draft matters

Posted on July 22, 2013 by SUMPTER

A short cutting about a couple big topics 150 years ago this month – Gettysburg and the draft. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in July, 1863:

The 44th Regiment (Ellsworth) suffered terribly during the three days battle at Gettysburg, under MEADE. The loss in killed and wounded is very large. Among the latter is THOMPSON BARRACK of this county.

The number of men enrolled for the first class for the 24th Congressional District, including Cayuga, Seneca, and Wayne counties, is between twelve and thirteen thousand.

James M. McPherson points out,

Men eligible for the draft were divided into two classes. Class 1 included all single men and married men aged 20 to 35. Class 2 included married men over 35. Men from class 2 would not be drafted until class 1 had been exhausted. In practice, this meant virtually never.[1]

At Gettysburg The 44th NY “was posted on the left of the line and joined in the defense of Little Round Top, where it met with its greatest loss—111 killed, wounded and missing.” It is written that the total casualties might have been 106 out of 313 engaged.

Map of actions in the en:Battle of Gettysburg, second day, Little Round Top

44th helps defend Little Round Top

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. View of Little Round Top (1863 July; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpb-03971)

view of Little Round Top, where 44th NY suffered 33% casualties

Thompson Barrick

After wound would officer Colored Troops

Hal Jespersen’s map is licensed by Creative Commons

  1. [1]McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. page 600, note 20.↩
Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Gettysburg Campaign, Military Matters | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

the usual suspects

Posted on July 20, 2013 by SUMPTER

Map shewing [sic] vicinity of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and the upper Potomac River, by Robert Knox Sneden; LOC: gvhs01 vhs00045 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.ndlpcoop/gvhs01.vhs00045)

master piece theatre

A Democrat newspaper in from a small town in New York state digests the information that Lee’s army retreated from Gettysburg and made it south of the Potomac largely unscathed. It has to be the Republican administration’s fault. Everything was going great until communication between Washington and the army was restored after the battle.

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in July, 1863:

The Escape of Lee’s Army.

LEE has made good his escape across the Potomac with all his arms and munitions of war. This last achievement of the rebel General, retreating in good order across a swollen and unfordable river, in the face of a victorious army outnumbering him three to one, is unquestionably a master piece of generalship. The result of the invasion of Pennsylvania by the hosts of LEE is really humiliation. From the boastings of the telegrams sent over the wires by the War Department, the people were led to believe that there was no possible escape for the Confederate army. But the authorities at Washington were not at all anxious to intercept the flying legions of LEE. During the severe fighting at Gettysburg the wires were down and communication cut off between Washington and Gen. MEADE. The latter, unmolested, repulsed and punished the enemy at all points. But, no sooner was communication restored, and our victorious army put within reach of the scheming men of Washington, than all hope of success faded away. The consequence of all this is before the country. LEE’s army has escaped, and contractors and spoilsmen rejoice that the war is to be prolonged for another year.

Signal officers, in attic of farm house, watching the army of General Lee near Williamsport, Maryland (by Edwin Forbes, 1863 July 12; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-20555)

Union signal officer watches Lee’s army, July 12th

It sure wasn’t President Lincoln’s druthers that Lee’s army get south of the Potomac, as can be seen from this telegram to Simon Cameron, Lincoln’s  Secretary of War until January 1862.

From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six:

TELEGRAM TO SIMON CAMERON.
[Cipher.]

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, JULY 15, 1863.

HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.:

Your despatch of yesterday received. Lee was already across the river when you sent it. I would give much to be relieved of the impression that Meade, Couch, Smith, and all since the battle at Gettysburg, have striven only to get Lee over the river without another fight. Please tell me, if you know, who was the one corps commander who was for fighting in the council of war on Sunday night.

A. LINCOLN.

Escape of the Army of Virginia, commanded by General Lee, over the Potomac River near Williamsport (by Edwin Forbes, between 1865 and 1895; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-22574)

“over the river without another fight”

The recipient of Lincoln’s telegram was a man who allegedly knew a thing or two about “contractors and spoilsmen”. Simon Cameron “was widely criticized for favoritism in awarding departmental positions and contracts, and was censured by the House of Representatives for contract manipulations …”

Robert Knox Sneden’s map of the upper Potomac is misleading because Lee’s army was unable to cross at Williamsport on July 7th.

