86

⚫ June 11, 1863.

⚫ June 29.

ORGANIZED RESISTANCE TO THE DRAFT.

The Democratic Convention that assembled at Columbus, Ohio, and nominated Vallandigham for the chief magistracy of the State,' also denounced the Government, and sent a committee to the President to demand a revocation of the sentence of their candidate, "not as a favor, but as a right." They assumed to speak for a "majority of the people of Ohio." The President's reply was brief and pointed. He defended the action of the Government, and, after telling them plainly that their own attitude in the matter encouraged desertion, resistance to the draft, and the like, and that both friends and enemies of the Union looked upon it in that light—that it was a "substantial, and, by consequence, a real strength to the enemy "--he proposed to them to dispel it, if they were friends of their country, by publicly declaring, over their own signatures, that there was a rebellion whose object and tendency was to destroy the Union, and that, in their opinion, our army and navy were constitutional means for suppressing it; that they would not do any thing calculated to diminish the efficiency of those branches of the public service; and that they would do all in their power to provide means for the support of that army and navy, while engaged in efforts to suppress the rebellion; it being understood that the publication of the President's reply · to them, with their affirmative indorsement of the propositions, should be, in itself, a revocation of the order in relation to Vallandigham. The Committee refused to "enter into any such agreement," giving, as a chief reason, that it was an imputation "on their own sincerity and fidelity as citizens of the United States." So the discussion, so far as the President was concerned, ended, and at the election for Governor of Ohio, a few months later, the assumption of the Committee, that they represented "a majority of the people" of that State, was rebuked by an overwhelming vote against Vallandigham. The majority of his opponent was over one hundred thousand, including that given by the Ohio soldiers in the field.

It was in the midst of the excitement caused by the arrest of Vallandigham, the harangues of Opposition speakers, and the passionate appeals of some Opposition newspapers to the instincts of the more disorderly classes of society, that the Draft was ordered. Then, as we have observed, the zeal of the Opposition against the measure became formidable and dangerous to the public welfare. Organized resistance to the Draft appeared in various parts of the country, and distinguished members of the Peace Faction were heard, on the National anniversary," exhorting the

4

" July 4.

1 See page 84.

2 The following are the names of the Committee: M. Burchard, David A. Houck, George Bliss, T. W. Bartley, W. J. Gordon, John O'Neill, C. A. White, W. A. Fink, Alexander Long, J. W. White, George H. Pendleton, George L. Converse, Hanzo P. Noble, James R. Morris, W. A. Hutchins, Abner L. Backus, J. F. McKenney, P. C. De Blond, Louis Schaefer.

3 In a letter to the London Times, dated August 17, 1868, Mathew F. Maury, formerly Superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington, and one of the most unworthy of traitors to his country, said, in proof that there was no chance for the Union: "There is already a peace party in the North. All the embarrassments with which that party can surround Mr. Lincoln, and all the difficulties that it can throw in the way of the war party in the North, operate directly as so much aid and comfort to the South." He then pointed to the apathy of the inhabitants of Western Pennsylvania (where the influence of the Peace Faction was powerful) at the time of Lee's invasion: "to the riots in New York, and to the organized resistance to the war in Ohio," in which Vallandigham was the leader, and said: "New York is threatening armed resistance to the Federal Government. New York is becoming the champion of State Rights in the North, and to that extent is taking Southern ground. Vallandigham waits and watches over the border, pledged, if elected Governor of the State of Ohio, to array it against Lincoln and the war, and to go for peace... Never were the chances for the South brighter."

SPEECHES OF PIERCE AND SEYMOUR.

87

people to stand firmly in opposition to what they called "the usurpations of the Government." The most conspicuous of these orators were ex-President Franklin Pierce,' and Governor Seymour, of New York, the former speaking to a Democratic gathering at Concord, New Hampshire, and the latter to the citizens of New York City, in the Academy of Music.

