between Broadway and the Bowery, one side fronting on Eighth Street,
the other on Astor-Place. The end toward Broadway is covered by
buildings, but there is an open space to the Bowery.
While the crowd was gathering outside, and endeavoring to force an
entrance, in which they were prevented by the police, the curtain
rose, and the mock tragedy commenced. Mr. Clark, an American actor,
was vociferously applauded in the part of _Macduff_. The entrance
of Mr. Macready in the third scene was the signal for a storm of
cheers, groans, hisses, and yells. The whole audience rose, and the
greatest part, who were friendly to Macready, cheered and waved their
hats and handkerchiefs; but when these cheers were spent, the noise
had not subsided. A large body in the parquette, and another in the
amphitheatre hissed and groaned, and the contest was kept up until a
placard was displayed on the stage, on which was written—“The friends
of order will remain quiet.” The friends of disorder, however, kept
up their noise through the first act, when the recorder and chief of
police decided to quell the tumult; and in a few moments the noisiest
of the rioters were arrested, and conveyed to a room in the basement,
and the play went on in comparative quietness.
But by the time the tumult was suppressed in the house, it had gained
its height on the outside. A vast crowd numbering ten or fifteen
thousand, had gathered around the building, chiefly in Astor-Place,
and by the time the arrests were made in the house, and probably in
consequence of some communication between the rioters in the theatre
and their friends outside, the house began to be assailed with large
paving-stones, of which, owing to the digging of a sewer near by, there
was a large supply. The stones crashed against the windows, and in some
instances broke through the barricades. After the tragedy was over,
the farce commenced, but it was brought to an end by the firing of the
military; and the alarmed and excited audience left the theatre by the
entrance in Eighth Street, under the cover of the military, while Mr.
Macready got away in the disguise of an officer; and mounting a horse,
escorted by a party of his friends, he left the city, and the next day
took the cars for Boston, whence a few days afterward he sailed to
Europe. Before leaving he expressed the deepest regret that he had not
refused to appear again, in accordance with his first intention.
From the testimony of the actors and spectators of the terrible scenes
which occurred that night, we have selected four accounts—that of
SIDNEY H. STEWART, Esq. Clerk of the Police, a man of observation and
experience in that department; that of MAJOR GENERAL SANDFORD, the
Commander-in-Chief of the military; that of STEPHEN W. GAINES, Esq.
and THOMAS J. BELVIN, Esq. disinterested spectators. From the sworn
testimony of these four witnesses, may be gathered a pretty correct
idea of the action of the public authorities, the police, the military,
the rioters, and the spectators.
TESTIMONY OF SIDNEY H. STEWART.
SIDNEY H. STEWART, Clerk of the Police, states what he saw
and heard before the arrival of the military: “I left the
Tombs that evening in company with Justice McGrath, and
arrived at the Astor Theatre about 7 o’clock; soon after the
doors were opened, the audience were assembling; on entering
the house, I found the theatre filled with people and a large
body of the police; most of the police magistrates were
there; Judge Edmonds was there also; the understanding with
the magistrates, Judge Edmonds, and the Chief of Police, and
Recorder, was that no arrests should be made in the house,
unless some overt act was committed, tending absolutely to a
breach of the peace; the usual indulgence was to be allowed
as to the hissing and applauding; that rule was observed.
