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  Praise for The Devil's Own Work

  "A fascinating look at the explosive witches' brew of resentment and rage that ignited deadly Civil War draft riots and which continued to haunt the nation for another hundred years thereafter. It's all here in this thought-provoking and meticulously rendered work: race and class, protest and reform, and a myriad of colorful voices."

  —Jay Winik, author of April 1865: The Month That Saved America

  "Mr. Schecter's crisp, flashing prose captures the thrill and horror of the riots, the politicians' obsessive intrigues for power and wealth, and the numerous fascinating men and women of all classes, races, and occupations swept up in this 'most peculiar battle of the Civil War.' "

  —New York Sun

  "At last, the real war has got into the books. Barnet Schecter's The Devils Own Work is a masterpiece of historical writing, the first work to place the New York City draft riots in their full context."

  —Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley

  "Schecter adroitly shows how racial tension, class injustice, ethnic feuds and North-South entanglement not only contributed to the angry reaction in New York to President Abraham Lincoln's imposition of a Union military draft, but how the draft riots negatively affected Reconstruction . . . Schecter does a fine job of reliving the actual five days of riot terror . . . He is even better at linkage: Irish Potato Famine to Draft Riots to the debacle that was Reconstruction, indeed bound by devilish ties."

  —Charleston Post and Courier

  "Richly detailed and formidably documented . . . The bulk of this excellent book is devoted not to the riots themselves, but to the tremendous social unrest that led up to and flowed from them: specifically, the turmoil of Reconstruction. Under the long shadow of the riots fell a century of repression of black civil rights and of harsh treatment of labor protest."

  —St. Petersburg Times

  "For a powerful look inside the economic, social and political powder keg that was New York City during the Civil War, and a broader examination of conservative forces in the North that opposed the Union war effort and Lincoln's gradual call for emancipation, Schecter's book is an outstanding and compelling source."

  —Civil War Times

  "[A] vivid account of the four days of anarchy."

  —Seattle Times

  "Superb."

  —Weekly Standard

  "In The Devil's Own Work, historian Barnet Schecter offers an engaging synthesis on the riots and their causes and effects."

  —Providence Journal

  "Barnet Schecter opens a vivid, wide-angle lens on New York City's 1863 draft riots, exposing not only the harrowing experiences of participants on all sides, but also the long roots and deep consequences of this four-day spasm of violent protest. A pivotal moment in the larger Civil War . . . the riots were also a turning point in American race relations—and in attitudes toward labor, immigrants, and an evolving class society . . . An absorbing journey though this controversial passage in our history."

  —Kenneth D. Ackerman, author of Boss Tweed

  "Barnet Schecter has brought the terrible days of death, fire, and looting in Gotham to life with vivid prose and thorough research. The Devil s Own Work is a fascinating account of the most important civil disturbance in all of American history."

  —Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University, editor-in-chief, The Encyclopedia of New York City

  "Barnet Schecter unearths the political and social roots of the Civil War Draft Riots and traces their reach as they influenced the fate of Reconstruction and the struggle for American democracy. Ambitious in its arguments and generous with its detail, The Devils Own Work carefully dissects the Riots to provide new insights and challenges to those interested in the history of New York City and the Civil War."

  —Craig Steven Wilder, Professor of History, Dartmouth College

  "A gripping story, clearly and accurately centering the riots in the context of political power relationships: New York City Democratic Party leaders, with pro-Confederate sympathies, played upon class, ethnic, and religious animosities and antiblack racism to mobilize white working people in support of their party's objectives in reshaping the national agenda, first for the Civil War and later for Reconstruction . . . Highly recommended."

  —Library Journal

  "The 1863 draft riots in New York City, the bloodiest in the nation's history, emerge as a microcosm of the convoluted and contradictory politics of the Civil War era in this absorbing study. Historian Schecter opens with a gripping account of the five days of rioting. But he also probes beneath the turmoil to examine the ethnic, religious, and class conflicts that made the confrontation so explosive . . . Copiously researched and highlighted with a wealth of period commentary, his lucid narrative colorfully recreates a historical watershed and offers a rich exploration of the Civil War's unfinished business."

  —Publishers Weekly

  "When fireman Peter Masterson led a mob's attack on a federal draft office, producing the first murders of New York City's 1863 riot, he ignited social tinder that was not exclusive to New York in mid-nineteenth-century America . . . From Masterson's initial incitement to the frenzy's subsidence several days and hundreds of deaths later, [Schecter] moves seamlessly between the conflagration on the street and the frantic attempts of authorities to quell the mayhem, and explains the affair's ramifications on the Reconstruction era. An excellent encapsulation of the war's social context in the North."

