The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873Headley, Joel Tyler
History
The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873
Headley, Joel Tyler
Draft Riot, New York, N.Y., 1863; New York (N.Y.) -- History; Riots -- New York (State) -- New York
windows. Terror now took the place of curiosity; heads disappeared, and
the quick, fierce slamming of blinds was heard above the uproar blocks
away. The procession kept on till it reached Twenty-fourth Street,
when a halt was ordered. The next moment a shot was fired from the
second-story windows of a house on the north-east corner. It struck the
Eighty-fourth Regiment, and in an instant a line of muskets was pointed
at the spot, as though the order to fire was expected. One gun went off,
when, without orders, a sudden, unexpected volley rolled down the line
of the Sixth, Ninth, and Eighty-fourth Regiments. The officers were
wholly taken by surprise at this unprecedented conduct; but, recovering
themselves, rushed among the ranks and shouted out their orders to cease
firing. But the work was done; and as the smoke slowly lifted in the hot
atmosphere, a scene of indescribable confusion presented itself. Men,
women, and children, screaming in wild terror, were fleeing in every
direction; the strong trampling down the weak, while eleven corpses lay
stretched on the sidewalk, some piled across each other. A pause of a
few minutes now followed, while the troops reloaded their guns. A new
attack was momentarily expected, and no one moved from the ranks to
succor the wounded or lift up the dead. Here a dead woman lay across a
dead man; there a man streaming with blood was creeping painfully up a
doorstep, while crouching, bleeding forms appeared in every direction.
Women from the windows looked down on the ghastly spectacle,
gesticulating wildly. The police now cleared the avenue and side
streets, when, the dead and wounded were attended to, and the order
to move on was given. General Varian, indignant at the conduct of the
Eighty-fourth in firing first without orders, sent it to the rear, and
replaced it on the flank of the Orangemen with a portion of the
Ninth. The procession, as it now resumed its march and moved through
Twenty-fourth Street, was a sad and mournful one. The windows were
filled with spectators, and crowds lined the sidewalks, but all were
silent and serious. Not till it reached Fifth Avenue Hotel were
there any greetings of welcome. Here some three thousand people were
assembled, who rent the air with cheers. No more attacks were made, and
it reached Cooper Institute and disbanded without any further incident.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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