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Gettysburg Campaign, Lincoln Administration, Military Matters, Northern Politics During War | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Copperheads from history

Posted on July 19, 2013 by SUMPTER
Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States (Engraving after painting by Rembrandt Peale; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-15715)

against George III’s oppressive government

The Old Guard, a pro-slavery, antiwar monthly journal published in New York found historical precedent for anti-Lincoln Copperheads in three iconic Americans – George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson. Here’s the paragraph on Jefferson.

From the July 1863 issue of The Old Guard:

Jefferson a Copperhead.

All who now oppose the opinions of the Administration are called traitors, and all who know enough to distinguish between government and the illegal acts of government are called Copperheads. Just such a Copperhead was Jefferson, for he declared that “Treason, when real, merits the highest punishment. But codes extend their definition of treason to acts not really against one’s country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government and acts against the oppressions of the government; the latter are virtues: yet have furnished more victims to the executioner than the former, because real treasons are rare – oppressions frequent. The unsuccessful strugglers against tyranny have been the chief martyrs of treason laws in all countries.”

Abraham Lincoln’s argument was that the U.S. Constitution specifically gives the president extraordinary powers during times of rebellion. The Confederate government was not averse to intercepting mail from suspicious persons as it struggled for its independence. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 20, 1863:

A lady charged with Treason

–An arrest of much importance, and one exciting much interest from the highly respectable social position of the accused, has been made in this city. The accused is Mrs. P. H. Allen, a native of Ohio, who was married in Rome a few years ago to her husband, a gentleman of high character and position of this city. A few days ago two disloyal letters were intercepted on the Peninsular, and the evidence in the case pointed to Mrs. A. as the writer. One of them was addressed to “Rev. Morgan Dix,” the father of Gen. Dix, and the other to her sister in Cincinnati. In that to her sister she speaks of Gen. Stoneman as the “white gloved” General, and criticises his leniency towards the Confederates; his not destroying the dwelling and farm of Hon. James A. Seddon, Secretary of War, on his raid through Goochland.

The letter written to Dix is represented to have furnished the names of a lady in Washington city and two ministers in New York who are gravely accused of sympathy with the rebellion, and advises their arrest. The letter also alludes to the mission to Europe of Rev. Dr. Hoge, of Richmond — that the statement of his having gone abroad to purchase Bibles is but a pretext, and declares that his real business is to exercise his influence in furthering the interests of the South. It also discloses the time and manner of his return, and exhorts his arrest by all means, and his close confinement during the continuance of the war. In the same letter is also given the location of several estates on the James river, which, in the opinion of the writer, should be devastated. The hope is expressed that all rebels may be “crushed out,” and information is furnished where guns can be planted to command several different plantations. The letter concludes with the assertion that if the United States does not suppress the rebellion they do not merit the respect of the world.

When these starting developments were disclosed, a guard was placed around the domicil of Rev. Dr. Hogo, where the lady in question was making a temporary sojourn, with orders for her arrest and appearance before Gen. Winder. Ascertaining that the body of a child was lying in the house awaiting burial, Gen W. directed his officers not to disturb the family, but at the same time to exercise a vigilant watch over the lady. After the funeral of the child, the arrest was made, and a partial examination had before Gen. Winder. The authorship of the letters was denied by the lady, but she admitted they were handed to her by another person, with a view to having them sent North. It is stated, however, that she afterwards confessed that she wrote one of the letters. The examination resulted in her being placed in charge of the Sisters at the Asylum St. Francine Sales, where she is under surveillance.

The Old Guard’s rendering of Jefferson’s words is pretty much the same as at The New School.

oldguard7-1863

adverts at The Old Guard 7-1863

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Lincoln Administration, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“battle for freedom”

Posted on July 18, 2013 by SUMPTER
Journey of a slave from the plantation to the battlefield (Attributed to James Queen after Henry Louis Stephens, ca. 1863; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-05453)

fighting to no longer be “bought and sold like the beasts of the field.”

As you can read at Civil War Daily Gazette, 150 years ago today the 54th Massachusetts , a regiment of black soldiers, led a failed assault on Battery Wagner at Charleston. An article published in the August 22, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South) pointed out that black soldiers were living and dying proof that war could never again be a war to restore the old Union “as it was”. Here’s some of the piece:

“OUR BLACK ARMY.”