Mr. Pierce declared that the cause of the war was "the vicious intermeddling of too many of the citizens of the Northern States with the constitutional rights of the Southern States." He spoke of "military bastiles," into which American citizens were thrust by the arbitrary exercise of power, and of “the mailed hand of military usurpation in the North, striking down the liberties of the people, and trampling its foot on a desecrated Constitution." He lauded Vallandigham as "the noble martyr of free speech," and spoke in affectionate terms of Virginia, whose sons, by thousands, led by a dishonored scion of a once honored family of that commonwealth, were then desolating Pennsylvania with plunder and the tread of war, and drenching its soil with the blood of twenty thousand Union men in attempts to destroy the Republic. He declared "the war as fruitless," and exhorted his fellowcitizens, if they could not preserve the Union without fighting, to let it go. "You will take care of yourselves," he exclaimed. "With or without arms, with or without leaders, we will, at least, in the effort to defend our rights as a free people, build up a great mausoleum of hearts, to which men who yearn for liberty will, in after years, with bowed heads and reverently, resort, as Christian pilgrims, to the shrines of the Holy Land." His hear

ers on that dismal day shouted applause, but the sons of New England showed their scorn for such disloyal advisers and evinced their own patriot. ism in trooping by thousands to the field of strife, to save their country from ruin at the hands of rebels and demagogues.

Mr. Seymour's speech was similar in tenor, but was more cautiously worded. It was able, and, viewed from his stand-point of political observation, appeared patriotic. He opened with words of bitter irony applied to the struggling Government whose hands the Peace Faction were striving to paralyze, saying: "When I accepted the invitation to speak, with others, at this meeting, we were promised the downfall of Vicksburg, the opening of the Mississippi, the probable capture of the Confederate capital, and the exhaustion of the rebellion. By common consent all parties had fixed upon this day when the results of the campaign should be known, to mark out that line of policy which they felt that our country should pursue. But in the moment of expected victory, there came the midnight cry for help from Pennsylvania, to save its despoiled fields from the invading foe; and, almost within sight of this great commercial metropolis, the ships of your merchants were burned to the water's edge." At the very hour when this ungenerous taunt was uttered, Vicksburg and its dependencies, and vast spoils, with more than thirty thousand Confederate captives, were in the possession of General Grant; and the discomfited

1 See notice of Mr. Pierce's letter to Jefferson Davis, note 1, page 215, volume I.

a

July 4,

1863.

Compare this last sentence with a paragraph on page 232, volume I. of this work, in which Judah P. Benjamin, the first Confederate "Secretary of War," eulogized the friends of the Conspirators, in the Free-labor States. His speech may be found in the Congressional Globe, January, 1861.

3 See pages 628 and 630, volume II.

88.

REVOLUTIONS IN THE NORTH ATTEMPTED.

army of General Lee, who, when that sentence was written, was expected to lead his troops victoriously to the Schuylkill, and perhaps to the Hudson, was flying from Meade's troops, to find shelter from utter destruction, beyond the Potomac. And before the disheartening harangues of the Opposition orators were read by the gallant soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi, that great stream was opened, and the Imperial was making her way, without impediment, from St. Louis to New Orleans.' Such was the commentary on that speech; and the speedy response to it by the inhabitants of the city of New York, to whom it was addressed, was the sending of thousands of more troops to the field in defense of the Constitution and laws, and the life of the Republic.

2

But there was an immediate response in the City of New York to the utterances of leaders of the Peace Faction (of which those of Pierce and Seymour were mild specimens), appalling but logical. The Draft was about to commence there. Making that measure a pretext, as we have observed, leading Opposition journals were daily exciting the subjects of it to resist ance; and one went so far as to counsel its readers to provide themselves with arms, and keep in every family "a good rifled-musket, a few pounds of powder, and a hundred or so of shot," to "defend their homes and personal liberties from invasion from any quarter." On the evening of the 3d of July, a highly incendiary handbill, calculated to incite to insurrection, was circulated throughout the city; and it is believed that an organized outbreak on the 4th had been planned, and would have been executed, had not the news of Lee's defeat at Gettysburg, and Grant's success at Vicksburg, disappointed and dismayed the leaders. Lee's invasion, as we have observed, was a part of the programme of revolution in the Free-labor States, and so was the raid of Morgan into Indiana and Ohio, at about the same time, which we shall consider presently. There can be no doubt that a sword, like that which startled Damocles, hung by a single hair over the heart of the Repub lic at Gettysburg. Lee failed, and the nation was saved. The grand scheme of a counter-revolution in favor of peace and the independence of the "Confederate States," assumed the lesser proportions of a riot in New York City and outbreaks elsewhere, but its promoters were no less active in preparations for another opportunity.

