AUGUSTUS STUART (colored).--Died at Hospital, Blackwell's Island, July 22,
+from the effects of a blow received at the hands of the mob, on Wednesday
+evening of the Riot Week. He had been badly beaten previously by a band of
+rioters, and was frightened and insane from the effects of the blows which
+he had received. He was running toward the arsenal (State), Seventh Avenue
+and Thirty-seventh Street, for safety, when he was overtaken by the mob,
+from whom he received his death-blow.
+
+PETER HEUSTON.--Peter Heuston, sixty-three years of age, a Mohawk Indian,
+dark complexion, but straight hair, and for several years a resident of
+New York, proved a victim to the riots. Heuston served with the New York
+Volunteers in the Mexican war. He was brutally attacked and shockingly
+beaten, on the 13th of July, by a gang of ruffians, who thought him to be
+of the African race because of his dark complexion. He died within four
+days, at Bellevue Hospital, from his injuries.
+
+JEREMIAH ROBINSON (colored).--He was killed in Madison near Catharine
+Street. His widow stated that her husband, in order to escape, dressed
+himself in some of her clothes, and, in company with herself and one other
+woman, left their residence and went toward one of the Brooklyn ferries.
+Robinson wore a hood, which failed to hide his beard. Some boys, seeing
+his beard, lifted up the skirts of his dress, which exposed his heavy
+boots. Immediately the mob set upon him, and the atrocities they
+perpetrated are so revolting that they are unfit for publication. They
+finally killed him and threw his body into the river. His wife and her
+companion ran up Madison Street, and escaped across the Grand Street Ferry
+to Brooklyn.
+
+WILLIAM JONES (colored).--A crowd of rioters in Clarkson Street, in
+pursuit of a negro, who in self-defence had fired on some rowdies, met an
+inoffensive colored man returning from a bakery with a loaf of bread under
+his arm. They instantly set upon and beat him and, after nearly killing
+him, hung him to a lamppost. His body was left suspended for several
+hours. A fire was made underneath him, and he was literally roasted as he
+hung, the mob revelling in their demoniac act. Recognition of the remains,
+on their being recovered, was impossible; and two women, mourned for
+upwards of two weeks, in the case of this man, for the loss of their
+husbands. At the end of that time, the husband of one of the mourners, to
+her great joy, returned like one recovered from the grave. The principal
+evidence which the widow, Mary Jones, had to identify the murdered man as
+her husband, was the fact of his having a loaf of bread under his arm, he
+having left the house to get a loaf of bread a few minutes before the
+attack.
+
+JOSEPH REED (colored).--This was a lad of seven years of age, residing at
+No. 147 East Twenty-eighth Street, with an aged grandmother and widowed
+mother. On Wednesday morning of the fearful week, a crowd of ruffians
+gathered in the neighborhood, determined on a week of plunder and death.
+They attacked the house, stole everything they could carry with them, and,
+after threatening the inmates, set fire to it. The colored people who had
+the sole occupancy of the building, fled in confusion into the midst of
+the gathering crowd. And then the child was separated from his guardians.
+His youth and evident illness, even from the devils around him, it would
+be thought, should have insured his safety. But no sooner did they see his
+unprotected, defenceless condition, than a gang of fiendish men seized
+him, beat him with sticks, and bruised him with heavy cobblestones. But
+one, tenfold more the servant of Satan than the rest, rushed at the child,
+and with the stock of a pistol struck him on the temple and felled him to
+the ground. A noble young fireman, by the name of John F. Govern, of No.
+39 Hose Company, instantly came to the rescue, and, single-handed, held
+the crowd at bay. Taking the wounded and unconscious boy in his arms, he
+carried him to a place of safety. The terrible beating and the great
+fright the poor lad had undergone was too much for his feeble frame; he
+died on the following Tuesday.
+
+JOSEPH JACKSON (colored), aged nineteen years, living in West Fifty-third
+Street, near Sixth Avenue, was in the industrious pursuit of his humble
+occupation of gathering provender for a herd of cattle, and when near the
+foot of Thirty-fourth Street, East River, July 15, was set upon by the
+mob, killed, and his body thrown into the river.
+
+SAMUEL JOHNSON (colored).--On Tuesday night Johnson was attacked near
+Fulton Ferry by a gang who mercilessly beat and left him for dead. A
+proposition was made to throw him into the river, but for some reason the
+murderers took fright and fled. He was taken by some citizens to his home,
+and died the next day.
+
+---- WILLIAMS (colored).--He was attacked on the corner of Le Roy and
+Washington Streets, on Tuesday morning, July 14th, knocked down, a number
+of men jumped upon, kicked, and stamped upon him until insensible. One of
+the murderers knelt on the body and drove a knife into it; the blade being
+too small, he threw it away and resorted to his fists. Another seized a
+huge stone, weighing near twenty pounds, and deliberately crushed it again
+and again on to the victim. A force of police, under Captain Dickson,
+arrived and rescued the man, who was conveyed to the New York Hospital. He
+was only able to articulate "Williams" in response to a question as to his
+name, and remained insensible thereafter, dying in a few days.
+
+ANN DERRICKSON.--This was a white woman, the wife of a colored man, and
+lived at No. 11 York Street. On Wednesday, July 15th, the rioters seized a
+son of deceased, a lad of about twelve years, saturated his clothes and
+hair with camphene, and then procuring a rope, fastened one end to a lamp-
+post, the other around his neck, and were about to set him on fire, and
+hang him; they were interfered with by some citizens and by the police of
+the First Ward, and their diabolical attempt at murder frustrated. While
+Mrs. Derrickson was attempting to save the life of her son she was
+horribly bruised and beaten, with a cart-rung. The victim, after lingering
+three or four weeks, died from the effects of her injuries.