A CALM, elaborate, and careful paper upon “Our Black Army,” in the Philadelphia North American, signed “Kent,” is unquestionably written by Sidney George Fisher, whose work upon the “Trial of the Constitution” has been already discussed in these columns. …

[“Kent”] pricks the pretended argument of the demagogue who insists that we must fight the rebels “moderately; and carry the sword in one hand and slavery and conciliation in the other,” by the simple truth. “These words being translated mean, ‘If you arm the negroes you will destroy slavery. What hope, then, will there be of restoring the old alliance between Slavery and the Democratic party—of restoring the Union as it was?’ ” Common sense answers, None at all.

“Kent” says truly of the slaves, “They have no hope or interest in this war that should induce them to wish success to the North, except deliverance from Slavery.” That, then, must be the motive to which we appeal. Freedom must be the black soldier’s bounty. Do we hope for their aid by promising the restoration of a Union which would hopelessly enslave them forever? Do we expect men to fight valorously to bind chains upon themselves?

“We are fighting,” says our author, “for an empire; they wish to fight the same battle for freedom. We are fighting that we may have a government worthy of the name, able to protect us in our civil and political rights; they ask to be permitted to fight in the vague and uncertain hope that they may be regarded as men, and not as merchandise; that they may henceforth belong to themselves, and not be bred for sale and bought and sold like the beasts of the field. Is not their purpose and hope as lofty as ours? Let us then fight side by side in this war.” That is what every loyal man should bear in mind. If our Government has any value, it is in its protection of personal rights. And if, for the purpose of establishing that guarantee for the many, the rights of some persons were not secured, who will not thank God that the price of the perpetuity of the Government is the protection of the rights of every man subject to it? The heart, the conscience, and the brain of the country no longer differ upon this point.

"The 54th Massachusetts regiment, under the leadership of Colonel Shaw in the attack on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina, in 1863," mural at the Recorder of Deeds building, built in 1943. 515 D St., NW, Washington, D.C. (photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2010; LOC: LC-DIG-highsm-09903)

men, not merchandise

Sidney George Fisher ” was a Philadelphia gentleman, lawyer, farmer, plantation owner, political essayist and occasional poet.” He inherited the plantation in Maryland and rented it out to farmers.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

references required

Posted on July 17, 2013 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 17, 1863:

In Council of the city of Richmond,
July13th 1863.

The following Ordinance was passed by the Council and ordered to be published in the daily papers of the city twice a week until the first of August, for the information of all concerned.

A W Morton, Clerk Council.

An Ordinance Concerning free negroes, passed July 13th 1863.

1st. Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Richmond, That no free negro shall be permitted to come into the city of Richmond for the purpose of trading or for any other purpose, unless he shall first obtain from a justice of the peace of the county in which he resides a certificate of his good character and loyalty, and endorsed by the Mayor.
2nd. That the police officers, night watch, and clerks of the markets, shall arrest all free negroes without such certificates.
3d. Every free negro violating this ordinance shall be punished with stripes at the discretion of the Mayor.
4th. This ordinance shall take effect from the 1st day of August next.

A copy:

A W Morton,

Clerk Council.

From the same issue:

Making them Useful.

–Under the late ordnance of the city authorizing the Mayor to put to work on the batteries all free negroes found in Richmond contrary to law, several able-bodied fellows have been sent out under guard, and the police are looking up others who will be similarly employed. Free negroes from other counties, before they contract here, must get the certificate of a Justice of their county of their good character, and these certificates must be endorsed by the Mayor.

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Confederate States of America, Southern Society | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Executives in action

Posted on July 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Consequences of Vicksburg and Gettysburg

150 years ago yesterday President Lincoln called for a day of Thanksgiving; President Davis called for more troops – all white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five not exempt. Of course, drafting in the North had already begun and been resisted.

From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six:

PROCLAMATION FOR THANKSGIVING, JULY 15, 1863
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

A Proclamation.

It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the army and navy of the United States victories on land and on the sea so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence that the Union of these States will be maintained, their Constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently restored. But these victories have been accorded not without sacrifices of life, limb, health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father, and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows.

Abraham Lincoln, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left (1861 April 6, printed later; LOC: LC-USZ62-112729)

pray to change rebel hearts (April 1862 photo)

Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, the 6th day of August next, to be observed as a day for national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and I invite the people of the United States to assemble on that occasion in their customary places of worship, and, in the forms approved by their own consciences, render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation’s behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges have been, brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the Divine Will back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.

A. LINCOLN.

By, the President WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 16, 1863:

Proclamation by the President.

Proclamation by the President.