3

1 See page 637, volume II.

2 The World newspaper, quoted on pages 207 and 208 of the Martyr's Monument.

3 An army chaplain from New York recorded that on that day, while on the steamer Cahauba with a large number of Confederate prisoners, one of them, who seemed to be a shrewd politician, said: “Lee will not only invade Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but New York also. You will find war in the streets of your very city, carried on by those who hate your Government and love ours, You will be surprised at the number of friends we have in your very midst; friends who, when the time comes, will destroy your railroads, your telegraph wires, your government stores and property, and thus facilitate the glorious invasion now breaking you in pieces." Compare this with note 2, page 358, volume I.

At this time the Knights of the Golden Circle, who were numerous in the West, were very active. They held a meeting at Springfield, Illinois, on the 10th of June, when it was resolved to make the Draft the pretext for a revolution, and measures were accordingly adopted. They formed alliances with active members of the Peace Faction throughout the country, and it was arranged that New York should take the initiative in the revolutionary movement. The plan was for each State to assume its "independent sovereignty." New York and New Jersey were to do this through their Governors; the rest of the States (excepting New England, where there was no chance for success) were to be brought into the same attitude through the Knights of the Golden Circle and the armed Peace Faction. The argument to be offered was, that, the Government having failed to suppress the rebellion, the Union was dissolved into its original elements, the States, and each of these was left at perfect liberty to enter into new combinations.-Correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, August 5, 1868.

RIOT IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

89

The riot in New York presented singular elements and phases. There were evidences of an organization in confusion, wildly led by perplexed leaders. When on Monday, the 13th of July, the Draft commenced in a building on the corner of Third Avenue and Forty-sixth Street, the spectators within were quiet and orderly, when suddenly a large crowd (who had destroyed the telegraph wires leading out of the city) assembled in the street near, a pistol was fired, missiles were hurled at the doors and windows of the building wherein the Draft was going on, the rioters rushed in, the clerks were driven out, and the papers were torn up; a can of spirits of turpentine was poured over the floor, and very soon that building and adjoining ones were in flames. The firemen were not allowed to extinguish them, and the policemen who came were overpowered, and their Superintendent (Mr. Kennedy) was severely beaten by the mob. So began the tumult in which thousands of disorderly persons, chiefly natives of Ireland, and strangers,' were active participants, and who, for full three days and nights, defied all law. Like a plague the disorder broke out simultaneously at different points, evidently having a central head somewhere. The cry against the Draft soon ceased, when the shouts, "Down with Abolitionists! Down with Niggers! Hurrah for Jeff. Davis !" were heard. Hundreds of citizens, found in the streets or drawn out of large manufacturing establishments which were closed at the command of the mob, were compelled to fall into the ranks of the insurgents on peril of personal harm. Arson and plunder became the business of the rioters, who were infuriated by strong drink and evil passions; and maiming and murder was their recreation. The colored popula- · tion of the city were special objects of their wrath. These were hunted down, bruised and killed, as if they had been noxious wild beasts. Neither age nor sex were spared. Men, women, and children, shared a common fate at the hands of the fiends. The Asylum for Colored Orphans, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-sixth Street, one of the noble city charities, in which about two hundred children without parents found a home, was first plundered and then laid in ashes, while the poor affrighted children, some beaten and maimed, fled in terror to whatever shelter they could find.

