Published: July 22, 1917

Copyright The New York Times

Conscription Act Caused Bloody Riots Here
-Scores Killed, Hundreds Wounded and
Pr9perty Worth/$1,000,000 Destroyed.
F
IFTY-FOUR ypars ago, on March
3, 1863, President Lincoln signed
the act previously Dassed by
Congress authorizing the draft-
ing ot men for the army. It was the
first time In the history of the t.:nited
States that the Go,crnment had felt It
necessary to Invoke the principle of
compulsory military in its de-
tense. In Ke" York City the draft
went into op<"ratlon on July 11, and it
has been rendered memorable from the
three days' rioting- which broke out
Monday July 13, resulting, lJP-
tore the mob violence was quelled. in
the desttuction of more than
worth of property, the Idling of scores,
and wounding of s,;veral hundred per-
. sons.
In the hlstorv of the dty the draft
rlots of 1863 stand om the worst
exhibition of that the an-
nals of the city can present. It tool'
the citizens by surprise, fo1 despite the
opposition to the law oy the so-called
peace faction, aided by some of the
rougher type of politicians. the first
day's drafting on Saturday, July
had been very peaceful, and the offl-
<e!als In charge of the draft went to bed
that night belle\ing, as was express ed
in the Sunday papers, that the Rubicon
had been passed.
'J'he Act of l\larch :l, 186:!, was known
officially as the Enrollment act, but it
was popularly termect the Conscription
11.0t. With the exception of a mild
many men liable to service as might l ing the law In this parilcular and could
from time to time be found necessary, ' not fall to allay, al least to some ex-
coupled with the condition that, In as- tent,. the excitement whiCh they hlj}e
signing quotas, the number of volun- been able to create upon the subject.
teas and mllltia and their periods of THEJ NDW YORK TIMES, on Sunday
sel'\'ice. preYiously furnished, should be morning, July 12, published the follow-
rlutv credited. The average quota called illl:' Interesting account of the first
for' In the J.'itla druft In New York was day's drait on July 11, at Provost Mar-
about one-fifth of the enrollment. shal Jenkins's office, Third Avenue and
The method of drafting was by placing Forty-sixth Street:
n ... names, tightly rolled on small pieces "In consequence of the extended
of paper. in a large wheel which was re- notice given by the press of the pro-
\"ohed by a blindfolded man, and on cedure of the draft in the Ninth Dls-
:,ch r uvolullon of the wheel, he drew a trlct, a large crowc1, numbering at
hallot from a small sliding door in the least a thousand people, gathered
wheel. So far as is !mown, only one of about the doors of the Provost 1\lar-
tncse drafting wheels is in existence. shal's office, waiting for the dreaded
It Is the one used by Provost Marshal moment when the woteel of fate should
Fredt:rick C. \\' agner of the . Seventh turn.
District, including the Eleventh and "Punctually at 0 o'clock the doors
Sev<>nteenth \Varrls . H!s office was at were opened, and the crowd flocked In,
t:a Third Avenue, corner of Eleventh filling the little space In front of the
Street. rall!ng and causing the mercury to run
up with the rapidity of a first-class
lamplighter. There were 1\P men of
mark there nor citizens ot note; all
were men ot mlddl" age and of the
mlddlo classes, whose Interest in the
scene betore them was evidently of the
most painful lntettBity, At first the
la.ugh and jest passed freely from lip
to lip, but as the earnest preparations
for the work or the da.y drew near com-
pletlonJ a. silence absolute and evident
relgnea through the hall.
Oid Draft """heel ID lllnseum,
l\Ir. '\\'agner died about a year and a
!Jalf ago, being the last survivor of the
Xew Yorl< City Pro\'ost Marshals. A
few years before his death he presented
wheel to the New York Historical
Society, and It has recently been placed
C>n public exhibition in the New York
museum room of the building, Central
Park \Vest, between Seventy-sixth and
SeYenty-seventh Streets.
\\'lth the draft wheel he gave a copy
of his original report made to Provost
JamEs B. Fry at "'ashlngton.
It has never been printed, and Mr.
' ;
...
" Behind the railing upon a table
stood the revolving wheel and the
sealed boxes of ballots, while desks for
the Marshals and other officers stood
by the side or the tables which the
thoughtful courtesy ... t Captain Jenkins
had prepared for the accommodation ot
the reporters.
'
Jonu the Flntt Mall DrawD. I
" The first action was the counting !
of the ballots, which proved the numer- '
leal accuracy of the boxed contents. The
ballots were then placed In the wheel.
Captain Jenkins then read the orders,
after which he directed Gebrge W.
Southwick of the Twelfth Ward to
turn the wheel. This done, he drew.
forth a ballot on which was written
the name of William Jones of Forty-
Eixth Street. William wrum't there, but
his were, and many were the
jokes passed at the expense of the
time-!wnored name and the somewhat
extended family connection which re-
joices therein. Several other names
were drawn by Captain Jenkins, when
he was relieved by Charles H. Carpen-
ter, who, l1a.vlng submitted to the blind
folding embraces of the Captain's hand-
kerchief, drew rapidly torth the ballots,
the namre of which were duly an-
nounced to the crowd by W . .H. Smith.
The feeling of the crowd was, on the
whole, singularly happy. Occasionally
some Ill-natured fellow would blurt out
his profane expression of opinion con-
cerning the Injustice of the af!alr and
the hardships which would be entalled
upon the conscripts! others would make
dismal puns upon nvltlng names, and
others would stare with vacant stu-
pidity as name alter name was given
out and person after person In his ac-
quaintance was put down upon the lijlts
of the soldiery."
Draft Wheel Used July 13, 1863 in the Seventh Congressional District,
New York Cit.v, Comprising Eleventh and Seventeenth Wards.
The total drawings of the day, which
concluded at 4 o'clock, were a trifle
more thti.n, . 1,200 names, and the entire
list; with the e.ddresaes ot the dmfted
men, was publl6hed In THill NEW YonK
TMB, taking two columns and a. half.
The rioting began Monday morning,
July 13, and continued for three days.
The first place attacked was the office
at Third Avenue and Forty-slxtll Street,
(Ttl! EO Photo Ser\lce. l
which was sacked and burned, and In
form of draft institutl'd in two or three Wao;ner gave It to the society because the Pollee Superintendent John A.
States In 18G:!, all of the troops for the he felt that It was of peculiar value as Kennedy was so badly beaten that he
Union army had hitherto been r,u,ed by throwing light upon the methods of never fully recovered from his injuries.
the volunteer Success ful as
1
drafting men for the army in 1863 and .. A
1
that had been In the early yea1s of the the troubles which the step lllob Burns Orpaan 11"1 nm.
war, the fact 'vas made clear by the In the afternoon of _July 13 the mob
middle of ltiG::! that the volunt eer sys- : 'I he draft wheel is a,bout two feet C
1
d h _
1
tern had fallen do>in. This was recog- ; wide, on one side of which .Is attached burned the o ore Orp an dljy um on
ntzed by the Governors of the Joyal tho hancUc. At the top 1s a smaH the west side of Fltth .Avenue, be-
States. and on July President slidin;:;- door which can be opened for tween Forty-third and Forty-fourth
Lincoln, In response to their appeal lnscl'ting aml llrawlng out . the numbers. Streets, the 500 Inmates barely escap-
urg!ng n call for additional State Beeral hundred ballots With the names
troops, Issued a call for 300,000 Yoltm- of the mt:!h to be dra,fted 1emaln in the ing with their lives, while many o! the
teers. This was not enough, and on wheel-the drattlng hst when. the wheel employes were seriously injured.
:Aug. 4 another call was made for was las t used. . r , Th Trib n ttl
1
p k R w as
800 000 nine months', militia. The first draft In ?.Ir. '' agner a office e u e o ce, n ar o , w
' , took place on .Tuly H, 18tla. attacked In the evenlns- and badly dam-
Enrollment a Dlfflcult Tusk. , " The da y a riot had taken aged before the pollee scattered the mob.
These calls failed to bring out the ,

Many other houses ' were pillaged and

required number of men, and to meet papers and records of th13 office to be burned, and several negroes were shot
the urgent demands of tho army the to. Governors Island, which was down, and in a. few cases hanged to
Enrollment act was passed which '
1
"
0
'' the mor ning. On the same lamp pos. Governor Seymour hastened
'. night the noters entered the office,
called Into cenIc!J all atle-bodted men ' broke open the doors and desks, and to the city, and his speech to the rioters
between the ages of 20 and 4;;, These , oif all the stationer.f and euch a.t the City Ha.!I In which he called the
d't\"l'ded Into two classt>s the first artwlce .as c-oulrl l.Jc carrie away, In rt.oters his friends was severely criticised.
" . ' Yalue aoout swo. The papers were
from which the greater !Jroportton of l'<'tllrnerl aft'r the riot." A hurry call was sent for the New
the<'draft was made, being between In his report Mr. '\Vagner makes the rnllltlo. In Pennsylvania., and sev
and 31:i years of age while those from ' surprising that of all the era! re-'ments arrived In the on the
'. ., men drafted In Ius dJstrlct not a single "'
85 to 45 were listed m Class - I one went to the front. All found sub- evening ot Wednesday, July 1 . Their
The method of enrollment and draft- I stitut's. Against this. thC> district fur- presence stopped the rioting, but not be-
l 1 1 1 1')- y Iumeer enll t t f fore many severe confllct.s with the mob.
1""' was not as scientlfi=
1
h arranged , ms lN ' J
0 9
men
9
or On Friday, July 17, order restored .
..., . - : the Union Army. -
as In the present crls1s. ConBiderable , _ The property damage WIU! placed at over
cllfflculty was experienced In many sec-j "here The Tim .. ,.. . Stood Oil Exemp- $1,000,000, and It was a long time be-
tlons Of the Cl
.ty. in' 'gettln"' an accurate ., fore the clty' a.djusted the claims. How
many persons were killed or Injured ,was
enNllment of the within the mill- , Regarding the serious obectlons that never accurately. known, a. report at the
t&ry age. -The law compl'llcd the of- :had been made to that provision of the time giving the casualties at about 1,000,
fleers to
'th. e naineii, but, ns one net which permitted a drafted man to but It . wa.s probably considerably less.
w. Not until August was the draftln&" re-
of the stated. there pay for exemption and which .the sumed.
provision compelling a man to gt\'e h1s most violent opponents of the act eon- The statistics of the draft In New
name except on the ground of re.;ist-
1
d t dl
1 1
tl York City showed that a total ot 77,1l62
1ru; the draft, for which the penalty rue as an unJus scr m na on in men were drawn. Of this number 53,109
was P.rrest and Imprisonment. The favor of the rich, THE NDw YoRK wero exempted for physical disability or
Provost ::llarshal of enry district in 'J'D1ES, a few days after the riots, said other reasons. Only of the men
the country was virtnnllr responsible tlmt the Go\ernment ought to make the orig!nallJ' drafted qualified !or the anny.
for a correct emollment of his district. Those who were dra1ted and paid the
Perhaps the clearest report of the point clear that the *
300
paid :tor ex- $ROO exemption fee numbered 14,078, and
:method of taking the enrollment and its emption did not mean that another per- 6,619 others provided their own substl-
dlfflculties was made by :Marshal J ocl must be dmftcd to take the place tutes, making a. total of 13,249 men ob-
B. Erhardt to Colonel Fry, In which he talned by the draft.
Et&ted that hi:1 were completed on of tlle exempted man. From the report made to Provost
June 20, showing a total of 54.31:2 men " "re see no reason," said THPJ TIMES Marshal General Fry on Oct. 17, 18)3,
tn the !lrst class and :.!3.40:\ of the sec- editorially, " why the war Department It was shown that the total enrollment
ond class, or a total of Ti, 777. 1 ld t 1 1 d 1 In the Union States was 8,113,303, and
"This was made," he said, "by first
8 1011
no Issue a c rcu ar lrect from this number a total of 198,129 men
making an alphabetical list of eaell the $300 paid for exemption to be In were obtained for the army by means
ward; the names were carefully revised every case used, as the explicit Jan- of the drnft, or which, however, 132,680
and the residence of every person with- of the law requires, ' for the were substitutes. The exemption or
ln the ages named in the act, residing procuration of a substitute.' This would commutation money p11.ld to the Govern-
in the district marked bv the ward in ut once deprive the enemies of the Gov- ment by dra1ted men for substllru.tes
which he reFidcd. The 'lists . were re- (lnment of all pretext for misrepresent- aggre&"ated $10,518,000.
VIsed for tl1e purpose of llECertaining ______ _
duplicates. 'Th!" \';as the work of many
days and night s ,. it resulted In a
correct !lat. \\'hen n doubt arose as to
whether the under search was a
duplicate, nn enrolling officer was sent
to the residence of such a party to a s -
certain whether such a name was a
duplicate or not.
ObJections . by Go'\'ernor Seymour.
"Upon the completion of that copy
another copy was made, and all errors
Btrlcken from it nnd transfers made .
.After a comJ>lete reiRion or that copy,
the final copy was made for the de-
partment, and from that the cards
pared for the draft und carefullr com-
pared with the Jist and wrified by
actual count."
The number of men to be drafted
from the enrollment li s ts varied. consid-
erably, based upon the voting popula-
tion and taking Into consideration . pre-
vious enlistments. One of . the objec-
tions which Governor Horatio Seymour.
who was always a conscientious ob-
jector t<l the constitutionality of the
act, made to the quotas demanded
that New York City and Brooklyn did
not get tun credit for past enlist-
ments. and that the enrollments were
excessive as compared with other parts
of the state, as he claimed the draft
would throw on the eastern part of the
State. cbmprising less than one-third
of the Congressional districts, more
than one-half the bl'ndens of conscrlp-
These \Vera aftel'\vard
15Usta.lned tlie -"-ar Department. nnrl
New York was c1edited aeconliugly with
an additional allowance of l:l,lW 1\lCII.
The Jaw it. the duty of the
;rresldeM to draft mto the _army as