–Whereas it is provided by an act of Congress entitled “An act to further provide for the public Defence,” approved on the 16th day of April, 1862, and by another act of Congress, approved on the 27thSeptember, 1862, entitled “An act to amend an act entitled an act to provide further for the public defence, approved 14thApril, 1862,” that the President be authorized to call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States for three years, unless the war shall have been sooner ended, all white men who are residents of the Confederate States, between the ages of eighteen and forty five years, at the time the call may be made, and who are not at such time legally exempted from military service, or such part thereof as in his judgment may be necessary to the public defence:

And, whereas, in my judgment, the necessities of the public defence require that every man capable of bearing arms, between the ages aforesaid, should now be called out to do his duty in the defence of his country and in driving back the invaders now within the limits of the Confederacy:

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Confederate soldiers who had evidently been shelled by our batteries on Round Top (by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, July 1863; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpb-0006)

numbers game – dead Confederates at Gettysburg

Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, do, by virtue of the powers vested in me as aforesaid, call out and place in the military service of the Confederate States all white men, residents of said States, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, not legally exempted from military service; and I do hereby order and direct that all persons subject to this call, and not now in the military service, do, upon being enrolled, forthwith repair to the conscript camps established in the respective States of which they may be residents, under pain of being hold and punished as deserters in the event of their failure to obey this call, as provided in said laws.

And I do further order and direct, that the enrolling officers of the several States proceed at once to enroll all persons embraced within the terms of this proclamation, and not heretofore enrolled.

And I do further order, that it shall be lawful for any person embraced within this call to volunteer for service before enrollment, and that persons so volunteering be allowed to select the arm of service and the company which they desire to join, provided such company be deficient in the full number of men allowed by law for its organization.

Given under my hand, and the Seal of the Confederate States of America, at the city, of Richmond, this fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three.

(Signed,) Jefferson Davis.

By the President:

(Signed,) J P Benjamin, Secretary of State.

The Richmond Daily Dispatch finds men between the ages of forty and forty-five to be the best possible material for soldiers. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 16, 1863:

The President’s proclamation.

We invite the particular attention of all whom it may, or may not, concern, to the proclamation of President Davis, to be found in another column. We are glad to see the promptness with which the call of Lincoln for 300,000 fresh troops has been met. That functionary, like all his subjects, believes that everything can be done by force of numbers, and that to be efficient an army need only be big. Nothing can cure him of this delusion. During this war he has called into service, successively, 75,000, 300,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 men, and yet he is no nearer the end of his enterprise now than he was in the beginning. He has been met at every turn by the undaunted spirit of a free people, and they have shown to the world, though they have not succeeded in convincing him, that such a spirit a proof against all odds, and superior to any force. He is about to try the same experiment once more, and we doubt not with the like measure of success.

jeff-davis-cartoon (Harper's Weekly, August 22, 1863)


JEFF DAVIS’S LAST APPEAL TO ARMS.
“Fellow Citizens—the Victory is within your reach. You need but STRETCH FORTH YOUR HANDS TO GRASP IT.”—(Address of Jeff Davis to his Soldiers.)

This proclamation will enormously swell the rank and file of our army, and swell it with the best possible material. From forty to forty five man is in the prime of his existence. He still retains all his strength and the greater part of his activity. He is cooler, calmer, and better, understands what he is fighting for than the young recruit. He understands the rights for which he is contending, and prefers death to defeat. We wish the Constitution had extended the time to sixteen and fifty.

We appeal to all Southern men to come forward at once, without waiting for the enrolling officer, and enroll their names. To stand back now is to cover themselves with shame, which the lapse of time can never erase. Besides, it will answer no good purpose, for the enrolling officers will not over look a man. All must be brought out, for the country wants their services. A great boon is offered in the alternative of selecting the company to serve with, or be conscripted. Few men of spirit will hesitate even for a moment.

To arms! to arms! fellow-citizens — form yourselves into battalions, into regiments, into brigades! The enemy is in your country, burning and ravaging at his will. Let us teach him a lesson he will never forget.

