Federal Conscription and the New York Draft Riots of 1863

were dispatched by General Meade after Gettysburg, arrived to combine efforts with city police to restore order. Tuesday consisted of a see-saw battle between the mob and troops with just as much damage done as the day before. By Wednesday the mob still controlled scattered portions of the city. Finally, as members of the 7th New York Infantry arrived early Thursday morning to increase the troop presence to nearly 4,000, the riot subsided.

The four days of violence resulted in the death of 119 people and the injury of 306 more. The damage to property was roughly $1.5 million. "As calm was restored, New York resembled an occupied city. When the draft resumed a month later, 43 regiments were stationed in the vicinity. The drawing was completed without further disturbance" (Jackson, 1985, p. 110).

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Sources

Davis, K.C. (1996). Don't know much about the Civil War. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.

Jackson, D.D. (1985). Twenty million Yankees: The Northern home front. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books.

McPherson, J.M. (1992). Ordeal by fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction (2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

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