+
+Reports from the captains of the several precincts, with all the details
+of their operations, were made out--also from the subordinate military
+officers to their immediate superiors. The final reports of General Wool,
+commanding the Eastern Department, and Major-general Sandford, commanding
+the city troops, caused much remark in the city papers, and called forth a
+reply from General Brown, who considered himself unjustly assailed in
+them. Explanation of the disagreement between him and General Wool having
+been fully given, it is not necessary to repeat it here. The same may be
+said of the statement of General Wool, regarding his orders on Monday the
+13th, respecting the troops in the harbor. But in this report of General
+Wool to Governor Seymour, there are other statements which General Brown
+felt it his duty to correct. General Wool says, that finding there was a
+want of harmony between Generals Sandford and Brown in the disposition of
+troops, he issued the following order:
+
+MAJOR-GENERAL SANDFORD, BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL BROWN.
+
+GENTLEMEN:--It is indispensable to collect your troops not stationed, and
+have them divided into suitable parties, with a due proportion of police
+to each, and to patrol in such parts of the city as may be in the greatest
+danger from the rioters. This ought to be done as soon as practicable.
+
+JOHN E. WOOL, _Major-general_.
+
+After this had been issued, General Sandford reporting to me that his
+orders were not obeyed by General Brown, I issued the following order:
+
+"All the troops called out for the protection of the city are placed under
+the command of General Sandford."
+
+General Brown in his reply says, that he "_never saw or heard of this
+first order_." The only explanation of this, consistent with the
+character of both, is that General Wool sent this order to General
+Sandford alone--either forgetting to transmit it to General Brown, or
+expecting General Sandford to do it.
+
+At all events, sent or not, it was a foolish order. One would infer from
+it that the whole task of putting down the riots belonged to the military,
+the commanders of which were to order out what co-operating force of
+police they deemed necessary and march up and down the disaffected
+districts, trampling out the lawlessness according to rule. This might be
+all well enough, but the question was, how were these troops, strangers to
+the city, to find out where "_such parts of the city_" were in which
+was "_the greatest danger from the rioters_?" It showed a lamentable
+ignorance of mobs; they don't stay in one spot and fight it out, nor keep
+in one mass, nor give notice beforehand where they will strike next. Such
+knowledge could only be obtained from police head-quarters, the focus of
+the telegraph system, and _there_ the troops should have been ordered
+to concentrate at once, and put themselves under the direction of the
+Police Commissioners. Again, General Wool says he issued the following
+order to General Brown, on Tuesday:
+
+"SIR:--It is reported that the rioters have already recommenced their work
+of destruction. To-day there must be no child's play. Some of the troops
+under your command should be sent immediately to attack and stop those who
+have commenced their infernal rascality in Yorkville and Harlem."
+
+This order, too, General Brown says he never received. Thinking it
+strange, he addressed a note to General Wool's assistant adjutant-general,
+respecting both these orders, which had thus strangely wandered out of the
+way. The latter, Major Christensen, replied as follows:
+
+"The orders of General Wool published in his report to Governor Seymour,
+viz.: 'That patrols of military and police should be sent through the
+disaffected districts;' and the one July 14th, 'To-day there must be no
+child's play,' etc., were not issued by me, and I cannot therefore say
+whether copies were sent to you or not. They were certainly _not_
+sent by me.
+
+"C.F. CHRISTENSEN,
+
+"Major, Assistant Adjutant-general."
+
+We have explained how the error may have occurred with regard to the first
+order. But there is no explanation of this, except on the ground that
+General Wool perhaps sketched out this order, without sending it, and
+afterwards seeing it amid his papers, thought it was a copy of one he had
+sent. He was well advanced in years, and might easily fall into some such
+error.
+
+It is not necessary to go into detailed account of all the statements
+contained in General Wool's letter which General Brown emphatically
+denies; but the following is worthy of notice. He says that General Brown
+issued orders that General Sandford countermanded, and that General Brown
+acted through the riots under his (Wool's) orders; whereas the latter
+says, he never received but three orders from Wool during the whole time,
+and only _one_ of those referred to any action towards the rioters,
+and that was to bring off some killed and wounded men left by a military
+force sent out either by Sandford or Wool, and which had been chased from
+the field by the mob.
+
+But the statements of General Wool are entirely thrown into the shade by
+the following assertion of General Sandford, in his report. He says: "With
+the remnant of the [his] division (left in the city), and the first
+reinforcements from General Wool, detachments were sent to all parts of
+the city, and the rioters everywhere beaten and dispersed on Monday
+afternoon, Monday night, and Tuesday morning. In a few hours, but for the
+interference of Brigadier-general Brown, who, in disobedience of orders,"
+etc.
+
+The perfect gravity with which this assertion is made is something
+marvellous. One would infer that the police was of no account, except to
+maintain order after it was fully restored by the military on Tuesday
+morning. General Sandford might well be ignorant of the state of things in
+the city, for he was cooped up in the arsenal, intent only on holding his
+fortress. So far as he was concerned, the whole city might have been
+burned up before Tuesday noon, and he would scarcely have known it, except
+as he saw the smoke and flames from the roof of the arsenal. He never sent
+out a detachment until after the Tuesday afternoon, when, as he says, but
+for General Brown's action, the riot would have been virtually over. The
+simple truth is, these reports of Generals Wool and Sandford are both mere
+after-thoughts, growing out of the annoyance they felt on knowing that
+their _martinetism_ was a total failure, and the whole work had been
+done by General Brown and the Police Commissioners from their head-
+quarters in Mulberry Street. Acton and Brown had no time to grumble or
+dispute about etiquette. They had something more serious on hand, and they
+bent their entire energies to their accomplishment. General Sandford held
+the arsenal, an important point, indeed a vital one, and let him claim and
+receive all the credit due that achievement; but to assume any special
+merit in quelling the riots in the streets is simply ridiculous. That was
+the work of the police and the military under the commissioners and
+General Brown.