The political cartoon of Jefferson and the amputees from Vicksburg and Gettysburg was published in the August 22, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly hosted at Son of the South

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Lincoln Administration, Military Matters, Northern Society, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Cayuga in the City

Posted on July 15, 2013 by SUMPTER

NYT 7-16-1863

NY Times 7-16-1863


On July 14, 1863 New York Governor Seymour requested recently mustered out two year volunteers from the Third Volunteer Artillery (Previously the 19th Infantry) to organize and go to New York City to help quell the draft riots. Men began to assemble in Cayuga and Seneca counties. The riots ended before the veterans could get to the city. Nevertheless some members of the Third Artillery on furlough in New York City put their skills to use 150 years ago today. From Cayuga in the Field by Henry and John Hall (pages 167-69):

Nevertheless, the 3d Artillery was not without efficient representatives in New York during the riots, quite a delegation of its officers being in the city at the time on furlough. Gen. Wool immediately utilized them for the public defense, placing portions of his militia under their experienced and competent direction. Capt. Schenck received command of a battery of artillery, and did good service at the Atlantic docks and elsewhere, in overawing rioters and preventing the destruction of property and sacking of stores.

Capt. Howell was given command of some artillery of the 8th regiment, and used it on Wednesday, the 15th, in a manner that showed how little distinction existed in his patriotic view between rebels in the field and traitors at home. At daylight of the 15th, Gen. Dodge and Col. Mott with a body of infantry, and Capt. Howell and his guns, were sent to 32nd street, where the mob was hanging colored men and breaking into and robbing houses and stores. When they arrived on the ground, three colored men had already been slain. The lifeless body of one, Col. Mott himself cut down with his sword. The act aroused the ferocity of the mob, who attacked the detachment with a rain of brick and stones, and, crowding up close, struck those within reach with clubs and slung shot. Col. Mott directed Capt. Howell to come into battery at the corner of 32nd Street and 7th Avenue, which he did forthwith, while the infantry and cavalry charged the mob, and with thrust of bayonet and slash of sword drove it a long ways down the street. The rioters rallying again, capt. Howell approached them alone and warned them to disperse or he would try the virtue of grape and cannister. The caution was repeatedly given; but the crowd lingered, and finally renewed the attack, making a rush to take our guns, prefacing the same with a tremendous volley of stones. Capt. Howell waved his sword and gave the signal to fire, and half a dozen rounds of cannister tore their way through the very heart of the assailing horde, checking its advance and facing it to the right about in panic terror. The street was cleared almost immediately, the mob leaving the road strewn with bleeding bodies. Nearly twenty expiated their folly and crime in bloody death in this attack, though, doubtless, some of those shot down were innocent parties drawn to the scene from motives of curiosity. The infantry now had easy work and made a large number of prisoners.

Two days afterwards, Capt. Howell had a narrow escape from assassination for the part borne by him in this fight. While driving in his private carriage to headquarters, a group of a dozen or more of the rioters, spying his uniform, set up a shout of “There’s the man who fired on us on Wednesday,” and on the instant poured a shower of stones on the carriage, breaking the windows and panels. The rioters shouted to the driver to stop. Capt. Howell drew his revolver and told the driver to go on. Before that individual had recovered his wits enough to act, the crowd had increased to fifty. A stone now struck Capt. Howell’s shoulder on an old wound, for a moment paralyzing the arm. The horses were then lashed into a gallop; the crowd was halted with five shots from the Captain’s revolver; and the carriage was soon beyond the reach of danger.

In this article some of the details are different, but a mob on 32nd street was broken up by some cannister cannon.

From The New-York Times July 16, 1863:

A Morning Riot in Thirty-second-Street.

THE MILITARY FIRE UPON THE MOB.

Late on Tuesday night a raid was made by the mob on a number of negro dwellings situate on Thirty-second-street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues; these buildings were almost entirely demolished and several attempts were made to fire the whole vicinity.

An unfortunate negro, who made an attempt to fly for his life from the fury of these persecutors, was caught and severely beaten with stones and bludgeons; the infuriated mob not satisfied with thus brutally mangling their victim, slipped a rope around his neck and hung him to a tree in the neighborhood, where he remained until quite an early hour this morning.

About 9 o’clock yesterday morning, Capt. Morr, of the United States artillery, having been sent with a strong force to cut down the unfortunate negro, was met by the mob with the most persistent opposition. After requesting them to disperse, and being still menaced by the crowd, he ordered his men to fire; three rounds of grape were poured into them with fearful effect. When they dispersed, it was ascertained that upward of twenty-five had been killed and a number seriously wounded.

Another negro was also hung by the mob in the forenoon, in Thirty-sixth-street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues.

