Burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum on the first day of the Draft Riots.
The Mob in New-York
First page of the New York Times, Tuesday July 14, 1863.
A depiction by a British reporter of the fire set at the Provost Marshal’s Office. The Ninth District Headquarters was located on 3rd Avenue and 47th Street. From The Illustrated London News, August 8, 1863.
The burning of the Provost Marshal’s Office. Two hundred people had initially gathered to watch the draft selection, but the crowd swelled as angry workers streamed up the east and west sides of Manhattan, converging on this spot. Sixty police were no match for the crowd, including members of the Black Joke engine company, who stoned the edifice, rushed in and destroyed the draft wheel and contents of the office, and set fire to the building. From The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873, J.T. Headley.
Ruins of the Provost Marshal’s office. With the fire set, nearby houses were looted, and the growing mob targeted any residences where known Republicans lived. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
Rioters marching down Second Avenue. Policemen who tried to stop the crowds were beaten senseless, and anyone suspected of harboring police was also a target. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
Burning of the Second Avenue Armory on 21st Street. Owned by a son-in-law of Mayor George Opdyke, it held a thousand rifles, which were distributed throughout the crowd before it was set. From The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873, J.T. Headley.
Burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum. As the mob streamed across the city looting and destroying property, groups on the west side began attacking businesses and homes owned by blacks. Any black folks that they could capture were in grave danger of being beaten, shot, or lynched. A crowd marched to the Colored Orphan Asylum on 5th Avenue and 43rd Street and torched the building. Miraculously, the 237 children were able to escape, led out the back door and helped by sympathetic firemen, who took them to the 20th Precinct house for safety. They were later moved to Blackwell’s Island, along with other blacks who had fled Manhattan. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
Another view of the destruction of the Colored Orphan Asylum. Rioters dragged out as many items as they could into the street and smashed them. The destruction of the building alone cost $35,000. From Illustrated London News, August 15 1863.
As night fell, the mob downtown turned their attention to the New York Times and the New York Tribune. Both were located in Printing House Square along Park Row, across from City Hall, which was heavily defended by soldiers, although Mayor Opdyke had fled to the easily defended St. Nicholas Hotel to coordinate the reaction to the riots. From The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873, J.T. Headley.
The Times, run by Henry Jarvis Raymond, was defended by several Gatling guns, so the rioters attacked Horace Greeley’s Tribune instead. Several staffers were armed and able to stop widespread destruction, and the timely arrival of a contingent of policemen distracted the rioters, who failed to set the building on fire. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
The mob lynching William Jones on Clarkson Street. A rioter had been chasing several other blacks when one man shot back and wounded him. Furious, several men seized cartman William Jones, who was buying a loaf of bread and on his way home and had nothing to do with the chase. The frenzied mob committed terrible atrocities against Jones and many other blacks across the city. From The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873, J.T. Headley.
Maria Prince’s boarding house on Sullivan Street being attacked. Sullivan Street was a particular target, since a lot of blacks lived in the area. Those who had not yet fled were dragged from their houses and beaten in the streets. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
The Riot Continued
Front page of The New York Daily Tribune, Wednesday July 15, 1863.
A battery with the 11th New York Volunteers, led by Colonel Henry O’Brien, holding the corner of 2nd Avenue and 28th Street in an attempt to scatter the rioters. The howitzer was shot over the heads of the rioters, but unfortunately hit two people, killing a small girl. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 1 1863, Vol 16 Iss 409.
The murder of Colonel O’Brien. O’Brien lived on Second Avenue and tried to salvage what he could from his house, which the rioters had pillaged. Upon being recognized, he was set upon, beaten, tortured, and dragged down the street before a priest found him and took him to Bellevue, where he died. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
Looting a drugstore on Second Avenue after Col. O’Brien was murdered. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
The mob also sacked the Brooks Brothers store on Catharine Street and stole an estimated $50,000 worth of goods. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 1 1863, Vol 16 Iss 409.
Another view of rioters looting the Brooks Brothers store. The Brooks had a contract to provide uniforms to the Army, although it was alleged that the uniforms they supplied were shoddy. The connection as a contractor may have prompted the rioters to target this as one of the hated Republican businesses. Policemen were able to save the building from being burned. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
Burning of the Weehawken Ferry House at the foot of 42nd Street and the Hudson River. A nearby saloon owner, who also happened to be a Republican, denied access to his liquor, and the mob set the building alight, with the fire spreading to the ferry house. The destruction of the property cost $6,000. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
Rioters emptying brownstone residences before setting them on fire. In addition to targeting figures like Mayor Opdyke and Horace Greeley, the rioters also went after the homes of wealthy individuals, called “$300 men,” who had the resources to hire a substitute to fight in the war. From The New York Illustrated News, July 25, 1863.
The Popular Tumult
Front page of The New York Herald, Thursday July 16, 1863.
Firing on rioters at the Union Steam Works. A stockpile of arms had been taken to the factory before the Second Avenue Armory was set ablaze. The rioters set up a series of barricades below 23rd Street, stretching nearly a mile in length. The Eighteenth Ward police station, on the far left, was also set on fire. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
A man lynched on 32nd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
Troops arriving to drive the rioters from Eighth Avenue. From Every Saturday: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, July 29, 1871, Vol 3, No 83.
The military firing on rioters who were hurling projectiles at them. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, August 1 1863, Vol 16 Iss 409.
More rioters hurling bricks and stones at the military, who had come to restore order to the city. From Every Saturday: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, July 29, 1871, Vol 3, No 83.
Burning of the grain elevator at the Atlantic Dock in Brooklyn. Although a majority of the riots occurred on the east and west sides of Manhattan below Central Park, additional riots broke out in Brooklyn, Mott Haven and West Farms, Jamaica, and near St. George on Staten Island. From Our Police Protectors by Augustine Costello.
Fourth Day of Mob Rule
Front page of The Sun, Friday July 17, 1863
A military squadron clashing with rioters on Second Avenue. The fighting was fierce, and several soldiers and even more rioters died as the soldiers attempted to clear the tenements. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
The dead Sergeant on 22nd Street. In the melee a soldier was killed, his body left in the street for several hours. Anyone who tried to recover it was in danger of being shot. From Harper’s Weekly, August 1 1863, Vol 12, No 344.
A wounded soldier being treated in a local drug store. Such stores, if they had not been looted, were used as makeshift hospitals. From Every Saturday: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, July 29, 1871, Vol 3, No 83.