+
+The statement of the Police Commissioners, Acton and Bergen, on this point
+is conclusive. They say that General Sandford's error consisted in "not
+choosing to be in close communication with this department, when alone
+through the police telegraph, and other certain means, trustworthy
+information of the movements of the mob could be promptly had."
+
+That single statement is enough to overthrow all of General Sandford's
+assertions about the riot. It was hardly necessary for them to declare
+further in their letter to General Brown:
+
+"So far from your action having had the effect supposed by General
+Sandford, we are of the opinion, already expressed in our address to the
+police force, that through your prompt, vigorous, and intelligent action,
+the intrepidity and steady valor of the small military force under you,
+acting with the police force, the riotous proceedings were arrested on
+Thursday night, and that without such aid mob violence would have
+continued much longer."
+
+WELL-EARNED PRAISE.
+
+On the week after the riot the Board of Police Commissioners issued the
+following address to the force, in which a well-earned tribute is paid to
+the military:
+
+_To the Metropolitan Police Force._
+
+On the morning of Monday, the 13th inst., the peace and good order of the
+city were broken by a mob collected in several quarters of the city, for
+the avowed purpose of resisting the process of drafting names to recruit
+the armies of the Union.
+
+Vast crowds of men collected and fired the offices where drafting was in
+progress, beating and driving the officers from duty.
+
+From the beginning, these violent proceedings were accompanied by arson,
+robbery, and murder.
+
+Private property, unofficial persons of all ages, sexes, and conditions,
+were indiscriminately assailed--none were spared, except those who were
+supposed by the mob to sympathize with their proceedings.
+
+Early in the day the Superintendent was assaulted, cruelly beaten, robbed,
+and disabled by the mob which was engaged in burning the provost marshal's
+office in Third Avenue, thus in a manner disarranging the organization at
+the Central Department, throwing new, unwonted, and responsible duties
+upon the Board.
+
+At this juncture the telegraph wires of the department were cut, and the
+movement of the railroads and stages violently interrupted, interfering
+seriously with our accustomed means of transmitting orders and
+concentrating forces.
+
+The militia of the city were absent at the seat of war, fighting the
+battles of the nation against treason and secession, and there was no
+adequate force in the city for the first twelve hours to resist at all
+points the vast and infuriated mob. The police force was not strong enough
+in any precinct to make head, unaided, against the overwhelming force. No
+course was left but to concentrate the whole force at the Central
+Department, and thence send detachments able to encounter and conquer the
+rioters. This course was promptly adopted on Monday morning. The military
+were called upon to act in aid of the civil force to subdue the
+treasonable mob, protect life and property, and restore public order.
+
+Under such, adverse circumstances you were called upon to encounter a mob
+of such strength as have never before been seen, in this country. The
+force of militia under General Sandford, who were called into service by
+the authority of this Board, were concentrated by him at and held the
+arsenal in Seventh Avenue, throughout the contest. The military forces in
+command of Brevet Brigadier-general Harvey Brown reported at the Central
+Department, and there General Brown established his head-quarters, and
+from there expeditions, combined of police and military force, were sent
+out that in all cases conquered, defeated, or dispersed the mob force, and
+subjected them to severe chastisement. In no instance did these
+detachments from the Central Department, whether of police alone or police
+and military combined, meet with defeat or serious check.
+
+In all cases they achieved prompt and decisive victories. The contest
+continued through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and till 11
+o'clock on Thursday night, like a continuous battle, when it ended by a
+total and sanguinary rout of the insurgents.
+
+During the whole of those anxious days and nights, Brigadier-general Brown
+remained at the Central Department, ordering the movements of the military
+in carefully considered combinations with the police force, and throughout
+the struggle, and until its close, commanded the admiration and gratitude
+of the Police Department and all who witnessed his firm intelligence and
+soldierly conduct.
+
+It is understood that he had at no time under his immediate command more
+than three hundred troops, but they were of the highest order, and were
+commanded by officers of courage and ability. They cordially acted with,
+supported, and were supported by, the police, and victory in every contest
+against fearful odds, was the result of brave fighting and intelligent
+command.
+
+In the judgment of this Board, the escape of the city from the power of an
+infuriated mob is due to the aid furnished the police by Brigadier-general
+Brown and the small military force under his command. No one can doubt,
+who saw him, as we did, that during those anxious and eventful days and
+nights Brigadier-general Harvey Brown was equal to the situation, and was
+the right man in the right place.
+
+We avail ourselves of this occasion to tender to him, in the most earnest
+and public manner, the thanks of the department and our own.
+
+To the soldiers under his command we are grateful as to brave men who
+perilled all to save the city from a reign of terror. To Captains Putnam,
+Franklin, and Shelley, Lieutenant Ryer, and Lieutenant-colonel Berens,
+officers of corps under the command of Brigadier-general Brown, we are
+especially indebted, and we only discharge a duty when we commend them to
+their superiors in rank and to the War Department for their courageous and
+effective service.
+
+Of the Inspectors, Captains, and Sergeants of police who led parties in
+the fearful contest, we are proud to say that none faltered or failed.
+Each was equal to the hour and the emergency. Not one failed to overcome
+the danger, however imminent, or to defeat the enemy, however numerous.
+Especial commendation is due to Drill-sergeant Copeland for his most
+valuable aid in commanding the movements of larger detachments of the
+police.