The following is a partial list of the killed and wounded in the fire of the military upon the rioters in Thirty-second-street: …

John H. Howell

cannister vs. the mob

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Military Matters, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“A Day of Infamy and Disgrace”

Posted on July 13, 2013 by SUMPTER
nyt 7-14-1863

“brutal ruffianism”

150 years ago today riots broke out in New York City. The immediate cause was the commencement of the draft in New York Congressional districts. As James McPerson [1] pointed out, most of the New York militia and federal troops were away from the city because of the Gettysburg campaign. In a July 4th speech in the city Democrat governor Horatio Seymour “warned Republicans who pleaded military necessity for emancipation and conscription: ‘Remember this – that the bloody and treasonable doctrine of public necessity can be proclaimed by a mob as well as by a government.'” McPherson mentioned a longshoreman strike “in June 1863 when black stevedores under police protection took the place of striking Irishman.”- who for the most part lived in tenements and worked at low wage jobs and feared black competition. One target was the Republican Tribune. “Henry Raymond of the Times borrowed three recently invented Gatling guns from the army to defend his building.”

You can read a full account of the July 13, 1863 draft riot at The New-York Times of July 14, 1863:

THE MOB IN NEW-YORK.; Resistance to the Draft–Rioting and Bloodshed. Conscription Offices Sacked and Burned. Private Dwellings Pillaged and Fired. An ARMORY AND A HOTEL DESTROYED. Colored people Assaulted–An Unoffending Black Man Hung.The Tribune office Attacked–The Colored Orphan Asylum Ransacked and Burned–Other Outrages and Incidents.A DAY OF INFAMY AND DISGRACE. ATTACK UPON SUPERINTENDENT KENNEDY. THE ATTACK ON THE ARMORY IN SECOND-AVENUE. SCENES BY AN EYE-WITNESS. BURNING OF THE ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR COLORED CHILDREN. ATTACK ON THE TRIBUNE OFFICE. OUTRAGES UPON COLORED PERSONS. COURAGEOUS ACTION OF THE POLICE. THE ATTACK ON THE MAYOR’S RESIDENCE. MEETING OF EX-OFFICERS AT THE ARMORY OF THE SEVENTH REGIMENT. CHARACTER OF THE MOB. ROVING RIOTERS. APPREHENDED ATTACK ON THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS. THE HOUSES BURNED IN LEXINGTON-AVENUE. DESTRUCTION OF A BLOCK ON BROADWAY. BULL’S HEAD HOTEL. A STATION-HOUSE AND THE RESIDENCE OF THE CITY POSTMASTER BURNED. THIEVES AND PICKPOCKETS. THE POLICE. PREPARATIONS FOR TO-DAY. …

Here are a couple editorials.

From The New-York Times July 14, 1863:

Shall Ruffians Rule Us?

ruins harper's Weekly August 1, 1863

RUINS OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL’S OFFICE.

The mob yesterday was unquestionably started on the basis of resistance to the draft. But that was a very small part of the spirit which really prompted and kept it in motion. It was, probably, in point of character the lowest and most ruffianly mob which ever disgraced our City. Arson, theft and cowardly ferocity seemed to be the animating impulse of a very large portion of the mass that composed it. We have never witnessed a more disgusting or more humiliating sight than was offered in every street which these gangs of outlaws tramped through with their hideous uproar. A large portion of them were mere boys, and their special delight seemed to be to hunt negroes. One would have supposed that every colored man, woman and child must be a wild beast — to judge from the savage and eager delight with which they were chased and beaten and stoned by these wretched brutes in human form. It seems inconceivable that so much of pure, unadulterated ferocity — so much of that clear, undiluted cruelty which feels a keen and ecstatic relish in the infliction of torture upon others for its own sake, can dwell in the human heart. But such hideous outbreaks as that of yesterday draw aside the curtain and show us how much of the wild beast, in spite of our better qualities, really belongs to the baser elements of our social life.

lynching Harper's Weekly August 1, 1863

HANGING A NEGRO CLARKSON STREET.

There is but one way to deal with this coarse brutality. It is idle to reason with it, — worse than idle to tamper with it; it must be crushed. Nothing but force can deal with its open manifestations. Unless this City is to be surrendered to the most lawless and reckless of mob rule, this riot which broke out yesterday, and which, beyond all question, will renew its outrages, must be put down by force. If it is paltered with, it will gain the upper hand, and then we might better live among savages than under the ruffians who will rule and plunder us at their pleasure.

Our City authorities owe it to themselves and to the people to suppress this mob. We have full faith that they will act with vigor and decision. Our Police Department has already earned high praise by the courage and efficiency with which it met the crisis. Mayor OPDYKE will do everything in his power to preserve the public peace; but, unless he resorts to the exercise of something more than the ordinary powers which belong to his office, unless he calls into active exercise the special force which stands ready instantly to respond to his summons, there is but little that he can do toward crushing the mob. We have a right, too, to look to the State and General Governments for whatever they can do for the restoration of the public peace. It behooves all our authorities and all our citizens, without regard to political opinions or to party differences, to rally to the support of Law and Order. Whatever else may happen, this City must not be disgraced by falling into the hands, even for a day, of such brutal ruffianism as raged yesterday, almost without control, through our streets. Let every man see to it that he does everything in his power to avert so fearful a catastrophe.

new-york-draft-riot Harper's Weekly August 1, 1863

THE RIOTS AT NEW YORK—THE RIOTERS BURNING AND SACKING THE COLORED ORPHAN ASYLUM.

From The New-York Times July 14, 1863:

THE MOB AND THE PRESS.–The mob last

evening broke the windows and demolished the furniture in the counting-room of the Tribune, and attempted to crown their infamous and fiendish ruffianism by setting the building on fire. The prompt arrival and vigorous action of a body of Police interrupted their proceedings, and deprived them of the pleasure of being as brutal as they had hoped and expected to be.

police-beating Harper's Weekly Auguat 1, 1863

CHARGE OF THE POLICE ON THE RIOTERS AT THE “TRIBUNE” OFFICE.

We have not always agreed with our neighbor on political topics, and have not deemed it wise on grounds of the public welfare to make Slavery and the negro so prominent in these discussions as the Tribune has done. But that is a matter concerning which judgments and tastes may differ. It is intolerable that a mob should undertake by violence and destruction of property to dictate topics for public discussion, or to control the sentiments and utterances of the public Press. When such an issue is forced upon journalists, they must make it their common cause.

We regret that the Tribune should have suffered in such a shape even the trifling loss which last night’s mob inflicted upon them. They had the aid of some among our employes in protecting their property, and shall have it again whenever the invidious favor of the mob shall again release us from the necessity of defending our own.

George Opdyke (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-02561)

Mayor Opdyke

Hon. Henry Jarvis Raymond of N.Y. (between 1855 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-cwpbh-03070)

press freedom to bear Gatling guns

______________________________________________

All the riot-related images were published in the August 1, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly hosted at Son of the South

  1. [1]McPherson, James M. The Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Ballantine Books, 1989. Print. page 609-611.↩
Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Lincoln Administration, Military Matters, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

home of the free

Posted on July 12, 2013 by SUMPTER

oh, Canada

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 9, 1863:

Results of drafting in the North.

The Old Guard, of New York, gives the following specimen of the process of drafting in Michigan:

“Of forty-one men drafted in Clinton county, Michigan, thirty-two have escaped to Canada, which, if not “the land of the brave,” is at least the “home of the free.”

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 10, 1863:

New Substitute for black slavery.

Parke Godwin, editor of the Evening Post. (New York,) says that “if slavery is to continue in this country we want the Irish Catholics to take the places of the negroes, and let the more intelligent and more virtuous blacks be liberated. ” “Such an abominable sentiment is entirely worthy of the man who utters it — a man who saves like one in bedlam against the Constitution of his country, and slanders every white man who is not a negro in his heart.”–N. Y. Old Guard.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch July 10, 1863:

Three likely free negro men for sale at Auction.

–By virtue of an order of the Hustings Court of the city of Richmond made in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of Virginia. I will sell, in front of the City Hall, on Monday next, the 13th inst, (that being Court day) at 10 o’clock, A. M, to the highest bidder, for cash, the following free negroes, convicted of grand larceny and ordered by said Court to be sold into absolute slavery, viz: Edward George H Willey, and William Jones. These men are young, sound, and likely, and worthy the attention of dealers.

Thos B Dudley,

Sergeant city of Richmond

C. Chauncey Burr published and wrote for The Old Guard beginning in 1863. The magazine was anti-war and pro-slavery.

Here’s a little sound from the July 1863 issue:

A new phrase has lately appeared in this country, very much as Satan’s face first appeared in Paradise.-It is “the war power,” as something above the Constitution, which is declared to be “the supreme law of the land.” It is a new doctrine in America. It was one of the reasons our fathers gave for rebelling against the King of England …

What is now by ignorant or designing people called the war power, or military law, is simply the absence of all law, and rests upon the same moral basis, as what is called Lynch law, or mob law. They depend upon the same arbitrary usurpation of power, in opposition to Constitution and statute. It depends solely on the will or caprice of the party by whom it is proclaimed and enforced. Until Mr. Lincoln’s election , no man imagined that it was ever to be put in force outside of the military camp …

Old Guard

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Confederate States of America, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“names ticketed and boxed”

Posted on July 11, 2013 by SUMPTER
A visit to the "Central Park" in the summer of 1863 (by Thomas C. Roche, 1863; LOC: LC-USZ62-98440)

NY still life – Central Park, summer 1863

… the almost universal expression is that of satisfaction and acquiescence in the wisdom and propriety of the measure.

Especially if you can find a substitute or come up with $300 for the IRS

From The New-York Times July 11, 1863:

THE DRAFT; IT BEGINS TO-DAY. The Ninth District First in the Field. WHO MUST GO AND WHO ARE EXEMPT. WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY. THE NINTH DISTRICT THE BOARD OF ENROLLMENT WHO CAN BE DRAFTED? REGULATIONS

The announcement in the TIMES, of Friday, that Capt. MANIERRE, of the Eighth Congressional District, had completed his arrangements for the proposed draft, and had issued his formal notice to the able-bodied citizens of the Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Wards that the drawings would take place at the District Headquarters on Monday next, produced the most intense excitement amongst the people of the City, and brought home to them, for the first time, as reality, that which for months has been an expectation, and, to a certain extent, a byword and a joke. In justice to our people, it must be recorded that the almost universal expression is that of satisfaction and acquiescence in the wisdom and propriety of the measure.

Captain and Assistant Provost-Marshal JENKINS, of the Ninth District, must be entitled to the honor of being first in the field with the actual procedure. On information from those who should know, it was stated that the Eighth District was the only one ready, and was the one in which the draft would first be made, and so far as public notice was concerned, that fact remains undisputed. In to-day’s TIMES, however, due notice is given that taking time, or at least 48 hours of it, by the forelock, Capt. JENKINS appears in the van, and at 9 o’clock this morning, in public, at his headquarters at No. 677 Third-avenue will open the game, which will result in the conscription of several thousands of our most desirable citizens. …

The number of names ticketed and boxed ready for the draft in this District is 3,800. The number to be drawn is 1,[???]00.

In view of the absolute certainty of to-day’s proceedings, it becomes a matter of the greatest interest to every citizen to know first

In answer to this question the act expressly declares that “All able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of 20 and 45, with certain exceptions, to be subject to draft.”

Those persons being enrolled, are divided into two classes, the first of which comprises all persons subject to do military duty between the ages of twenty and thirty-five years, and all unmarried persons subject to do military duty above the age of thirty-five and under the age of forty-five; the second class comprises all other persons subject to do military duty. The latter are not to be called into the service of the United States until those of the first class have been called. …

And in regard to those who are thus drafted, the following have been prepared:

Any person drafted and notified to appear may, on or before the day fixed for his appearance, furnish an acceptable substitute to take his place in the draft, or he may pay to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in the Congressional District in which he may reside, the sum of $300. On the receipt of this sum, the Collector of Internal Revenue will give drafted persons paying it duplicate receipts. One copy of these receipts will be delivered to the Board of Enrollment on or before the day in which the drafted person is required to report for duty, and when so delivered to the Board, the drafted person will be furnished by the Board with a certificate of exemption, stating that such person is discharged from further liability under that draft, by reason of having paid the sum of $300. Any person failing to report after due service of notice as herein prescribed, without furnishing a substitute, or paying the required sum therefor, shall be arrested by the Provost-Marshal and sent to the nearest military post for trial by Court-martial, unless, upon proper showing that he is not liable to military duty, the Board of Enrollment shall relieve him from the draft. All drafted persons will, on arriving at the rendezvous, be inspected by the surgeon of the Board, who will report to the Board the physical condition of each one; and all persons drafted and claiming exemption from military duty on account of disability, or any other cause, shall present their claims to be exempted to the Board, whose decision will be final. As soon as the required number of able-bodied men liable to do military duty shall be obtained from the list of those drafted, the remainder are required to be discharged. The persons drafted are to be assigned by the President to military duty in such corps, regiments or other branches of the service as the exigencies of the service may require. …

Benjamin Franklin Manierre was Provost Marshal in his Congressional District.

union-square Harper's Weekly 4-25-1863

Patriotic NY – Fort Sumter remembered meeting 4-11-1863

The image of Union Square back in April 1863 was published in the April 25, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly and hosted at Son of the South

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Lincoln Administration, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment