Slavery and Four Years of War Part 46

(10) Pendleton's Report, _War Records_., vol. xxvii., Part II., p. 352.

(11) _Mana.s.sas to Appomattox_, p. 392.

(12) _War Records_, vol. xxvii., Part II., pp. 299-302.

(13) _Ibid_., p. 82-3.

(14) _Ibid_., p. 187.

(15) _War Records_, vol. xxvii., Part II., 346.

CHAPTER III New York Riots, 1863--Pursuit of Lee's Army to the Rappahannock-- Action of Wapping Heights, and Skirmishes--Western Troops Sent to New York to Enforce the Draft--Their Return--Incidents, etc.

During the Gettysburg campaign the organized militia of New York City and the volunteer and regular troops stationed there were sent to Pennsylvania to aid in repelling the invading army, thus leaving that city without its usual protection.

Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York in 1863, was not, at all times, in harmony with President Lincoln and the War Department with respect to the conduct of the war, the necessity for raising troops, and the means by which they were obtained.

His opposition to the draft was well understood, and gave encouragement to a turbulent population in New York City who were opposed to the war, and, consequently, to all radical measures to fill the city's quota. The poor believed they had a just ground of complaint. A clause in the Enrollment Act of Congress allowed a drafted man to be discharged upon the payment of three hundred dollars commutation.

This gave the wealthier people a right the poor were not able to avail themselves of.

The city of New York had responded loyally with men and money in support of the Union at the breaking out of the war, but as the struggle progressed and the burdens of the city increased and many calls for men came, there occurred some reaction in public sentiment, especially among the ma.s.ses, who imagined they were the greatest sufferers. Her Mayor, Fernando Wood, prior to the war (January 6, 1861), in a Message to her Common Council, denominated the Union as only a "confederacy" of which New York was the "Empire City"; and said further that dissolution of the Union was inevitable; that it was absolutely impossible to keep the States "together longer than they deemed themselves fairly treated"; that the Union could "not be preserved by coercion or held together by force"; that with the "aggrieved brethren of the slave States" the city had preserved "friendly relations and a common sympathy," and had not "partic.i.p.ated in a warfare upon their const.i.tutional rights or their domestic inst.i.tutions," and, "therefore, New York has a right to expect, and should endeavor to preserve, a continuance of uninterrupted intercourse with every section." He denounced other parts of New York state as a "foreign power" seeking to legislate for the city's government; claimed that "much, no doubt," could "be said in favor of the justice and policy of a separation," and that the Pacific States and Western States as well as the Southern States would each soon set up an independent Republic. But Mayor Wood, not content with all this disunion nonsense, said further:

"Why should not New York City, instead of supporting by her contributions in revenue two thirds of the expenses of the United States, become also equally independent? As a _free city_, with but nominal duty on imports, her local government could be supported without taxation upon her people. Thus we could live free from taxes, and have cheap goods nearly duty free. In this she would have the whole and united support of the Southern states, as well as all the other States to whose interests and rights under the Const.i.tution she has always been true; and when disunion has become a fixed and certain fact, why may not New York disrupt the bonds which bind her to a venal and corrupt master--to a people and party that have plundered her revenues, taken away the power of self- government and destroyed the Confederacy of which she was the proud Empire City? Amid the gloom which the present and prospective condition of things must cast over the country, New York, as a Free City, may shed the only light and hope of a future reconstruction of our once blessed Confederacy."( 1)

This most audacious communication ante-dated all Ordinances of Secession save that of South Carolina, and preceded President Lincoln's inauguration by about two months. The proposed secession of New York City involved disrupting the bonds which bound her to the State as well as the nation, and could not therefore possess even the shadow of excuse of separate sovereignty, such as was claimed for a State.

The dangerous doctrine of this Message and the suggestions for making New York a _free city_, and other like political teaching, bore fruit, and had much to do with building up a public sentiment which culminated in resistance to the draft and the monstrous, b.l.o.o.d.y, and destructive riots that ensued in New York City.

The significance of the defeat of the Confederate Army at Gettysburg and the capture of Vicksburg on the 4th of July, 1863, were not well understood in New York when, on Sat.u.r.day, July 11, 1863, pursuant to instructions, Provost-Marshal Jenkins commenced the initial work on the corner of 46th Street and Third Avenue, by drawing from the wheel the names of those who must respond to the call of the Government or pay the commutation money.

The first day pa.s.sed without any open violence, and with even some good-humored pleasantry on the part of the great crowd a.s.sembled.