+
+The patrolmen who were on duty fought through the numerous and fierce
+conflicts with the steady courage of veteran soldiers, and have won, as
+they deserve, the highest commendations from the public and from this
+Board. In their ranks there was neither faltering nor straggling. Devotion
+to duty and courage in the performance of it were universal.
+
+The public and the department owe a debt of gratitude to the citizens who
+voluntarily became special patrolmen, some three thousand of whom, for
+several days and nights, did regular patrolmen's duty with great effect.
+
+In the name of the public, and of the department in which they were
+volunteers, we thank them.
+
+Mr. Crowley, the superintendent of the police telegraph, and the attaches
+of his department, by untiring and sleepless vigilance in transmitting
+information by telegraph unceasingly through more than ten days and
+nights, have more than sustained the high reputation they have always
+possessed.
+
+Through all these bloody contests, through all the wearing fatigue and
+wasting labor, you have demeaned yourselves like worthy members of the
+Metropolitan Police.
+
+The public judgment will commend and reward you. A kind Providence has
+permitted you to escape with less casualties than could have been
+expected. You have lost one comrade, whom you have buried with honor. Your
+wounded will, it is hoped, all recover, to join you and share honor. It is
+hoped that the severe but just chastisement which has been inflicted upon
+those guilty of riot, pillage, arson, and murder, will deter further
+attempts of that character. But if, arising out of political or other
+causes, there should be another attempt to interrupt public order, we
+shall call on you again to crush its authors, confident that you will
+respond like brave men, as you ever have, to the calls of duty; and in
+future, whenever the attempt may be made, you will have to aid you large
+forces of military, ably commanded, and thus be enabled to crush in the
+bud any attempted riot or revolution.
+
+To General Canby, who, on the morning of Friday, the 17th inst., took
+command of the military, relieving Brigadier-general Brown, and to Gen.
+Dix, who succeeded General Wool, the public are indebted for prompt,
+vigorous, and willing aid to the police force in all the expeditions which
+have been called for since they assumed their commands. Charged
+particularly with the protection of the immense amount of Federal property
+and interests in the Metropolitan district, and the police force charged
+with the maintenance of public order, the duties of the two forces are
+always coincident.
+
+Whatever menaces or disturbs one equally menaces and disturbs the other.
+
+We are happy to know that at all times the several authorities have co-
+operated with that concert and harmony which is necessary to secure vigor
+and efficiency in action.
+
+Sergeant Young, of the detective force, aided by Mr. Newcomb and other
+special patrolmen, rendered most effective service in arranging the
+commissary supplies for the large number of police, military, special
+patrolmen, and destitute colored refugees, whose subsistence was thrown
+unexpectedly on the department. The duty was arduous and responsible, and
+was performed with vigor and fidelity. All the clerks of the department,
+each in his sphere, performed a manly share of the heavy duties growing
+out of these extraordinary circumstances. The Central Department became a
+home of refuge for large numbers of poor, persecuted colored men, women,
+and children, many of whom were wounded and sick, and all of whom were
+helpless, exposed, and poor. Mr. John H. Keyser, with his accustomed
+philanthropy, volunteered, and was appointed to superintend these wretched
+victims of violence and prejudice, and has devoted unwearied days to the
+duty. The pitiable condition of these poor people appeals in the strongest
+terms to the Christian charity of the benevolent and humane. The members
+of the force will do an acceptable service by calling the attention to
+their condition of those who are able and willing to contribute in charity
+to their relief.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+ORANGE RIOTS OF 1870 AND 1871.
+
+Religious Toleration.--Irish Feuds.--Battle of Boyne Water.--Orangemen.--
+Origin and Object of the Society.--A Picnic at Elm Park.--Attacked by the
+Ribbonmen.--The Fight.--After Scenes.--Riot of 1871.--Conspiracy of the
+Irish Catholics to prevent a Parade of Orangemen.--Forbidden by the City
+Authorities.--Indignation of the People.--Meeting in the Produce
+Exchange.--Governor Hoffman's Proclamation.--Morning of the 12th.--The
+Orangemen at Lamartine Hall.--Attack on the Armories.--The Harpers
+threatened.--Exciting Scenes around Lamartine Hall and at Police Head-
+quarters.--Hibernia Hall cleared.--Attack on an Armory.--Formation of the
+Procession.--Its March.--Attacked.--Firing of the Military without
+Orders.--Terrific Scene.--The Hospitals and Morgue.--Night Scenes.--Number
+of killed and wounded.--The Lesson.
+
+In a free country like ours, where toleration of all religions alike is
+one of the fundamental principles of the Government, one would naturally
+think that open persecution of any sect or body of religionists was
+impossible. But the Irish, unfortunately, have brought with them to this
+country not merely many of their old customs and national fetes, but their
+old religions feuds.
+
+Nearly two hundred years ago, William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, or
+William the Third, a Protestant, met the Catholic King, James the Second,
+of England, In deadly battle, in the vales of Meath, through which the
+Boyne River flows, and utterly routed him, and compelled him to flee to
+the Continent for safety. According to old style, this was on the first
+day of July, as the old ballad says:
+
+  "'Twas bright July's first morning clear,
+    Of unforgotten glory,
+    That made this stream, through ages dear,
+  Renowned in song and story."
+
+According to new style, however, this has become the twelfth of the month.
+The Ulster Protestant Society, known as Orangemen, was founded in 1795. It
+was a secret political organization, founded, it is said, to counteract
+the Ribbonmen, or Protectors, as they were called. Its object in this
+country, it is asserted, is entirely different, and more in harmony with
+other societies that have their annual celebration in New York City and
+other places.