  —Booklist

  "Barnet Schecter's superbly written new study grips the reader with its bubbling evocation of city life, and its dazzling account of the upheavals that roiled the city's streets that July. It is no easy matter to maintain dramatic verve in recalling an event that ebbed and flowed so indiscriminately, lacked leadership and focus, and featured few heroes and many horrendous incidents of inhumane cruelty. But Schecter tells the story brilliantly, offering a genuine page-turner that should enthrall not only Civil War aficionados, but also any reader who fancies a gripping yarn well-told."

  —North & South Magazine

  THE DEVIL'S OWN WORK

  The Civil War Draft Riots and

  the Fight to Reconstruct America

  BARNET SCHECTER

  Copyright © 2005 by Barnet Schecter

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Walker & Company, 104 Fifth Avenue, New york, New York 10011.

  Art Credits Heritage Photographs. Map by Bette Brodsky. Library of Congress. Collection of The New-York Historical Society. Harry A. Williams Photographic Collection, Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. National Archives. The Great Riots of New York, by Joel Tyler Headley (Dover Publications). Irish Green and Union Blue: The Civil War Letters of Peter Welsch, edited by Lawrence Frederick Kohl with Margaret Cosse Richard (Fordham University Press). Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Departments, Volunteer and Paid, from 1609 to 1887, by Augustine E. Costello. Map by Jeff Ward. Picture Collection, The Branch Library, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Museum of the City of New York, Gift of Miss Elizabeth T. Nicholas and Miss Virginia T. Nicholas. Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. General Research Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Author's collection. History of the Chicago Police, by John Joseph Flinn, Chicago Public Library.

  Published by Walker Publishing Company
, Inc, New York

  Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers

  All papers used by Walker & Company are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in well-managed forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

  Schecter, Barnet.

  The devil's own work : the Civil War draft riots and the fight to reconstruct America / Barnet Schecter.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  1. Draft Riot, New York, N.Y., 1863. I. Title.

  F128.44.S33 2005

  974.7'103—dc22

  2005018089

  eISBN: 978-0-802-71837-2

  Visit Walker & Company's Web site at www.walkerbooks.com

  First published in the United States by Walker & Company in 2006

  This paperback edition published 2007

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Typeset by Westchester Book Group

  Printed in the United States of America by Quebecor World Fairfield

  For Vanessa

  Well, I thought when I first heard of the riot in New York, I had some feeling for them, but soon as I found what it really was, I felt it was the devil's own work all through. I guess the strong arm will be exhibited this time up to the shoulder.

  —Walt Whitman

  We're coming, ancient Abraham, several hundred strong

  We hadn't no 300 dollars and so we come along

  We hadn't no rich parents to pony up the tin

  So we went unto the provost and there were mustered in.

  —parody of a Civil War recruiting song

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Key Dates and Events

  Prologue: "We Have Not One Devil, But Many to Contend With"

  1. "The Rebel Horde Had Invaded Pennsylvania in Force"

  2. The Battle Lines Are Drawn: Race, Class, and Religion

  3. Horace Greeley and the Birth of the Republican Party

  4. Fernando Wood, the "Southern" Mayor of New York

  5. "Slavery Must Die That the Nation Might Live"

  6. Emancipation and Its Enemies

  7. "A Highwayman's Call on Every American Citizen for '$300 or Your Life'"

  8. "Down with the Rich Men!": The New York City Draft Riots Begin

  9. "Chased, Stoned, and Beaten": "A Crusade Against Neg

  10. Monday Night: "The Fiery Nucleus of the Entire Riot"

  11. "Government in the Hands of the White Race Alone"

  12. "The Police Cannot Much Longer Sustain the Contest"

  13. Doom or Deliverance: Wednesday, July 15—Day Three

  14. "Hellish Passions Culminating in Riots, Arson, and Murder"

  15. The Final Days: Thursday and Friday

  16. A Plot to "Make the Northern States a Battle-Field"

  17. Aftermath: Sitting on Two Volcanoes

  18. "Our Bleeding, Bankrupt, Almost Dying Country"

  19. "Villainous Threats of Laying Northern Cities in Ashes"

  20. War's End: Slavery Is Dead, the "Demon of Caste" Lives On

  21. "Condemnation and Reversal of Negro Suffrage"

  22. Strange Bedfellows: Greeley and the Liberal Republicans

  23. A Final Devil's Bargain: The End of Reconstruction

  Appendix. A Walking Tour of Civil War New York

  Notes

  Bibliography

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First, I would like to thank George Gibson, the president and publisher at Walker & Company, who commissioned this book after learning about the destruction of the Colored Orphan Asylum during the draft riots of 1863. His passion for history and his fresh sense of outrage—about the riots themselves and their exclusion from a great many history courses— inspired me from the start. Having worked together on The Battle for New York, which ends with George Washington protesting the British emancipation of American slaves during the evacuation of the city, we agreed that the explosive resurfacing of the unresolved slavery issue in the Civil War would make a fine sequel. When I expanded The Devil's Own Work to describe the draft riots as a defining event of the Reconstruction era, George's patience, integrity, and editorial vision sustained me in the long labor of discovering and articulating the full scope of the subject. As ever, I am grateful to Ramsey Walker for introducing me to George and making both books possible.

