USA > New York > New York City > History of New York City : embracing an outline sketch of events from 1609 to 1830, and a full account of its development from 1830 to 1884 Volume II > Part 35
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In February, 1862, in compliance with the recommendation of Mayor Opdyke, one hundred guns were fired from the Battery and Madison Square, and the national flag was displayed everywhere as tokens of the public joy because of the victory of Burnside at Roanoke Island and triumphs of the national arms elsewhere. A similar demonstration was made in the city after the victory at Shiloh. in April. Meanwhile a great mass meeting of citizens had been held at the Cooper Union. and provision was made for the relief of loval refugees from Florida. In May a home for sick and wounded soldiers, capable of accommodat- ing four hundred or five hundred men, was opened by an association of ladies, headed by Mrs. Dr. Valentine Mott. Other institutions for a similar purpose were opened in the city, and in June the common council appropriated $500,000 for the relief of the families of volunteer soldiers. #
* One of the noted benevolent institutions in the city founded during the war by patriotic citizens-men and women-is the UNION HOME AND SCHOOL. It was organized in May, 1861, when it was clearly perceived by sagacious persons that a war of much magnitude was began. A building that might accommodate about eighty children was hired, and the institution was put into operation. In April, 1862, it was incorporated.
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G. R. Gollan
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On the failure of Mcclellan's campaign against Rielnnond the t Member of Commerce met (July 7, 1862) and appointed a committee to meet committees from the Union Defence Committee and other seal organizations for the purpose of devising measures for sustaining the National Government. On the recommendation of the mayor at that time, the corporation pledged the people of the metropolis to the support of the goverment in its struggle with deadly foes, and late in August a great war-meeting was held in the City Hall Park, which was densely packed with citizens. Measures were adopted for the. promotion of volunteering. A bounty of $50 was offered to each volunteer.
During 1862 the patriotic contributions in New York to the support of the government were magnificent. Besides the volunteers, seven militia regiments, with an aggregate membership of 5400 men, had served for three months each and been honorably discharged. It was estimated that during little more than twenty months of the war, to the close of 1862, the citizens of New York had contributed to the sup- port of the government, in taxes, gifts, and loans to the nation, fully $300,000,000 and over 80,000 volunteers.
Several months earlier than the appointment of the special mission to England and France, President Lincoln appointed General James Watson Webb, of New York City, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to represent the United States in the Empire of Brazil. General Webb asked the President for instructions, when Mr. Lincoln said : " You, who for more than a third of a century have been the editor of one of the leading presses of the country, and who from necessity are familiar with European politics and international affairs generally, ask me, an Illinois lawyer, to give you instructions for your guidance in Brazil, under the trying circumstances by which you are sure to be surrounded ! I have none to give you. On reflection, ves. I'll give instructions. Go to your post, and do your duty."
This was a most fortunate appointment at that critical juncture in our national affairs. General Webb went to Brazil by way of Europe. At the request of President Lincoln, he went to France and had an
It was designed for the education and maintenance of the children of the volunteer soldiers and sailors of the city who might be left unprovided for.
F This Home now ocenpies a spacious building on One Hundred and Fifty-first Street and Eleventh Avenue. From the beginning it has received the fostering care of the best citizens of New York. It is in the charge of a board of managers, composed entirely of Indies, assisted by an advisory board of gentlemen. In 1882-83 Mrs. Charles P. Daly was presi lent. and Mrs. Hurlow M. Hoyt secretary. A fair hell for its benefit at one time realized about $100,000.
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interview with the Emperor Napoleon III., whom General Webb had known personally in New York when the former was in exile, and who had vindicated the character of the young man from slanderous charges made against him. The Emperor had ever regarded Mr. Webb as his friend, and frequently corresponded with him. Napoleon gladly admitted him to an interview at Fontainebleau, when General Webb explained to him the causes of the rebellion and asserted the determina- tion of the government and people of the United States to put it down. This explanation was satisfactory to the Emperor, and so was made plain the way to the success of the mission of Archbishop Hughes at the close of that year. From Paris General Webb went to London and had an interview with Lord John Russell, with whom he was acquainted, and so smoothed the way for the mission of Mr. Weed at the close of the year.