+
+It is not necessary to go over the bitter feuds between these and the
+Catholic Irish in the old country. The hates they engendered were brought
+here, but kept from any great outward manifestation, because the Orangemen
+indulged in no public displays. We believe that there had been only one
+procession previous to this. In this year, however, an imposing display
+was resolved upon, but no trouble was anticipated, and no precautions
+taken by the police. It was not proposed to parade the streets, but to
+form, and march in procession up Eighth Avenue, to Elm Park, corner of
+Ninetieth Street and Eighth Avenue, and have a picnic, and wind up with a
+dance. As the procession passed Fourth Street, in full Orange regalia, and
+about twenty-five hundred strong (men, women, and children), playing
+"Boyne Water," "Derry," and other tunes obnoxious to the Catholics, some
+two hundred Irishmen followed it with curses and threats.
+
+Violence was, however, not feared, and the procession continued on, and at
+length reached the new Boulevard road, where a large body of Irishmen were
+at work. Beyond, however, the interchange of some words, nothing
+transpired, and it entered the park, and began the festivities of the day.
+
+In the meanwhile, however, the rabble that had followed them came upon the
+Ribbonmen at work on the Boulevard road, and persuaded them to throw up
+work and join them, and the whole crowd, numbering probably about five
+hundred, started for the park. The foreman of the gang of three hundred
+workmen saw at once the danger, and hurried to the Thirty-first Precinct
+station, corner of One Hundredth Street and Ninth Avenue, and told Captain
+Helme of the state of things.
+
+The latter immediately thought of the picnic, and, anticipating trouble,
+telegraphed to Jourdan for reinforcements. In the meanwhile, the mob,
+loaded with stones, advanced tumultuously towards the park, within which
+the unsuspecting Orangemen were giving themselves up to enjoyment.
+Suddenly a shower of stones fell among them, knocking over women and
+children, and sending consternation through the crowd. Shouts and curses
+followed, and the Orangemen, rallying, rushed out and fell furiously on
+their assailants. Shovels, clubs, and stones were freely used, and a scene
+of terrific confusion followed. The fight was close and bloody, and
+continued for nearly half an hour, when Sergeant John Kelly, with a force
+of sixteen men, arrived, and rushing in between the combatants, separated
+them, and drove the Orangemen back into the park. The mob then divided
+into two portions, of between two and three hundred each. One party went
+by way of Ninth Avenue, and, breaking down the fence on that side, entered
+the park, and fell with brutal fury on men, women, and children alike. A
+terrible fight followed, and amid the shouts and oaths of the men and
+screams of the women and children, occasional pistol-shots were heard,
+showing that murder was being done. The enraged, unarmed Orangemen,
+wrenched hand rails from the fence, tore up small trees, and seized
+anything and everything that would serve for a weapon, and maintained the
+fight for a half an hour, before the police arrived. The second portion
+went by Eighth Avenue, and intercepted a large body of Orangemen that had
+retreated from the woods, and a desperate battle followed. There were only
+two policemen here, and of course could do nothing but stand and look on
+the murderous conflict. In the meantime, the force telegraphed for by
+Captain. Helme arrived. It consisted of twenty men, to which Captain Helme
+added the reserve force, with a sergeant from the Eighth, Ninth,
+Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Nineteenth Precincts, making in all some fifty
+men. These he divided into two portions, one of which he sent over to
+Eighth Avenue to protect the cars, into which the fugitives were crowding,
+while the other dashed furiously into the park, and fell on the combatants
+with their clubs. They soon cleared a lane between them, when turning on
+the Ribbonmen, they drove them out of the park. They then formed the
+Orangemen into a procession, and escorted them down the city. A portion,
+however, had fled for the Eighth Avenue cars; but a party of Ribbonmen
+were lying in wait here, and another fight followed. Huge stones were
+thrown through the windows of the cars, the sides broken in, over the
+wreck of which the mob rushed, knocking down men, women, and children
+alike, whose shouts, and oaths, and screams could be heard blocks off. The
+scene was terrific, until the arrival of the police put an end to it, and
+bore the dead and wounded away.
+
+About seven o'clock, Superintendent Jourdan arrived in the precinct,
+accompanied by Inspectors Dilks and Walling, and Detectives Farley and
+Avery. In the basement of the Thirty-first Precinct station, on a low
+trestle bed, three bloody corpses were stretched, while the neighboring
+precincts were filled with the wounded. Two more died before morning. The
+street near each station was crowded with Orangemen inquiring after
+friends.
+
+Although no more outbreaks occurred, the most intense excitement prevailed
+among the Irish population of the city, and it was evident that it needed
+only a suitable occasion to bring on another conflict.
+
+THE RIOT OF 1871.
+
+When the next anniversary of the Orangemen came round, it was discovered
+that a conspiracy had been formed by a large body of the Catholic
+population to prevent its public celebration. The air was full of rumors,
+while the city authorities were in possession of the fullest evidence that
+if the Orangemen paraded, they would be attacked, and probably many lives
+be lost. They were in great dilemma as to what course to pursue. If they
+allowed the procession to take place, they would be compelled to protect
+it, and shoot down the men whose votes helped largely to place them in
+power. If they forbade it, they feared the public indignation that would
+be aroused against such a truckling, unjust course. As the day drew near,
+however, and the extensive preparations of the Irish Catholics became more
+apparent, they finally determined to risk the latter course, and it was
+decided that Superintendent Kelso should issue an order forbidding the
+Orangemen to parade. This ludicrous attempt on the part of the Mayor to
+shift the responsibility from his own shoulders, awakened only scorn, and
+the appearance of the order was followed by a storm of indignation that
+was appalling. The leading papers, without regard to politics, opened on
+him and his advisers, with such a torrent of denunciations that they
+quailed before it. Processions of all kinds and nationalities were allowed
+on the streets, and to forbid only one, and that because it was
+_Protestant_, was an insult to every American citizen. Even Wall
+Street forgot its usual excitement, and leading men were heard violently
+denouncing this cowardly surrender of Mayor Hall to the threats of a mob.