  Edward O'Donnell, William Parry, and Andrew Page read the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions. Michael Shafer's advice and support during the writing of my first book carried me through the second as well. The same is true of Sloan Walker, Richard Mooney, Michael Miscione, Kate Hartnick, Polly Passonneau, William Petrick, Peter Brightbill, Peter Coston, and Martha Cooley. I would also like to thank my agent, Sabine Hrechdakian, at the Susan Golomb Literary Agency.

  As an independent scholar, I am especially grateful to Kenneth Jackson, Lisa Keller, Owen Gutfreund, and Nancy Haekyung Kwak of Columbia University's Seminar on the City, which provides a stimulating forum for urban historians. Many individuals and institutions were helpful with my research. Kenneth Cobb, the director of New York's Municipal Archives made my work with the court records and claims from the draft riots both efficient and enjoyable. Howard Dodson, the director of the Schomburg Center, thoughtfully told me about the Williamson Collection, which includes an abundance of material on the African American experience during the draft riots. Tom Hoffay encouraged me to visit the American Irish Historical Society, where Scott Kelly guided me to valuable material in the collections and introduced me to Charles Laverty, who generously shared his knowledge of Irish American history. My thanks also go to Ann Jacobs of the Women's Prison Association (and to Elena Sigman for introducing us); Jon A. Peterson of Queens College, CUNY; Russell Flinchum, the archivist at the Century Club; and Peter Scarpa of the Bay Ridge Historical Society.

  I received expert assistance from the staffs of the Library of Congress, the Museum of the City of New York, the New-York Historical Society, the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Weeksville Society, and the New York Society Library. At the New York Public Library, the librarians in the Milstein Division at the Humanities Library (Ruth Carr, James Falconi, Maira Liriano, Asa Rubenstein, Charles Scala, and Rob Scott) were especially helpful, as was the staff of the Schomburg Center.

  My thanks also go to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Oliver Tilden Camp, particularly Donald Steinmaker, who gave me a tour of the veterans' grave sites in the Queens cemeteries. Linda Johns exhaustively and enthusiastically researched the illustrations for the book. Michele Amundsen and Krystyna Skalski at Walker & Company, along with Greg Villepique and Amy King at Bloomsbury, also deserve my thanks.

  At Yale, Jaroslav Pelikan encouraged me to pursue a life of historical scholarship, and I had the privilege to study with Edmund Morgan and David Brion Davis. A Beinecke Memorial Scholarship for graduate study also supported my last year at Yale. I offer thanks for the support and encouragement of my parents, Jerrold and Leona Schecter, whose explorations of the past and profound understanding of the present are my constant inspiration.

  Last, and most of all, I thank my wife, Vanessa Adler Schecter, for her advice and support and for all the joy, laughter, and love we share.

  KEY DATES AND EVENTS

  1827 Surge in Irish immigration to America; slavery abolished in New York State by gradual emancipation, with some individuals to remain in bondage until 1848

  1828 Competition for jobs leads to recurring race riots in Philadelphia

  1829 Race riot in Cincinnati; most of black population flees to Canada

  1834 Riots in New York City target growing abolition movement

  1837 Economic panic followed by six years of depression

  1845 Beginning of Irish Potato Famine (1845-1852) and massive emigration

  1846 Mexican War; antislavery Wilmot Proviso reveals split between norther
n and southern states in U.S. Congress

  1848 Famine across northern Europe; rebellions against monarchies

  1849 Anti-British, anti-elite riot at Astor Place in New York City

  1854 Bloodshed over expansion of slavery into Kansas; Republican party formed; Democrat, Fernando Wood, elected mayor of New York

  1857 Republican-backed "Metropolitans" become police force in New York City

  1860 Republican president Abraham Lincoln elected; secession begins

  1861 Confederacy formed in February; April: the Civil War begins; July: Union defeat at the Battle of Bull Run

  1862 April: Battle of Shiloh augurs total war; George B. McClellan begins Peninsular Campaign

  June 25-July 1: McClellan driven away from Richmond in Seven Days' Battles

  July 17: Militia Draft passed by U.S. Congress (a step toward direct draft)

  September 17: Union victory at the Battle of Antietam

  September 22: Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

  December 13: Union defeat at the Battle of Fred ericksburg

  1863 January 1: Emancipation Proclamation declares slaves in Confederacy "forever free"

  March 2: First direct federal draft of troops for national army in U.S. history; $300 exemption (commutation clause)

  March 6: Race riot in Detroit after announcement of draft law

  May: Union defeat at Chancellorsville; draft enrollment begins

  June: Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invades Pennsylvania