NEW YORK CITY DRAFT RIOTS OF 1863
It’s been over ten years since I saw the movie “Gangs of New York City,” but I remember thinking… just another inaccurate Hollywood portrayal of history. There was no mention of why the riots happened or the lynching of African-Americans done by these soon to be “boys in blue.” No wonder when they accompanied Sherman in Georgia and South Carolina they didn’t care what they did to the South…
After the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln instituted a draft conscripting men 18-35 to serve three years in the Union Army. To many working immigrants, the draft seemed unfair. Irish immigrants were more at risk because wealthier draftees could simply pay $300 and be exempt. This draft outraged many of the immigrants who did not care about the war and were too poor to pay the $300 needed to escape it.
When the draftee names were announced in the streets an outraged mob eager to know who else had been drafted hurried to the Provost Marshall's office. On their way telegraph wires were cut and weapons collected. The Superintendent of Police was attacked and policemen’s homes burned. Rioters looted and laid waste to jewelry, hardware, and liquor stores, eight draft offices, and the office of Horace Greeley's ‘Tribune’. The armory and Colored Orphan Asylum were torched. The rioters assaulted and lynched Negroes throughout the city.
On the second day the rioters built barricades from the destruction debris to keep the police out of certain neighborhoods. The looting of wealthy homes continued along with the brutal beatings and lynching of Negroes. The Commander of the 11th New York volunteers fired a cannon over the rioters' heads. The outraged mob searched for the Commander and murdered him. The famous Brooks Brothers clothing store was the scene of a major battle with the police. The rioters looted the store and completely destroyed it - causing more than $50,000 in damages. The NYC Mayor sent for federal troops.
The third day of the riots was full of more destruction, deaths, arsons, and lynching of Negroes. A group of white men found Abraham Franklin, a disabled African-American coachman, and beat him and his sister. Then, Abraham was hung from a tree. After he was dead, his body was cut down and dragged through the muddy streets. A 7 year-old black boy fleeing his burning apartment was beaten to death. General Harvey Brown and Police Commissioner Thomas Acton attempted to contain the rioters in the working class neighborhoods of the city, sparing the wealthy homes.
The next day, in an attempt to stop the rioters, deals were proposed to encourage volunteering. However, the deals did not calm the situation. The riots spread to Staten Island and New Jersey. By the end of the fourth day, four thousand Union troops, fresh from Gettysburg, arrived in the city. The rioters ambushed the soldiers. Several soldiers were wounded and killed. However, the army’s involvement ended the draft riots. Federal officials rescheduled the draft lottery. When the draft was resumed in late August, the federal government stationed 10,000 troops in the city and the draft lottery took place without consequence.