In the course of the evening, demonstrations were made by
several in the parquette, by shaking their fists at Macready,
threatening him with violence, by twelve or fifteen persons,
certainly not to exceed twenty; an application was made at
this time to the Chief of Police to arrest them, and remove
them from the house; he delayed the order for some time,
and finally sent for the Recorder to consult with him on
the propriety of making arrests; after a consultation, it
was concluded to make the arrests, which was done; in less
than five minutes they were taken into custody, and order
comparatively restored; about this time a great deal of
hissing was heard in the amphitheatre, and loud applauding;
the play was still going on; several arrests were made in the
amphitheatre, by order of the Chief of Police and Recorder;
about this time, the first breach of peace on the house was
a large paving-stone which came through the window into the
house; the house continued to be assailed from those without;
an alarm was given that a fire was below under the dress
circle; it was soon extinguished; large stones were thrown at
the doors on Eighth street, smashing in the panels, and doing
other damage; the police were ordered into Eighth street,
say fifteen men; on my going into the street, I saw a large
concourse of people, but those near the door of the theatre
were mostly boys, who were apparently throwing stones;
several of them were arrested by the police and brought in;
I cannot say how many were aiding in the disturbance, but
certainly a very small proportion to the crowd collected; the
policemen arrested some six or ten of them, and the attack
on the door in Eighth street ceased; the attack then, after
these arrests, was made with more violence on the front of
the theatre in Astor-Place; a very large crowd was collected,
yet I could pass in and out with ease, comparatively; this
crowd did not appear to be very turbulent; a very large
number appeared to be citizens looking on, and not aiding
in the disturbance; the majority of those throwing stones
were boys from the ages of 12 to 18 years; several of the
policemen at this time complained of being struck with stones
and badly hurt; the policemen kept making arrests, and
bringing them in; I cannot say how many; the crowd appeared
to be increasing and more dense; the mob appeared to be
determined to accomplish some particular act; there seemed to
be a strong determination, although they only threw stones;
the force of policemen on Astor-Place amounted to from fifty
to seventy-five; the mob then continued to throw stones; the
military then came.”
TESTIMONY OF MAJOR GENERAL SANDFORD.
I am Major General commanding the military forces of this
county. On Thursday last, I received a message from the
Mayor, requesting me to come to his office. I went there, and
found the magistrates named by the Mayor assembled. The Mayor
informed me of the object of my being sent for. The Mayor has
stated correctly my reply, when I was asked in relation to
the expediency of issuing an order to call out the Military.
After it was decided to issue the order, it was understood by
the Magistrates present, that the effort should be first made
by the civil authority to preserve the peace, and that the
Military should not be called out until that effort failed.
I left the Mayor’s office after this understanding, and then
received this order:
MAYOR’S OFFICE, City Hall, May 10, 1849.
Having reason to apprehend a serious riot this evening,
which will require more force to preserve the peace than is
possessed by the police, Major General Sandford is requested
to hold a sufficient military force in readiness to meet the
apprehended emergency.
C. S. WOODHULL, Mayor.
After receiving this order, I ordered one Regiment—the
7th—of Infantry to assemble at the Artillery drill rooms,
and one troop of Light Artillery with two 6 pound field
pieces, to muster at the Arsenal. I directed a small
detachment of Infantry to protect the pieces. The regiment,
when assembled, on account of the shortness of the notice,
consisted of but little over two hundred men. The regiment
is known to the citizens by the title of the National Guard.
I went myself, in the evening, to the Artillery drill rooms,
and informed the Magistrate that I would remain there to
await orders. I understood there was to be a large Police
force at the Theatre. Many of the Magistrates thought this
force would be sufficient without the military. The regiment
was under the command of Col. Duryea. There are eight
Captains in the regiment. I cannot say they were all present.
Capts. Shumway, Underhill, Pond and Price, were present. We
remained there until a verbal message came to me from the
sheriff, the purport of which was, that a mob had attacked
the house and driven in the Police force, and were assailing
the building; this was between 8 and 9 o’clock, as well as I
can remember. On receiving this notice, I immediately ordered
the Regiment to get ready for marching, and to distribute
their ammunition, which consisted of one thousand rounds of
ball cartridges; I sent at the same time an order to the
Arsenal yard for the horse belonging to the Regiment to come
up immediately to the drill rooms, and march with us to the
grounds. The horsemen carried only their sabres; the troops
were put on the march, and moved rapidly up Broadway to
Astor-Place; the field pieces were Left at the Arsenal; no
order was given to the artillery. I was not aware, until I
got to the ground, of the extent of the mob; I thought the
force I had with me, in connection with the Police force,
would be sufficient to preserve the peace. Before getting
on the ground, I mounted my horse, and took charge of the
cavalry, directing the Infantry to follow close after us. The
horsemen, on entering Astor-Place, were formed ten ahead,
and advanced in that order until we got nearly opposite the
corner of the Opera House; at this place, we were assailed
with a shower of stones and brick bats, by which almost every
man was hurt, and the horses rendered almost unmanageable;
the men pushed rapidly through Astor-Place, and through the
whole distance were assailed with a shower of stones; the
infantry followed them. The mob extended from Astor-Place
to the Bowery; the mounted men, being conspicuous marks,
received most of the stones, and were driven off the ground.