General Webb reached his post of duty, at Rio Janeiro, on the 4th of October, 1861. The treacherous United States minister, Meade. of Virginia, had deserted his post to join the rebels at home, and the more treacherous consul, Scott (also a Virginian), had sent to the Con- federate Government a list and description of American vessels in that port and about to sail. Seven eighths of the commanders of American vessels there were Southerners, and openly displayed tokens of their sympathy with the rebellion. The loyal consul who had succeeded Scott was powerless to prevent it, for the government and people and the white foreign population, especially the English, were in favor of the insurgents. The English minister at the Brazilian court encour- aged and led this hostility to the American Government.
Four days after his arrival General Webb changed the aspect of affairs in the harbor of the Brazilian capital. On the Sth he ordered the consul to take a sufficient police force, visit every American ship in port, seize every Secession flag or other tokens of rebellion, dispos- sess every disloyal captain, and send the ships home in charge of the mates ; and further, to grant no clearances in future to any American vessel without first compelling the captain to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. The frightened shipmasters assembled at the American consulate and abused the consul with their tongues.
" I am only a subordinate," said the consul. "Why do you not go to the minister's hotel and remonstrate ?"
" Oh ! he be d-d," said one of them. "I know him, and you might as well ask a porpoise to give you a tow as to attempt to change the old cuss !"
Such was the beginning of the energetic and efficient diplomatic
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rurvor of General Webb at the court of Brazil. On every occasion he ustained the honor and dignity of our country in his own person during his administration of American diplomacy at that court for whit years. He rebuked and humbled British arrogance, compelled Brazil to be just toward his country, and defended with promptness and swift decision and action the honor of the American flag and the rights of American citizens within his jurisdiction."
It was during General Webb's mission in Brazil that, by reason of his personal influence with the Emperor Napoleon III., the withdrawal of the French troops was effected. + After arduous, important, and very efficient services at the court of Brazil for more than nine years, General Webb relinquished the mission and returned to New York.+
* On one occasion Mr. Washburn, American minister to Paraguay, on returning from a visit to his home, was prohibited for nearly a year from passing a Brazilian blockading mulron to his post of duty, by the commander of the ships. General Webb was absent on a furlough. On his return he gave the Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs just four Lonrs to decide whether he would send him an order for Mr. Washburn to pass the Hoekading line or his passports. The order, and not the passports, came within the prescribed time. When at length the lives of Mr. Washburn and his family were in peril in Paraguay, a gunboat (the Wasp) was detached from the American squadron on the Brazilian station to bring them away. She was not allowed to pass the Brazilian Workading squadron General Webb demanded a free passage for her. He gave the government five days to consider whether an order to that effect should be given, or to send him his passports. The order was given.
(.General Webb had written to the Emperor from Brazil, warning him against placing any reliance for support on the priestly party in Mexico, and assuring him that the government of the United States and the people would insist upon the withdrawal of the French troops from the soil of their neighboring republic. The Emperor was satisfied of the truth of what his old friend wrote him, and with great frankness explained by letter how he had been drawn into his Mexican affair, at the same time expressing his intention to withdraw the troops, provided he was not mentre ; for any attempt of the kind would unpromise him with his people. While on his way home, in the fall of 1865, General Webb wrote to the Emperor from Lisbon, that he should sail for New York from Liver- pool in a few days, and asked what he could do in regard to the Mexican question. At Sonthampton he received a telegram from the Emperor urging him to visit Paris. He dil so, and on the morning of November 9th he breakfasted with Napoleon. After a long conference it was agreed between them (subject to the approval of the President) that the troops should be withdrawn from Mexico in twelve, eighteen, and twenty-four months. It was stipulated also, that the matter should be kept a secret until the Emperor should announce it in the spring of 1866. General Webb to write to Napoleon if the President should approve. On his arrival in New York, on December 5th, the general Listened to Washington the same night. The President approved the arrangement : General Webb wrote to the Emperor accordingly, and in due time the troops were removed. Such in brief is the history of that very important movement, effected by the miterposition of General Webb, without the knowledge or suspicion of the ministry of . Ther the United States of France before the arrangement was accomplished
: James Watson Webb is the son of General Samuel Webb, a distinguished officer of the
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
The year 1863 was an eventful one in the history of the Republic and of the city of New York. At its beginning the President, by his proclamation of emancipation, smote the great rebellion a stunning
Revolution and a descendant of Richard Webb, one of the sixty-six original settlers of Hartford, Conu., in 1635. General Webb settled in New York City at the close of the war for independence, and married the daughter of Judge Hogeboom, of Columbia Coul- ty, and a great-great-granddaughter of the original proprietor of the manor of Claverack, in that county. On that manor James Watson Webb was born, on February 8, 1802. At the age of twelve he was sent to reside with a brother-in-law (George Morell), at Coopers. town, N. Y., where his education was completed .. His kinsman was then at the head of the bar in Otsego County. He desired young Webb to study law in his office. The latter preferred either the medical or the military profession. He entered the latter under peculiar circumstances, as we have observed in a former chapter, as a lieutenant. His , field of military service for over nine years was in the then wilderness around the upper lakes, where he did gallant service and had many stirring adventures. He has lived to witness a most wonderful transformation in all that region.
In the summer of 1623 Lieutenant Webb was married to Helen Lispenard Stewart, a granddaughter of Anthony Lispenard, one of the oldest Huguenot families of the city and State. He continued in the army until 1827, when, as we have observed, he resigned, and soon afterward (1827) began his remarkable editorial career in New York City. His suc- cessful entrance into the realm of journalism, and his earnest labors therein in producing a revolution in newspaper publishing in New York, have already been noticed. He started on his political career, as we have seen, a strong partisan of General Jackson, but disapproving his policy, he abandoned the Democratic party, joined the opposition, and gave to the latter the name of Whig.
From his entrance into the field of journalism, the record of the public life of James Watson Webb forms a conspicuous part of the social and political history of the city of New York for thirty-four years -- from 1827 to 1861. As the editorial head of the New York Morning Courier and Enquirer he wielded immense influence over parties and the politics and public policy of the city, the State, and the nation. He was in continual warfare. for, always acting independently and fearlessly, in the spirit of the motto at the head of his paper and the legend of his family coat-of-arms - " Principles, not Men" - he encountered antagonists everywhere. His usual weapons were the tongue and pen, yet he did not shrink from a personal encounter when forced upon him. On one occasion, T. F. Marshall, of Kentucky .. to whom he had never spoken a word, challenged him to fight a duel. The quarrel was the result of gross misrepresentations. Webb promptly accepted the challenge. They met near Wihnington, Delaware, in June, 1842, and fought with pistols at ten paces. Webb had determined not to take Marshall's life. The result was. Webb was severely wounded in the knee. Under the operation of an obsolete law of the State of New York, and enforced through partisan influence, which inflicted the penalty of imprisonment in the State prison for two years, Webb was' arrested, tried, found guilty, and condemned. Intense excitement ensued because of this manifest injustice, and a petition signed by 17,000 of the best citizens of New York was sent to the governor (Seward), asking for a full and free pardon for this distin- guished man. The governor granted the prayer of the petitioners, and after incarcera- tion in the Tombs for about fifteen days General Webb was released. In 1846 he was military engineer-in-chief of the State, and has since borne the title of general.
In 1848 General Webb lost his wife by death. He subsequently married Miss Laura Virginia Cram, daughter of Jacob Cram, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of
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blow. At near midsummer this was supplemented by the capture of Vicksburg and the battle of Gettysburg, pivotal points in the deadly struggle. They turned events in favor of the government.
At this time the hoarse voice of discord grew louder and louder. Through the malign influence of the Peace party at the North and a powerful secret organization composed of the enemies of the govern- ment in the slave-labor States and their more ardent sympathizers in the free-labor States, a most dangerous opposition to the government was created. That secret organization was known as the Knights of the Golden Circle. Their designs were manifested at the polls, but far more dangerously in a well-considered conspiracy to overthrow the government in midsummer, 1863.
The State of New York having chosen for its governor an earnest member of the Peace party, the city of New York, which really elected him, was counted on by the foes of the government as their certain and powerful coadjutor. The test soon came. Congress had in March authorized a draft of men to fill the places of fully 60,000 sokliers. whose short terms of enlistment were rapidly expiring. In May the President ordered a draft for 300,000 men to begin in July. Enrolling boards were organized in every Congressional district. Resistance to the measure instantly appeared. A peace convention was held in New York City on June 3d. composed of deputies from all parts of the State. Its resolutions adopted gave countenance to the leaders of a terrible riot which occurred in New York a few weeks later.
Not long after this convention Lee invaded Maryland and filled Pennsylvania with wild alarm. The President called on the governor of New York for 20,000 men for thirty days, to resist the invaders. The governor ordered nearly all the militia of the cities of New York and Brooklyn to the field. Mayor Opdyke remonstrated against this
New York. In 1849 President Taylor appointed him minister to Austria, but he was rejected by the Senate. In 1861, after declining a mission to Constantinople, President Lincoln appointed him minister to Brazil. Of his diplomatie services there brief men- tion has been made in the text. He returned home in 1869. He had relinquished the Morning Courier and New York Enquirer in 1861, when it was merged into the World. On his return from Brazil he retired to private life, and afterward lived quietly in the city of New York, but alive to every movement in the social and political world.
General Webb was a man of uncommon tenacity of purpose and of infinite industry and persistence. He had rarely failed in any undertaking. " He is now, " said a late writer, " passing the evening of his life surrounded by troops of admiring friends, in the tranquil enjoyment to which a benevolent and kind-hearted man is entitled."
General Webb was tall, of a commanding figure and person, and courtly in manner ; und, though over fourscore years of age, the brightness of his eye was not dimmed, nor his intellectual faculties impaired.
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stripping the city of its defenders on the eve of the draft, but in vain. Thirteen regiments were sent to Harrisburg. The mayor asked the President to postpone the draft in New York City until the return of the regiments. It could not be done, and on Saturday, July 11th, the draft began, under the direction of Colonel Nugent, the chief provost- marshal.
Meanwhile the people had been much excited by the operations of the enemies of the government. A supple-kneed judge in New York City had decided that the draft was unconstitutional. Three Pennsyl- vania judges agreed with him. Sustained by their decisions, the foes of the administration opposed the draft with a high hand. Incendiary harangues of politicians and seditious utterances of the opposition press stirred up the people to revolt. The distinguished orator at Tammany Hall on the 4th of July said : " We were promised the downfall of Vicksburg, the opening of the Mississippi, the probable capture of the Confederate capital, and the exhaustion of the rebellion. But in the moment of expected victory there came the midnight cry for help from Pennsylvania to save its despoiled fields from the invading foe, and almost within sight of this great commercial metropolis the ships of your merchants are burned to the water's edge."
At the very hour when this ungenerous taunt was uttered. Vicks- burg, with all the surrounding country and a vast amount of spoil, together with 30,000 Confederate prisoners, were in the possession of General Grant ; and Lee, discomfited at Gettysburg, was preparing to fly back to Virginia.
The draft began in New York at the provost-marshal's office, on the corner of Forty-sixth Street and Third Avenue, on the morning of the 11th of July. It went on quietly that day, but on Monday morning the aspect of things had changed. On Sunday secret meetings had been held to concert measures to resist the draft by force.
On Monday morning an organized band, constantly increasing in volume. marched to the office of the provost-marshal, where the draft had just begun. At a given signal they hurled a volley of stones through the windows, severely injuring persons within. One man was carried out for dead. The mob burst in the door, destroyed the furni- ture and the drafting implements, and pouring kerosene over the floor ignited it, and very soon the building was reduced to ashes. The mob had taken possession of the neighboring hydrants, and the firemen were not allowed to extinguish the flames. A body of police with Superintendent Kennedy were driven off, and the latter was beaten almost to death.
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FOURTH DECADE, 1860-1870.
The mayor applied to General Wool and to General Sandford (the latter the commander of the city militia) for a military force to quell the disturbance. Wool immediately ordered the garrisons of the sev- eral forts near the city to hasten to the town, and the whole military force was put in charge of General Harvey Brown, who was stationed at police headquarters. The mayor telegraphed to the governor urging him to order the militia of the neighboring counties to the assistance of the imperilled city. General Sandford, with the few militia left in the city, made his headquarters at the Seventh Avenue arsenal, and the mayor and General Wool were at the St. Nicholas Hotel, on Broad- way. The entire military force assembled in the city at midnight did not amount to 1000 men.
A detachment of fifty men, sent on Third Avenue cars, found the mob at Forty-sixth Street swelled to a formidable army in numbers, composed of men, women, and children. Hearing of their approach, the rioters had torn up the railway track and cut down the telegraph wires. The commander ordered the mob to disperse, and played the farce of firing blank cartridges. The infuriated rioters sprang upon the handful of soldiers like savage tigers, wrenched their guns from them, and beating many of them severely, drove them off. A squad of police who interfered were served in like manner.
The mob now seemed intent only on plunder and outrage. They sacked two houses on Lexington Avenue, assailed one on Fifth Avenue with stones and set it on fire, and then proceeded to burn a marshal's office on Broadway, near Twenty-eighth Street. Very soon the whole block was in flames, after the buildings had been plundered. The streets in the vicinity were filled with a roaring mob of men and women bearing away rich plunder of every kind.
The wrath of the mob had been directed by Southern leaders among them against the " abolitionists" and the innocent colored population of the city. They attacked and burned the Colored Orphan Asylum. containing several hundred children, as we have noticed in a former chapter, and the harmless colored people of the city were hunted as if they had been fierce wild beasts, the mob shouting, " Down with the abolitionists ! Hurrah for Jeff Davis !" Several colored people were murdered on that day, and scores of them were cruelly beaten. The rioters burned the Bull's Head Tavern on Forty-fourth Street because the proprietor refused to give them liquor. They attacked the dwell- ing of the mayor and burned the house of the postmaster at Yorkville.
In the afternoon the mayor issued a proclamation ordering the rioters to disperse, and authorized the loyal citizens to prepare for do-
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fending their premises and to shoot down any one who should attempt to break in. But the mob defied all authority. They seized the arsenal on Second Avenue and burned it. They stopped the omni- buses, cars, and private carriages, and beat and murdered many passers in the streets without cause, an appearance of respectability being a sufficient provocation. At Printing-House Square, near the City Hall, a large crowd gathered late in the day, broke into the Tribune build- ing, and had kindled a fire when they were driven off by the police. At twilight a fearful panic pervaded the city. It was rumored that the rioters had seized the reservoir and the gas-works and would deprive the people of water and light. It was not true, but the night of the 13th of July was a fearful one for the citizens of New York.
Early on Tuesday morning the rioters resumed their horrid work. They had gathered in force in Thirty-fourth Street, but were soon dis- persed by the police. Perceiving them gathering again, the police. joined by some military under Colonel II. T. O'Brien, returned and fired on the mob with fatal effect. The enraged rioters vowed ven- geance against O'Brien. It was soon executed. Hearing that his house, not far off, had been attacked, he hastened thither and found it sacked. Anxious to learn the fate of his family, he went into a drug- store. Stepping out to expostulate with the rioters, he was felled to the pavement by a stone, was killed, and his body was dragged through the streets for hours by men and women, exposed to every conceivable outrage.
At noon the governor of the State, who had been at Long Branch. two hours' journey from the city, since Saturday, arrived at the City Hall. Apprised of his presence, a great crowd of rioters, who were again engaged in an attack on the Tribune building, flocked into the Park and were addressed by the chief magistrate, who had the whole tremendous power of the State behind him to crush the monster of dis- order. He seemed paralyzed by the appalling spectacle before him. Ile spoke in terms which gave the mob reason to believe that he was their friend. Indeed he addressed them as " My friends." They gave him hearty cheers, and went on more vigorously in their work of plunder and murder.
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