+An impromptu meeting was called in the Produce Exchange, and a petition
+drawn up, asking the president to call a formal meeting, and excited men
+stood in line two hours, waiting their turn to sign it. The building was
+thronged, and the vice-president called the meeting to order, and informed
+it that the rules required twenty-four hours' notice for such a meeting.
+The members, however, would listen to no delay, and with an unanimous and
+thundering vote, declared the rules suspended. The action of the city
+authorities was denounced in withering terms, and a committee of leading
+men appointed to wait on them, and remonstrate with the Mayor. One could
+scarcely have dreamed that this order would stir New York so profoundly.
+But the people, peculiarly sensitive to any attack on religious freedom,
+were the more fiercely aroused, that in this case it was a Catholic mob
+using the city authority to strike down Protestantism. The Mayor and his
+subordinates were appalled at the tempest they had raised, and calling a
+council, resolved to revoke the order. In the meantime, Governor Hoffman
+was telegraphed to from Albany. Hastening to the city, he, after a
+consultation with Mayor Hall, decided to issue the following proclamation:
+
+"Having been only this day apprised, while at the capital, of the actual
+condition of things here, with reference to proposed processions to-
+morrow, and having, in the belief that my presence was needed, repaired
+hither immediately, I do make this proclamation:
+
+"The order heretofore issued by the police authorities, in reference to
+said processions, being duly revoked, I hereby give notice that any and
+all bodies of men desiring to assemble in peaceable procession to-morrow,
+the 12th inst., will be permitted to do so. They will be protected to the
+fullest extent possible by the military and police authorities. A police
+and military escort will be furnished to any body of men desiring it, on
+application to me at my head-quarters (which will be at police head-
+quarters in this city) at any time during the day. I warn all persons to
+abstain from interference with any such assembly or procession, except by
+authority from me; and I give notice that all the powers of my command,
+civil and military, will be used to preserve the public peace, and put
+down at all hazards, every attempt at disturbances; and I call upon all
+citizens, of every race and religion, to unite with me and the local
+authorities in this determination, to preserve the peace and honor of the
+city and State."
+
+Dated at New York, this eleventh day of July, A. D. 1871. JOHN T. HOFFMAN.
+
+It was thought by many that this would counteract the effects of the
+cowardly order of the police superintendent. But whatever its effect might
+have been, had it been issued earlier, it now came too late to do any
+good. The preparations of the Roman Catholics were all made. A secret
+circular had fallen into the hands of the police, showing that the
+organization of the rioters was complete-the watchwords and signals all
+arranged, and even the points designated where the attacks on the
+procession were to be made. Arms had been collected and transported to
+certain localities, and everything betokened a stormy morrow.
+Consequently, General Shaler issued orders to the commanders of the
+several regiments of militia, directing them to have their men in
+readiness at their respective armories at 7 o'clock next morning, prepared
+to march at a moment's warning. His head-quarters, like those of General
+Brown in the draft riots, were at the police head-quarters, so as to have
+the use of the police telegraph, in conveying orders to different sections
+of the city. Meanwhile, detachments were placed on guard at the different
+armories, to frustrate any attempt on the part of the mob to seize arms.
+
+The night, however, wore quietly away, and in the morning the Governor's
+proclamation appeared in the morning papers, showing the rioters the
+nature of the work before them, if they undertook to carry out their
+infamous plans. It seemed to have no effect, however. Early in the morning
+sullen groups of Irishmen gathered on the corners of the streets, where
+the Irish resided in greatest numbers, among which were women,
+gesticulating and talking violently, apparently wholly unaware that the
+authorities had any power, or, at least, thought they dared not use it.
+Other groups traversed the streets, while at the several rendezvous of the
+Hibernians, many carried muskets or rifles without any attempt at
+concealment. In the upper part of the city, a body of rioters began to
+move southward, compelling all the workmen on their way to leave work and
+join them. One or two armories were attacked, but the rioters were easily
+repulsed. The demonstrations at length became so threatening, that by ten
+o'clock the police seized Hibernia Hall.
+
+About the same time, the Orangemen--who on the issue of Kelso's order had
+determined not to parade but on the appearance of the Governor's
+proclamation changed their mind--began to assemble at Lamartine Hall, on
+the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-ninth Street. Their room was in the
+fourth story, and the delegates from the various lodges brought with them
+their badges and banners, which they displayed from the windows. This
+brought a crowd in front of the building, curious to know what was going
+on in the lodge room. Soon five hundred policemen, ten or fifteen of them
+on horseback, appeared under the command of Inspectors Walling and
+Jamieson, and occupied both sides of Twenty-ninth Street, between Eighth
+and Ninth Avenues. Several policemen also stood on Eighth Avenue, while
+the door of the hall was guarded by others. Inside the hall there were
+probably some seventy-five or a hundred Orangemen, discussing the parade.
+Some stated that a great many, concluding there would be none, had gone to
+their usual work, while others, alarmed at the threats of the Hibernians,
+would not join it. But after some discussion, it was resolved, that
+although the number would be small, they would parade at all hazards; and
+at eleven o'clock the door was thrown open, and the Orangemen, wearing
+orange colors, were admitted, amid the wildest cheering. An invitation was
+sent to the lodges of Jersey City to join them, but they declined,
+preferring to celebrate the day at home.
+
+Two o'clock was the hour fixed upon for the parade to begin, and the
+authorities at police head-quarters were so advised. In the meantime a
+banner had been prepared on which was inscribed in large letters,
+
+"AMERICANS! FREEMEN!! FALL IN!!!"
+
+in order to get accessions from outsiders, but without success.
+
+The line of march finally resolved upon was down Eighth Avenue to Twenty-
+third Street, and up it to Fifth Avenue, down Fifth Avenue to Fourteenth
+Street, along it to Union Square, saluting the Lincoln and Washington
+statues as they passed, and then down Fourth Avenue to Cooper Institute,
+where the procession would break up.
+
+About one o'clock, a party of men came rushing down Eighth Avenue,
+opposite Lamartine Hall, cheering and shouting, led by a man waving a
+sword cane. As he swung it above his head it parted, disclosing a long
+dirk. The police immediately advanced and swept the street. Eighth Avenue
+was cleared from Thirtieth Street to Twenty-eighth Street, and the police
+formed several deep, leaving only room enough for the cars to pass.
+
+In the meantime, around police head-quarters, in Mott Street, things wore
+a serious aspect. From six o'clock in the morning, the various detachments
+of police kept arriving until Bleecker, Houston, Mulberry, and Mott
+Streets were dark with the massed battalions, ready to move at a moment's
+notice. Rations were served out to them standing. Early in the day,
+Governor Hoffman and staff arrived, and were quartered in the
+Superintendent's room, while General Shaler and staff were quartered in
+the fire marshal's office. Commissioners Manierre, Smith, and Barr were in
+their own rooms, receiving reports from the various precincts over the
+wires. A little after nine a dispatch came, stating that the quarrymen
+near Central Park had quitted work, and were gathering in excited groups,
+swearing that the Orangemen should not parade. Immediately Inspector
+Jamieson, with two hundred and fifty policemen, was despatched in stages
+to Forty-seventh Street and Eighth Avenue, to watch the course of events.
+Another dispatch stated that an attack was threatened on Harper's
+building, in Franklin Square, and Captain Allaire, of the Seventh
+Precinct, was hurried off with fifty men to protect it. A little later
+came the news that the Orangemen had determined to parade at two o'clock,
+and a police force of five hundred, as we have already stated, were massed
+in Eighth Avenue, opposite Lamartine Hall. About noon, a body of rioters
+made an attack on the armory, No. 19 Avenue A, in which were a hundred and
+thirty-eight stands of arms. Fortunately, the janitor of the building saw
+them in time to fasten the doors before they reached it, and then ran to
+the nearest police-station for help, from which a dispatch was sent to
+head-quarters. Captain Mount, with a hundred policemen, was hurried off to
+the threatened point. He arrived, before the doors were broken in, and
+falling on the rioters with clubs, drove them in all directions. During
+the forenoon, Drill-captain Copeland was given five Companies, and told to
+seize Hibernia Hall, where arms were being distributed. As he approached,
+he ordered the mob to disperse, but was answered with taunts and curses,
+while the women hurled stones at his face. He then gave the order to
+charge, when the men fell on the crowd with such fury, that they broke and
+fled in wild confusion. Meanwhile, the detectives had been busy, and
+secured eighteen of the ring-leaders, whom they marched to police head-
+quarters.
+
+As the hour for the procession to form drew near, the most intense
+excitement prevailed at police head-quarters, and the telegraph was
+watched with anxious solicitude. The terrible punishment inflicted on the
+rioters in 1863 seemed to have been forgotten by the mob, and it had
+evidently resolved to try once more its strength with the city
+authorities. Around the Orange head-quarters a still deeper excitement
+prevailed. The hum of the vast multitude seemed like the first murmurings
+of the coming storm, and many a face turned pale as the Orangemen, with
+their banners and badges, only ninety in all, passed out of the door into
+the street. John Johnston, their marshal, mounted on a spirited horse,
+placed himself at their head. In a few minutes, the bayonets of the
+military force designed to act as an escort could be seen flashing in the
+sun, as the troops with measured tread moved steadily forward. Crowds
+followed them on the sidewalks, or hung from windows and house-tops, while
+low curses could be heard on every side, especially when the Twenty-second
+Regiment deliberately loaded their pieces with ball and cartridge. The
+little band of Orangemen looked serious but firm, while the military
+officers showed by their preparations and order that they expected bloody
+work. The Orangemen formed line in Twenty-ninth Street, close to the
+Eighth Avenue, and flung their banners to the breeze. A half an hour
+later, they were ready to march, and at the order wheeled into Eighth
+Avenue. At that instant a single shot rang out but a few rods distant.
+Heads were turned anxiously to see who was hit. More was expected as the
+procession moved on. A strong body of police marched in advance. Next came
+the Ninth Regiment, followed at a short interval by the Sixth. Then came
+more police, followed by the little band of Orangemen, flanked on either
+side, so as fully to protect them, by the Twenty-second and Eighty-fourth
+Regiments. To these succeeded more police. The imposing column was closed
+up by the Seventh Regiment, arresting all eyes by its even tread and
+martial bearing. The sidewalks, doorsteps, windows, and roofs were black
+with people. The band struck up a martial air, and the procession moved on
+towards Twenty-eighth Street. Just before they reached it, another shot
+rang clear and sharp above the music. No one was seen to fall, and the
+march continued. At the corner of Twenty-seventh Street, a group of
+desperate-looking fellows were assembled on a wooden shed that projected
+over the sidewalk. Warned to get down and go away, they hesitated, when a
+company of soldiers levelled their pieces at them. Uttering defiant
+threats, they hurried down and disappeared. As the next corner was
+reached, another shot was fired, followed by a shower of stones. A scene
+of confusion now ensued. The police fell on the bystanders occupying the
+sidewalks, and clubbed them right and left without distinction, and the
+order rolled down the line to the inmates of the houses to shut their
+windows. Terror now took the place of curiosity; heads disappeared, and
+the quick, fierce slamming of blinds was heard above the uproar blocks
+away. The procession kept on till it reached Twenty-fourth Street, when a
+halt was ordered. The next moment a shot was fired from the second-story
+windows of a house on the north-east corner. It struck the Eighty-fourth
+Regiment, and in an instant a line of muskets was pointed at the spot, as
+though the order to fire was expected. One gun went off, when, without
+orders, a sudden, unexpected volley rolled down the line of the Sixth,
+Ninth, and Eighty-fourth Regiments. The officers were wholly taken by
+surprise at this unprecedented conduct; but, recovering themselves, rushed
+among the ranks and shouted out their orders to cease firing. But the work
+was done; and as the smoke slowly lifted in the hot atmosphere, a scene of
+indescribable confusion presented itself. Men, women, and children,
+screaming in wild terror, were fleeing in every direction; the strong
+trampling down the weak, while eleven corpses lay stretched on the
+sidewalk, some piled across each other. A pause of a few minutes now
+followed, while the troops reloaded their guns. A new attack was
+momentarily expected, and no one moved from the ranks to succor the
+wounded or lift up the dead. Here a dead woman lay across a dead man;
+there a man streaming with blood was creeping painfully up a doorstep,
+while crouching, bleeding forms appeared in every direction. Women from
+the windows looked down on the ghastly spectacle, gesticulating wildly.
+The police now cleared the avenue and side streets, when, the dead and
+wounded were attended to, and the order to move on was given. General
+Varian, indignant at the conduct of the Eighty-fourth in firing first
+without orders, sent it to the rear, and replaced it on the flank of the
+Orangemen with a portion of the Ninth. The procession, as it now resumed
+its march and moved through Twenty-fourth Street, was a sad and mournful
+one. The windows were filled with spectators, and crowds lined the
+sidewalks, but all were silent and serious. Not till it reached Fifth
+Avenue Hotel were there any greetings of welcome. Here some three thousand
+people were assembled, who rent the air with cheers. No more attacks were
+made, and it reached Cooper Institute and disbanded without any further
+incident.
+
+In the meantime, the scene at the Bellevue Hospital was a sad and painful
+one. The ambulances kept discharging their bloody loads at the door, and
+groans of distress and shrieks of pain filled the air. Long rows of cots,
+filled with mangled forms, were stretched on every side, while the tables
+were covered with bodies, held down, as the surgeons dressed their wounds.
+The dead were carried to the Morgue, around which, as night came on, a
+clamorous crowd was gathered, seeking admission, to look after their dead
+friends. A similar crowd gathered at the door of the Mount Sinai Hospital,
+filling the air with cries and lamentations. As darkness settled over the
+city, wild, rough-looking men from the lowest ranks of society gathered in
+the street where the slaughter took place, among whom were seen bare-
+headed women roaming about, making night hideous with their curses.
+
+A pile of dead men's hats stood on the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-
+fifth Street untouched, and pale faces stooped over pools of blood on the
+pavement. The stores were all shut; and everything wore a gloomy aspect.
+The police stood near, revealed in the lamplight, but made no effort to
+clear the street. It seemed at one time that a serious outbreak would take
+place, but the night passed off quietly, and the riot was ended, and the
+mob once more taught the terrible lesson it is so apt to forget.
+
+Two of the police and military were killed, and twenty-four wounded; while
+of the rioters thirty-one were killed, and sixty-seven wounded--making in
+all one hundred and twenty-eight victims.
+
+There was much indignation expressed at the troops for firing without
+orders, and firing so wildly as to shoot some of their own men. It was, of
+course, deserving the deepest condemnation, yet it may have saved greater
+bloodshed. The fight evidently did not occur at the expected point, and
+doubtless the result here, prevented one where the mob was better
+organized, and would have made a more stubborn resistance.
+
+That innocent persons were killed is true; but if they will mingle in with
+a mob, they must expect to share its fate, and alone must bear the blame.
+Troops are called out to fire on the people if they persist in violation
+of the peace and rights of the community. Of this all are fully aware, and
+hence take the risk of being shot. Soldiers cannot be expected to
+discriminate in a mob. If the military are not to fire on a crowd of
+rioters until no women and children, can be seen in it, they had better
+stay at home.
+
+To a casual observer, this calling out of seven hundred policemen and
+several regiments of soldiers, in order to let ninety men take a foolish
+promenade through a few streets, would seem a very absurd and useless
+display of the power of the city; and the killing of sixty or seventy men
+a heavy price to pay for such an amusement. But it was not ninety
+Orangemen only that those policemen and soldiers enclosed and shielded.
+They had in their keeping the laws and authority of the city, set at
+defiance by a mob, and also the principle of religious toleration and of
+equal rights, which were of more consequence than the lives of ten
+thousand men. The day when New York City allows itself to be dictated to
+by a mob, and Protestants not be permitted to march as such quietly
+through the streets, her prosperity and greatness will come to an end. The
+taking of life is a serious thing, but it is not to weigh a moment against
+the preservation of authority and the supremacy of the law.
+
+One thing should not be overlooked--the almost universal faithfulness of
+the Roman Catholic Irish police to their duty. In this, as well as in the
+draft riots, they have left a record of which, any city might he proud. To
+defend Protestant Irishmen against Roman Catholic friends and perhaps
+relatives, is a severe test of fidelity; but the Irish police have stood
+it nobly, and won the regard of all good citizens. [Footnote: Twenty-four
+pages are here added to correct the omission in paging the engravings.]
+
+[Illustration: RECEIVING AND REMOVING DEAD BODIES IN THE MORGUE.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Riots of New York 1712 to
+1873, by J.T. Headley
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