I dismounted, returned through the mob, and took charge
of the Infantry. They were halted in line across the open
space beyond the theatre, with a dense mob on both sides of
them, who were assailing them with all sorts of opprobrious
epithets, and frequent volleys of stones. I ordered Col.
Duryea to form a column of division for the purpose of
clearing the ground in the rear of the theatre, intending
afterward to go to the front. The columns were formed
promptly, and moved forward through the mob, until stopped by
an excavation in the ground, which I had not previously seen,
on account of the darkness of the night. We filed around
this broken ground, and cleared the rear of the theatre,
the mob retreating before us as we advanced. Two bodies of
troops were stationed at each end of the theatre, extending
across the street. I then sent in for the Sheriff and Chief
of Police. Mr. Matsell furnished sufficient of the police
to take the place of the two lines of military, and the
whole were then put under march; passed through Eighth-st.
to Broadway, and around into Astor-Place, the Sheriff at
my request accompanied us. We moved down Astor-Place until
we got a little past the centre of the theatre. The mob
partially retreated to the middle and opposite side of the
street; they commenced an attack on the military by throwing
paving-stones. The paving in this vicinity had been taken
up for the purpose, as I was informed, of laying down water
pipes and building a sewer. I ordered the regiment to be
divided and to form in two lines across the street; the
right wing advanced toward the Bowery, and the left toward
Broadway, with the view of driving the mob each way from
the front of the theatre; during this period, the men were
constantly assailed with showers of stones and brickbats,
and many were seriously hurt; a number of men near by and
Gen. Hall were struck with stones, and dangerously injured.
After giving this order, I advanced toward the middle of the
street to Captain Shumway, who led the first company, with
Col. Duryea by his side, being outside myself next the mob;
the Sheriff was behind me; at this time, we were assailed by
a volley of stones, by which about eight out of eleven of the
first platoon were more or less injured. Myself, Col. Duryea,
and Capt. Shumway were injured. At this time, a pistol was
fired by some man in the mob, by which Capt. Shumway was
wounded in the leg, and, as I believe, Gen. Hall in the face.
Previous to this, the crowd had been repeatedly notified
by Gen. Hall and myself, and by other persons whose voices
I did not recognise, that they must disperse or they would
be fired upon. I was at this time partly knocked down, and
when I arose, I found three or four of the front rank partly
down, and the head of the column forced back toward the Opera
House, the shower of stones at this time being incessant;
orders were then given by myself and repeated by Col. Duryea,
to charge bayonet; the attempt was made, but the crowd was so
close upon the troops that there was no room for the troops
to charge, and some of the men had their muskets seized by
the crowd; the troops by this time were forced back to the
sidewalk; I stated to the Sheriff that it was impossible to
maintain our position without firing. I several times called
out to the crowd that they must fall back or we would fire;
after this the Sheriff gave the order to fire. Gen. Hall, who
was a short distance from me, made an exclamation to fire
over their heads; the order to fire was repeated by myself
and Col. Duryea, and the men fired once over the heads of
the crowd, against Mrs. Langdon’s house. A shout then came
from the mob, “They have only blank cartridges, give it to
them again,” and another volley of stones came instantly;
the troops were then ordered to fire again; I think the
order was given by myself and Gen. Hall; Gen. Hall said,
“fire low;” then, for the first time, the mob began to give
way; the troops then moved forward, crossing the street,
and driving the crowd before them until the troops got near
the corner of Lafayette-Place. The mob here rallied at the
corner of Lafayette-Place, on one side, and at the corner of
the theatre and the broken ground, on the other side, and
advanced, throwing volleys of stones; several of the troops
were hurt severely, and orders were given for the troops to
fire—one half obliquely to the right, the other half to the
left upon these two bodies of men; this was done, and the
crowd fell back into Lafayette-Place, and the broken ground
behind the theatre. There was no firing after this; the mob
kept a constant attack upon the troops for some time with
stones and brickbats. The whole number of military engaged in
the conflict was 210, one half of the line toward Broadway,
and the other toward Bowery; the mob has been variously
estimated from ten to twenty thousand. Previously to leaving
Eighth-st. to go around to the front of the theatre with the
troops, I sent up the Light Artillery and the portions of the
Sixth Regiment that was to support it. They arrived after
the firing had ceased. One gun was placed toward the Bowery,
and the other toward Broadway. The Infantry were stationed,
and the mob were again told that unless they left, they
would be fired upon, and the Artillery used, if necessary.
The mob dispersed, and the firing ceased. Upwards of 50 men
of this small detachment of 210 men, were injured, chiefly
before the firing commenced. I do not believe that the troops
could have withdrawn in safety when the order was given to
fire, and that they could not have maintained their position
without firing. During a period of thirty-five years of
military service, I have never seen a mob so violent as the
one on that evening. I never before had occasion to give the
order to fire.
TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN W. GAINES.
STEPHEN W. GAINES, sworn, says:—I am a counsellor at law,
residing at No. 180 East Broadway; on Thursday evening last,
I was at the corner of Astor-Place and Lafayette-Place; I
stood upon a pile of boards; I stood there from half-past
eight o’clock until after the last discharge of musketry;
from the place where I stood, I had a fair view of the Opera
House; when I first got there, the space between us and the
theatre was filled with people, but not densely crowded at
that time; I saw persons throwing stones at the principal
entrance, and at the windows of the Opera House; they were
nearly in front of the Opera House; sometimes a single stone,
and at other times a volley; about fifty feet in front of the
house was the principal scene of action; the street toward
the Bowery was filled with people; there were no stones
thrown from the quarter where I stood, and there were so few
actually stoning the house, that it was a surprise to those
witnessing it why the police did not stop it; the first I
saw of the military was the horse, and then followed the
infantry; they came from Broadway, passed the Opera House in
Astor-Place, and took their stand near the 4th avenue; I saw
no opposition; in about half an hour I saw the horse troops
pass up Astor-Place, towards Broadway; I should have left
upon the arrival of the military, but so many coming upon the
sidewalk, I could not get out; within a short time after,
the infantry passed up in front of the house; I saw the fire
from the discharge of the muskets as it left the barrels, as
the lamps were out; some of them were fired perpendicular,
some on an inclined plane towards the house of Mrs. Langdon,
and others horizontally; this was the first discharge; we
had no intimation of firing where I stood, until I saw the
flash; several other volleys were discharged immediately;
previous to firing the last volley, the street was nearly
cleared; most of the people had left the enclosure where I
was; there were, perhaps, half a dozen on the sidewalk in
front of where I was; I was still standing on the board,
when the last discharge took place up Astor-Place towards
the Bowery; between me and the soldiers the space was clear;
there was a small number of persons on the corner opposite
Mrs. Langdon’s house; they were out of the range of the fire;
this fire was nearly in the range of where I was standing;
I stepped back a pace or two, to bring myself out of the
direct line; immediately another discharge took place, that
being part of the previous discharge; upon the discharge, a
man fell upon the sidewalk in front of us; there were but a
few persons near him at the time; after he fell, he remained
on the ground half a minute, some supposed he was shamming
being shot; on picking him up, a wound was discovered in his
back, by the blood running; we took the wounded man down to
the drug store corner Fourth and Wooster street; on examining
the body, we found a wound in the lower part of his stomach;
his name was Henry Otten, residing at the corner of Hester
and Orchard streets; he was standing on the sidewalk at the
time he was shot, taking no part in the disturbance; after
leaving him, I learned that others had been shot; I have been
informed that he has since died.
TESTIMONY OF THOMAS J. BELVIN.
THOMAS J. BELVIN, residing at No. 133 King street,
boatman:—On Thursday evening last, I was at the disturbance
at the Astor-Place Opera House; I stood on the corner of
Lafayette-Place, by Mrs. Langdon’s house; when I got there,
about half-past-six o’clock, I saw a lot of half-grown boys
throwing stones at the Astor Opera House; I passed on the
opposite corner, and was talking to two Philadelphians; they
were saying how trifling this was to some of their riots;
I stayed there until the horse soldiers came, and then the
infantry; then there was a rush with the boys, and we
started back, and then returned again to see how the military
operated; I was standing on the corner of Mrs. Langdon’s
house when the first firing took place; when the military
left, the boys went back and commenced throwing stones again;
I stood there when the first discharge took place; a man
fell; I laughed, and so did others, as we thought that it
was only blank cartridges to scare them; I heard a man say,
“my God, look at this; he’s shot;” this was at the first
discharge of musketry; I heard no notice given to disperse;
they might have done so; after this I started and ran down to
the church on the corner of 4th street, and there I stood;
I don’t know how long I stood there, I was so frightened; I
stood there until I heard another banging of muskets, and
then I started and ran home as quick as I could; I should not
have gone there, if I had known they were going to use lead;
I went to see what was going on, like many others; I don’t
know how long I stood at the church before I heard the second
firing; I was glad to get there; I jumped over several people
in making my way to the church.
It is to be observed that the above accounts vary according to the
position of the witnesses. Mr. Stewart confines his attention chiefly
to the operations of the police; Gen. Sandford to those of the
military; while others may be supposed to represent the views and
feelings of the mere spectators.
On the examination of Mr. Stewart, he was asked, if, in his opinion,
the riot could have been prevented or suppressed by the action of
the police, without calling on the military. Though loth to give an
opinion, which might be construed into a censure of the authorities,
he stated his belief that the whole affair might have been differently
managed.
The scene which followed the firing of the military, beggars all
description. The wounded, the dying, and the dead, were scattered in
every direction. There were groans of agony, cries for help, and oaths
of vengeance. The dead and the wounded were borne to the drug stores at
the corners of Eighth street and Broadway, and Third Avenue, and others
in the vicinity, and surgeons were summoned to attend them. Some were
conveyed by the police to the Fifteenth Ward Station-House, and a few
carried to the City Hospital. Some of the dead and wounded were laid
out upon the billiard tables of Vauxhall Saloon, a large crowd gathered
around, and speeches were made by excited orators.
Had none but those actively engaged in the riot been shot by the
military, these details would have been sufficiently melancholy. But
even then, we are to consider that the men who composed the mob, may
have acted, under ordinary circumstances, like honest and respectable
citizens. A mob is composed of the same men in a state of temporary
insanity, and they should be treated accordingly. Sober and quiet
citizens, acting under such a temporary excitement, have committed
the greatest outrages. They should be restrained, but not sacrificed,
unless under the most imperative necessity.
But in this case, very few of the active rioters were injured—the
greater part of the killed and wounded being either spectators, or
persons passing by the scene. Thus, Bridget Fagan was walking with
her husband along the Bowery, shot through the leg, and died at the
Hospital. Mr. Stuart, an old retired merchant, was severely wounded in
the neck, while standing in the Bowery; and Mr. Collins was shot dead
while getting out of a car of the Harlem Rail Road. Wm. C. Russell, a
lawyer, had his arm shattered while passing around the corner of the
Bowery. Mr. Livingston, standing in St. Mark’s place, two blocks off,
was severely wounded. There were many more such cases.