From Monday until Thursday the inhabitants of the great city were kept in mortal terror by the mob (which the organs of the Peace Faction spoke of as "a great uprising of the people "), for they were plundering and destroying almost without resistance. The Governor of the State interposed his authority as mildly as possible. The troops at the service of General

It is asserted, on what seems to be good authority, that large numbers of secessionists and rowdies had been for several days gathering in the city, at appointed places of rendezvous, chiefly from Baltimore, which, it is said, furnished about 3,000 of them.

* Governor Seymour had been in the city on the Saturday previous, and went, that evening, to Long Branch, a watering-place on the New Jersey shore, about two hours' travel from New York. The riot began on Monday morning. He returned to the city on Tuesday at noon, when the riot was at its height, and the mob were menacing the Tribune building, near the City Hall, with destruction. The rumor spread among the mob that the Governor was at the City Hall, when large crowds flocked thither. Mr. Seymour was politely introduced to them by the Deputy Sheriff, on the steps of the Hall, when, after being loudly cheered by the rioters, he addressed them as follows: "My Friends: I have come down here from the quiet of the country to see what was the difficulty-to learn what all this trouble was concerning the Draft. Let me assure you that I am your friend. [Uproarious cheering.] You have been my friends [cries of 'Yes,' 'Yes,' 'That's so,' 'We are and will be again, and now I assure you, my fellow-citizens, that I am here to show you a test of my friendship. [Cheers.] I wish to inform you that I have sent my Adjutant-General to Washington, to confer with the authorities there, and to have this Draft suspended and stopped. [Vociferons cheers] I now ask you, as good citizens, to wait for his return, and I assure you that I will do all that I can to see that there is no inequality

90

ATTEMPT TO POSTPONE THE DRAFT.

Wool, commander of the military district, were too few at the beginning to quell the riot. Others were summoned from the military posts in the harbor, and these, with the efficient Metropolitan Police, managed, by Thursday, to hold the mob in check. At that time the volunteer companies of the city were beginning to return from Pennsylvania,' and the leaders of the riot plainly saw that further resistance to authority would be dangerous. So the city, after a sacrifice of life estimated at full four hundred persons, and a loss of property, for which it was compelled to pay, valued at $2,000,000, became quiet and orderly. The Draft was temporarily suspended until further orders from Washington, and the Governor gave assurances that it would not be renewed in the State of New York until the question of its constitutionality should be decided by the courts. His political friends urged him to use the military power of the State in the maintenance of that position.*

Governor Seymour implored the President first to suspend the Draft because of alleged inequality in its operation, and to postpone it until the courts should pass judgment upon it. The Executive agreed to suspend it.

ernor would be the most speedy and efficient means for securing the triumph of the Conspirators; also, that the theory involved in that demand, when and no wrong done any one. I wish you to take good care of all property, as good citizens, and see that every person is safe. The safe keeping of property and persons rests with you, and I charge you to disturb neither. It is your duty to maintain the good order of the city, and I know you will do it. I wish you now to separate as good citizens, and you can assemble again whenever you wish to do so. I ask you to leave all to me now, and I will see to your rights. Wait till my Adjutant returns froin Washington, and you shall be satisfied." And then the rioters cheered loudly, and went on plundering, burning, and murdering, while waiting for the return of the Adjutant, notwithstanding the Governor issued, on the same day, a proclamation against such disorderly conduct.

1 See note 3, page 52.

2 In his next annual message, Governor Seymour said the estimated number of the killed and wounded was 1,000.

3 About twenty persons (twelve of them colored) were killed by the rioters. The remainder were slain by the military and police in the performance of their duty. They made exemplary work with the insurgents, firing directly among them, with deadly effect. Over fifty buildings were destroyed by the mob, and a large number of stores and dwellings, not burned, were sacked and plundered.

"Governor Seymour," said the New York Daily News, "has pledged his word and honor (and the people of New York trust in and believe in him) that not one single drafted citizen shall be forced away from the State until the constitutionality of the conscription act shall have been decided." The New York Express said: "He is virtually pledged to call forth the entire militia force of the State of New York, to resist the kidnapping which Abolitionist howlers declare is inevitable, and we entertain no doubt that he will keep his word."

5 This little picture represents the manner of drafting. The names of persons liable to the Draft or con