The draft was conducted openly and fairly, and the names of the conscripts were publicly announced and published by the press of Sunday morning. It appeared that the names of many men, too poor to pay the commutation, had been drawn from the wheel, and these would therefore have to go to the army in person regardless of inclination or ability to provide for their families in their absence. Others not drawn were apprehensive that their fate would be the same. On Sunday, therefore, in secret places, inhabitants of the district where the draft had commenced, met, and resolved to resist it even to bloodshed. The absence of the organized militia and other regular and volunteer soldiers was, by the leaders of the movement, widely proclaimed, to encourage the belief that resistance would be successful. The police, though efficient, were not much feared, as they would have to be widely scattered over the city to protect persons and property. In the promotion of the scheme of resistance to Federal authority, organized parties went early Monday morning to yard, factory, and shop, and compelled men to abandon their labor and join the procession wending its way to the corner of Third Avenue and 46th Street.

Captain Jenkins and his a.s.sistants, not apprehending any danger, recommenced the draft in the presence of a great mult.i.tude, many of whom had crowded into his office, and a few names had been called and registered when a paving-stone was hurled through a window, shivering the gla.s.s into a thousand pieces, knocking over some quiet observers in the room and startling the officials. This was the initial act of the celebrated New York riots. A second and a third stone now crashed through the broken window at the fated officers and reporters, and with frantic yells the crowd developed into a mob, and, breaking down the doors, rushed into the room, smashed the desks, tables, furniture, and destroyed whatever could be found. The wheel alone was carried upstairs and eventually saved. The Marshal escaped alive, but his deputy, Lieutenant Vanderpoel, was horribly beaten and taken home for dead. The building wherein the office was located was fired, and the hydrants were taken possession of by the mob to prevent the Fire Department from extinguishing the flames, and in two hours an entire block was burned down. Police Superintendent Kennedy was a.s.sailed by the rioters and left for dead. The most exaggerated rumors of the success of the mob spread through the city, and other anti-conscript bands were rapidly formed, especially in its southern parts.

While General Sanford of the State Militia, Mayor Opd.y.k.e of the city, and General John E. Wool were hastily consulting, and, in the absence of any military force adequate to suppress the already formidable riot, were trying to devise means for its suppression, the mob, joined by numerous gangs of thieves and thugs, grew to the size of a great army, and feeling possessed of an irresistible power, moved rapidly about the apparently doomed city, engaging in murder, pillage, and arson. Neither person nor property was regarded. Peaceful citizens were openly seized, maltreated, and robbed wherever found. Those who tried to resist were often dragged mercilessly about the streets, stamped upon, and left for dead.

A brown-stone block on Lexington Avenue was destroyed. An armed detachment of marines, some fifty strong, was sent to quell the riot. At the corner of 43d Street these marines attempted to disperse the mob by firing on it with blank cartridges, but they were rushed upon with such fierce fury that they were broken and overpowered, their guns were taken from then, several of them killed, and all terribly beaten. A squad of the police attempted to arrest some of the leaders at this point, but it was defeated, badly beaten, and one of its number killed. Elated with these triumphs, and excited by the blood already spilled, the pa.s.sion of the mob knew no bounds, and it proposed an immediate onslaught upon the princ.i.p.al streets, hotels, and public buildings. The city was filled with consternation; all business ceased, public conveyances stopped running, and terror seized the public authorities as well as the peaceful citizens.

The negroes seemed to be the first object of the mob's animosity; public places where they were employed were seized, and the colored servants there employed were maltreated, and in some instances killed. The Colored Half-Orphan Asylum, on Fifth Avenue, near 43d Street, the home for about 800 colored children, was visited, its attendants and inmates maltreated, the interior of the building sacked, and in spite of the personal efforts of Chief Decker, it was fired and burned. Robbery was freely indulged in, and many women who were of the rioters carried off booty.

The armory on Second Avenue, in which some arms and munitions were stored, although guarded by a squad of men, was soon taken possession of, its contents seized, and the building burned. This was not accomplished until at least five of the mob were killed and many more wounded by the police. In the lower part of the city the a.s.saults of the rioters were mainly upon unoffending colored men.

At least one dozen were brutally murdered, while many more were beaten, and others driven into hiding or from the city. One colored man was caught, kicked, and mauled until life seemed extinct, and then his body was suspended from a tree and a fire kindled beneath it, the heat of which restored him to consciousness.

A demonstration was made against the _Tribune_ newspaper office.

The great mob from the vicinity of 46th Street reached the park near this office about five o'clock in the evening, and some of its leaders, breaking down the doors, rushed into the building and commenced destroying its contents, and preparing to burn it. A determined charge of the police, however, drove them out, and the building was saved.

The police, though heroic in their efforts to protect the city, were only partially successful. The draft was suspended. The building on Broadway near 28th Street, in part occupied as an office by Provost-Marshal Marriere, was fired, and the entire block burned.

The Bull's Head Hotel on 44th Street was likewise burned to the ground because its proprietor declined to furnish liquor to the mob. The residences of Provost-Marshal Jenkins and Postmaster Wakeman and two brown-stone dwellings on Lexington Avenue were also destroyed by fire, and several members of the police and marines were stoned to death, and others fatally injured.

The Board of Aldermen met and adopted a resolution instructing a committee to report a plan whereby an appropriation could be made to pay the commutation ($300) of such of the poorest citizens as might be conscripted. General Wool, who commanded the Department, issued a call to the discharged returned soldiers to tender their services to the Mayor for the defence of the city. This call met with some response on the following morning, and General Harvey Brown a.s.sumed command of the troops in the city. The second day (14th) the riot was even more malignant than on the first. The mob had complete control of the city and spread terror wherever it moved.

Governor Horatio Seymour now reached the city, and promptly issued a proclamation, commanding the rioters to disperse to their homes under penalty of his using all power necessary to restore peace and order. The riot continuing, he, on the same day, issued another proclamation, declaring the city in a state of insurrection, and giving notice that all persons resisting any force called out to quell the insurrection would be liable to the penalties prescribed by law. These proclamations, however, had little effect. The second day was attended with still further atrocities upon negroes.

The mob in its brutality regarded neither age, infirmity, nor s.e.x.

Whenever and wherever a colored population was found, death was their inexorable fate. Whole neighborhoods inhabited by them were burned out.

On several occasions the small military force collected on the second day met and turned back the rioters by firing ball cartridges.

Lieutenant Wood, in command of 150 regular troops from Fort Lafayette, in dispersing about 2000 men a.s.sembled in the vicinity of Grand and Pitt Streets, was obliged to fire bullets into them, killing about a score, and wounding many, two children among the number.

This mob was dispersed. Citizens organized to defend themselves and the city.

Governor Seymour spoke to an immense gathering from the City Hall steps, and counselled obedience to the law and the const.i.tuted authorities. He read a letter to show that he was trying to have the draft suspended, and announced that he had information that it was postponed in the city of New York. This announcement did something to allay the excitement and to prevent a spread of the riot.

Colonel O'Brien, with a detachment of troops, was ordered to disperse a mob in Third Avenue. He was successful in turning it back, but sprained his ankle during the excitement, and stopped in a drug store on 32d Street, while his command pa.s.sed on. A body of rioters discovering him, surrounded the store and threatened its destruction.

He stepped out, and was at once struck senseless, and the crowd fell upon his prostrate form, beating, stamping, and mutilating it. For hours his body was dragged up and down the pavement in the most inhuman manner, after which it was carried to the front of his residence, where, with shouts and jeers, the same treatment was repeated.

The absent militia were hurried home from Pennsylvania, and by the 15th the riot had so far spent itself that many of its leaders had fallen or were taken prisoners, and the mob was broken into fragments and more easily coped with. Mayor Opd.y.k.e, in announcing that the riot was substantially at an end, advised voluntary a.s.sociations to be maintained to a.s.sure good order, and thereafter business was cautiously resumed.

Archbishop John Hughes caused to be posted about the city, on the 16th, a card inviting men "called in many of the papers rioters"

to a.s.semble the next day to hear a speech from him. At the appointed hour about 5000 persons met in front of his residence, when the Archbishop, clad in his purple robes and other insignia of his high sacerdotal function, spoke to them from his balcony. He appealed to their patriotism, and counselled obedience to the law as a tenet of their Catholic faith. He told them "no government can stand or protect itself unless it protects its citizens." He appealed to them to go to their homes and thereafter do no unlawful act of violence. This a.s.sembly dispersed peaceably, and the great riot was ended.

But the draft had been suspended for the time, and Governor Seymour had given some a.s.surance it would not again be resumed in the city.

The munic.i.p.al authorities had pa.s.sed a bill to pay the $300 commutation, or subst.i.tute money, to drafted men of the poorer cla.s.ses.

The total killed and wounded during the riots is unknown. Governor Seymour, in a Message, said the "number of killed and wounded is estimated by the police to be at least one thousand." The rioters, as usual, suffered the most. Claims against the city for damages to property destroyed were presented, aggregating $2,500,000, and the city paid claimants about $1,500,000.

This brief summary of the great New York riot is given to explain movements of troops soon to be mentioned. But in order to afford the reader a fuller conception of the opposition encountered by Federal officers in the enforcement of the conscript laws, it should be said in this connection that draft riots, on a small scale, took place in Boston, Ma.s.s.; Troy, N. Y.; Portsmouth, N. H., and in Holmes County, Ohio, and at other places.

We left the Army of the Potomac in Maryland, at the close of the arduous Gettysburg campaign, watching the Army of the Northern Virginia, just escaped across the Potomac.

Harper's Ferry had been reoccupied by Union troops as early as July 6, 1863. Meade moved his army to that place, and promptly crossing the Potomac and the Shenandoah River near its mouth, took possession of the gaps of the Blue Ridge, and marched southward along its eastern slope. Pa.s.sing through Upperville and Piedmont towards Mana.s.sas Gap and Front Royal, he threatened Lee's line of retreat to his old position behind the Rapidan, and thus compelled the Confederate Army to evacuate the Shenandoah Valley somewhat precipitately.

At Wapping Heights, near Mana.s.sas Gap, on the 23d of July, a somewhat lively action took place between portions of the two armies in which my troops were engaged and suffered a small loss. The enemy were driven back, and one corps of Lee's army was forced to retreat _via_ routes higher up the valley. There were lively skirmishes between the 14th of July and August 1st, at Halltown, Shepherdstown, Snicker's Gap, Berry's Ferry, Ashby's Gap, Chester Gap, Battle Mountain, Kelly's Ford, and Brandy Station, but each and all of these were without material results. By the 26th of July the Army of the Potomac arrived in the vicinity of Warrenton, Virginia, and occupied the north bank of the Rappahannock, while the Army of Northern Virginia took position behind the Rapidan, covering its fords. Both of these great armies were now allowed by their commanders to remain quiet to recuperate. Occasional collisions occurred between picket posts and scouting detachments, but none worthy of special notice.

It having been determined by the War Department to enforce the draft in New York and Brooklyn, and a recurrence of the riots being again imminent, orders were issued to send veteran troops to New York harbor for such disposition and service as the exigencies might require. Western troops were mainly selected, and, with a view to sending me upon this service, I was ordered on the 14th of August to Alexandria with the 110th and 122d Ohio, the former in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Foster and the latter in that of Colonel Wm. H. Ball. On the 16th I embarked these regiments and the 3d Michigan on a transport ship at Alexandria, with instructions from Halleck to report on my arrival in New York Harbor to General E. R. S. Canby.( 2) On reaching our destination, my troops, with others from the Army of the Potomac, were distributed throughout both cities. My own headquarters were for a short time on Governor's Island, then more permanently at Carroll Park, Brooklyn.

The threatened riots and the incipient movements to again prevent the draft were easily averted, as it was evident that no unlawful a.s.semblage of persons would be tolerated by the authorities when backed by veteran soldiers. This service proved to be a great picnic for the men. Officers and soldiers were received warmly everywhere in the cities, and socially feasted and flattered. It was evident, however, that the good people had not yet recovered from the terrors of the recent riots, and they manifested a painful apprehension that a recurrence of these would take place. The draft, however, went on peacefully, and when all danger seemed past the troops were ordered to return to their proper corps in the Army of the Potomac.

At a public breakfast given to the soldiers of the 110th Ohio in Carroll Park, Brooklyn, a very aged man appeared with a morning paper, and asked and was granted permission to read President Lincoln's memorable and characteristic letter of August 26, 1863, addressed to Hon. James C. Conkling, of Illinois, in response to an invitation to attend a ma.s.s-meeting at Springfield, "of unconditional Union men." The letter answered many objections urged against the President on account of the conduct of the war, his Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation, and his purpose to enlist colored men as soldiers. For perspicuity, terseness, plainness, and conclusiveness of argument this letter stands among the best of all President Lincoln's writings. It came at an opportune time, and it did much to silence the caviler, to satisfy the doubter, and to reconcile honest people who sincerely desired the complete restoration of the Union. Its effect was especially salutary and satisfying to the soldiers in the field, who, somehow, felt that the burden of maintaining the Union rested unequally upon them.

Addressing those who were dissatisfied with him, and desired _peace_, he said:

"You desire peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways. First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are you for it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is to give up the Union. I am against this, Are you for it? If you are, you should say so plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet for _dissolution_, there only remains some imaginable _compromise_. I do not believe that any compromise embracing a maintenance of the Union is now possible."

To those who opposed the Emanc.i.p.ation Proclamation, and desired its revocation, he said:

"You say it is unconst.i.tutional. I think differently. I think the Const.i.tution invests its Commander-in-Chief with the law of war in the time of war. The most that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are property. Is there, has there ever been, any question that by the laws of war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed?"

And further: