Continued Tranquillity.--Strange Assortment of Plunder gathered in the
Cellars and Shanties of the Rioters.--Search for it exasperates
the Irish.--Noble Conduct of the Sanitary Police.--Sergeant
Copeland.--Prisoners tried.--Damages claimed from the City.--Number
of Police killed.--Twelve hundred Rioters killed.--The Riot Relief
Fund.--List of Colored People killed.--Generals Wool and Sandford's
Reports.--Their Truthfulness denied.--General Brown vindicated.
On Saturday morning it was announced that the authorities at Washington
had resolved to enforce the draft. It had been repeatedly asserted
during the riot that it was abandoned, and the report received
very general credence. Still, the official denial of it produced no
disturbance. The spirit of insurrection was effectually laid.
It is a little singular, that, in all these tremendous gatherings and
movements, no prominent recognized leaders could be found. A man by the
name of Andrews had been arrested and imprisoned as one, but the charge
rested wholly on some exciting harangues he had made, not from any
_active_ leadership he had assumed.
There were, perhaps, in the city this morning not far from ten thousand
troops--quite enough to preserve the peace, if the riot should break out
afresh; and orders therefore were given to arrest the march of regiments
hastening from various sections to the city, under the requisition of
the Governor. Still, the terror that had taken possession of men could
not be allayed in an hour, and although the police had resumed their
patrols, and dared to be seen alone in the streets, there was constant
dread of personal violence among the citizens. Especially was this true
of the negro population. Although many sought their ruined homes, yet
aware of the intense hatred entertained toward them by the mob, they
felt unsafe, and began to organize in self-defence. But the day wore
away without disturbance, and the Sabbath dawned peaceably, and order
reigned from the Battery to Harlem. The military did not show themselves
in the street, and thousands thronged without fear the avenues in which
the fighting had taken place, to look at the ruins it had left behind.
On Monday there was more or less rebellious feeling exhibited by the
rioters, on account of the general search of the police for stolen
goods, and the arrest of suspected persons. It exhibited itself,
however, only in threats and curses--not a policemen was assaulted. It
was amusing, sometimes, to see what strange articles the poor wretches
had stowed away in their dirty cellars. There was everything from
barrels of sugar and starch to tobacco and bird-seed. Said a morning
paper: "Mahogany and rosewood chairs with brocade upholstering,
marble-top tables and stands, costly paintings, and hundreds of delicate
and valuable mantel ornaments, are daily found in low hovels up-town.
Every person in whose possession these articles are discovered disclaims
all knowledge of the same, except that they found them in the street,
and took them in to prevent them being burned. The entire city will be
searched, and it is expected that the greatest portion of the property
taken from the buildings sacked by the mob will be recovered." The
rivers and outlets to the city were closely watched, to prevent its
being carried off. In the meantime, arrests were constantly made.
It would be invidious to single out any portion of the police for
special commendation, where all did their duty so nobly; but it is not
improper to speak of the sanitary police, whose specific duties do not
lead them to take part in quelling mobs.
They have to report all nuisances, examine tenement-houses and unsafe
buildings, look after the public schools, but more especially examine
steam-boilers, and license persons qualified to run steam-engines.
Hence, it is composed of men of considerable scientific knowledge. But
all such business being suspended during the riot, they at once, with
their Captain, B. G. Lord, assumed the duties of the common policemen,
and from Monday night till order was restored, were on constant duty,
participating in the fights, and enduring the fatigues with unflinching
firmness, and did not return to their regular duties till Monday
morning.
The drill-officer also, Sergeant T. S. Copeland, became, instead of a
drill-officer, a gallant, active leader of his men in some of the most
desperate fights that occurred. His military knowledge enabled him to
form commands ordered hastily off, with great despatch. But not content
with this, he led them, when formed, to the charge, and gave such
lessons in drill, in the midst of the fight, as the police will never
forget.
With the details of what followed we have nothing to do. The Grand Jury
indicted many of the prisoners, and in the term of the court that
met the 3d of August, twenty were tried and nineteen convicted, and
sentenced to a longer or shorter term of imprisonment. Of course a
large number on preliminary examinations got off, sometimes from want
of sufficient evidence, and sometimes from the venality of the judges
before whom they were brought. Claims for damages were brought in, the
examination of which was long and tedious. The details are published in
two large volumes, and the entire cost to the city was probably three
millions of dollars. Some of the claims went before the courts, where
they lingered along indefinitely. The number of rioters killed, or
died from the effects of their wounds, was put down by the Police
Commissioners at about twelve hundred. Of course this estimate is not
made up from any detailed reports. The dead and wounded were hurried
away, even in the midst of the fight, and hidden in obscure streets, or
taken out of the city for fear of future arrests or complications. Hence
there was no direct way of getting at the exact number of those who
fell victims to the riot. The loss of life, therefore, could only be
approximated by taking the regular report of the number of deaths in the
city for a few weeks before the riots, and that for the same length
of time after. As there was no epidemic, or any report of increased
sickness from any disease, the inference naturally was, that the excess
for the period after the riots was owing to the victims of them. Many of
these were reported as sunstrokes, owing to men exposing themselves to
the sun with pounded and battered heads. The Police Commissioners took
great care to keep all the wounded policemen indoors until perfectly
cured. Only one ventured to neglect their orders, and he died of a
sunstroke.
The difference of mortality in the city for the month previous to the
riots, and the month during and subsequent, was about twelve hundred,
which excess Mr. Acton thought should be put down to the deaths caused
directly and indirectly by the riots. Although many policemen were
wounded, only three were killed or died from the injuries they received.
Immediately after the riot, Mr. Leonard W. Jerome and others interested
themselves in raising a fund for the relief of members of the Police,
Militia, and Fire Departments who had sustained injuries in the
discharge of their duty in suppressing the riots. Subscriptions to
the amount of $54,980 were paid in, and $22,721.53 distributed by the
Trustees of the Riot Relief Fund, in sums from $50 to $1,000, each,
through Isaac Bell, Treasurer, to 101 policemen, 16 militiamen, and 7
firemen.
The balance was securely invested, to meet future emergencies, a portion
of which was paid to sufferers by the Orange Riot of 1871.
The following is the list of colored people known to be killed by the
mob, together with the circumstances attending their murder, as given
by David Barnes, in his Metropolitan record, to which reference has
heretofore been made.
COLORED VICTIMS OF THE RIOT.
WILLIAM HENRY NICHOLS (colored). Nichols resided at No. 147 East
Twenty-eighth Street. Mrs. Staat, his mother, was visiting him. On
Wednesday, July 15th, at 3 o'clock, the house was attacked by a mob with
showers of bricks and stones. In one of the rooms was a woman with a
child but three days old. The rioters broke open the door with axes and
rushed in. Nichols and his mother fled to the basement; in a few moments
the babe referred to was dashed by the rioters from the upper window to
the yard, and instantly killed. The mob cut the waterpipes above, and
the basement was being deluged; ten persons, mostly women and children,
were there, and they fled to the yard; in attempting to climb the fence,
Mrs. Staat fell back from exhaustion; the rioters were instantly upon
her; her son sprang to her rescue, exclaiming, "Save my mother, if you
kill me." Two ruffians instantly seized him, each taking hold of an arm,
while a third, armed with a crowbar, calling upon them to hold his arms
apart, deliberately struck him a savage blow on the head, felling him
like a bullock. He died in the N. Y. Hospital two days after.
JAMES COSTELLO (colored).--James Costello, No. 97 West Thirty-third
Street, killed on Tuesday morning, July 14th. Costello was a shoemaker,
an active man in his business, industrious and sober. He went out early
in the morning upon an errand, was accosted, and finally was pursued by
a powerful man. He ran down the street; endeavored to make his escape;
was nearly overtaken by his pursuer; in self-defence he turned and shot
the rioter with a revolver. The shot proved to be mortal; he died two
days after. Costello was immediately set upon by the mob. They first
mangled his body, then hanged it. They then cut down his body and
dragged it through the gutters, smashing it with stones, and finally
burnt it. The mob then attempted to kill Mrs. Costello and her children,
but she escaped by climbing fences and taking refuge in a police
station-house.
ABRAHAM FRANKLIN (colored).--This young man, who was murdered by the mob
on the corner of Twenty-seventh Street and Seventh Avenue, was a quiet,
inoffensive man, of unexceptionable character. He was a cripple, but
supported himself and his mother, being employed as a coachman. A
short time previous to the assault, he called upon his mother to see
if anything could be done by him for her safety. The old lady said she
considered herself perfectly safe; but if her time to die had come, she
was ready to die. Her son then knelt down by her side, and implored the
protection of Heaven in behalf of his mother. The old lady said that it
seemed to her that good angels were present in the room. Scarcely had
the supplicant risen from his knees, when the mob broke down the door,
seized him, beat him over the head and face with fists and clubs, and
then hanged him in the presence of his parent. While they were thus
engaged, the military came and drove them away, cutting down the body of
Franklin, who raised his arm once slightly and gave a few signs of life.
The military then moved on to quell other riots, when the mob returned
and again suspended the now probably lifeless body of Franklin, cutting
out pieces of flesh, and otherwise shockingly mutilating it.
AUGUSTUS STUART (colored).--Died at Hospital, Blackwell's Island, July
22, from the effects of a blow received at the hands of the mob, on
Wednesday evening of the Riot Week. He had been badly beaten previously
by a band of rioters, and was frightened and insane from the effects
of the blows which he had received. He was running toward the arsenal
(State), Seventh Avenue and Thirty-seventh Street, for safety, when he
was overtaken by the mob, from whom he received his death-blow.
PETER HEUSTON.--Peter Heuston, sixty-three years of age, a Mohawk
Indian, dark complexion, but straight hair, and for several years a
resident of New York, proved a victim to the riots. Heuston served with
the New York Volunteers in the Mexican war. He was brutally attacked
and shockingly beaten, on the 13th of July, by a gang of ruffians, who
thought him to be of the African race because of his dark complexion. He
died within four days, at Bellevue Hospital, from his injuries.
JEREMIAH ROBINSON (colored).--He was killed in Madison near Catharine
Street. His widow stated that her husband, in order to escape, dressed
himself in some of her clothes, and, in company with herself and one
other woman, left their residence and went toward one of the Brooklyn
ferries. Robinson wore a hood, which failed to hide his beard. Some
boys, seeing his beard, lifted up the skirts of his dress, which exposed
his heavy boots. Immediately the mob set upon him, and the atrocities
they perpetrated are so revolting that they are unfit for publication.
They finally killed him and threw his body into the river. His wife and
her companion ran up Madison Street, and escaped across the Grand Street
Ferry to Brooklyn.
WILLIAM JONES (colored).--A crowd of rioters in Clarkson Street, in
pursuit of a negro, who in self-defence had fired on some rowdies, met
an inoffensive colored man returning from a bakery with a loaf of bread
under his arm. They instantly set upon and beat him and, after nearly
killing him, hung him to a lamppost. His body was left suspended for
several hours. A fire was made underneath him, and he was literally
roasted as he hung, the mob revelling in their demoniac act. Recognition
of the remains, on their being recovered, was impossible; and two women,
mourned for upwards of two weeks, in the case of this man, for the loss
of their husbands. At the end of that time, the husband of one of the
mourners, to her great joy, returned like one recovered from the grave.
The principal evidence which the widow, Mary Jones, had to identify the
murdered man as her husband, was the fact of his having a loaf of bread
under his arm, he having left the house to get a loaf of bread a few
minutes before the attack.
JOSEPH REED (colored).--This was a lad of seven years of age, residing
at No. 147 East Twenty-eighth Street, with an aged grandmother and
widowed mother. On Wednesday morning of the fearful week, a crowd of
ruffians gathered in the neighborhood, determined on a week of plunder
and death. They attacked the house, stole everything they could carry
with them, and, after threatening the inmates, set fire to it. The
colored people who had the sole occupancy of the building, fled in
confusion into the midst of the gathering crowd. And then the child was
separated from his guardians. His youth and evident illness, even from
the devils around him, it would be thought, should have insured
his safety. But no sooner did they see his unprotected, defenceless
condition, than a gang of fiendish men seized him, beat him with sticks,
and bruised him with heavy cobblestones. But one, tenfold more the
servant of Satan than the rest, rushed at the child, and with the stock
of a pistol struck him on the temple and felled him to the ground.
A noble young fireman, by the name of John F. Govern, of No. 39 Hose
Company, instantly came to the rescue, and, single-handed, held the
crowd at bay. Taking the wounded and unconscious boy in his arms, he
carried him to a place of safety. The terrible beating and the great
fright the poor lad had undergone was too much for his feeble frame; he
died on the following Tuesday.
JOSEPH JACKSON (colored), aged nineteen years, living in West
Fifty-third Street, near Sixth Avenue, was in the industrious pursuit of
his humble occupation of gathering provender for a herd of cattle, and
when near the foot of Thirty-fourth Street, East River, July 15, was set
upon by the mob, killed, and his body thrown into the river.
SAMUEL JOHNSON (colored).--On Tuesday night Johnson was attacked near
Fulton Ferry by a gang who mercilessly beat and left him for dead. A
proposition was made to throw him into the river, but for some reason
the murderers took fright and fled. He was taken by some citizens to his
home, and died the next day.
---- WILLIAMS (colored).--He was attacked on the corner of Le Roy and
Washington Streets, on Tuesday morning, July 14th, knocked down,
a number of men jumped upon, kicked, and stamped upon him until
insensible. One of the murderers knelt on the body and drove a knife
into it; the blade being too small, he threw it away and resorted to
his fists. Another seized a huge stone, weighing near twenty pounds,
and deliberately crushed it again and again on to the victim. A force
of police, under Captain Dickson, arrived and rescued the man, who
was conveyed to the New York Hospital. He was only able to articulate
"Williams" in response to a question as to his name, and remained
insensible thereafter, dying in a few days.
ANN DERRICKSON.--This was a white woman, the wife of a colored man, and
lived at No. 11 York Street. On Wednesday, July 15th, the rioters seized
a son of deceased, a lad of about twelve years, saturated his clothes
and hair with camphene, and then procuring a rope, fastened one end to a
lamp-post, the other around his neck, and were about to set him on fire,
and hang him; they were interfered with by some citizens and by the
police of the First Ward, and their diabolical attempt at murder
frustrated. While Mrs. Derrickson was attempting to save the life of her
son she was horribly bruised and beaten, with a cart-rung. The victim,
after lingering three or four weeks, died from the effects of her
injuries.
Reports from the captains of the several precincts, with all the details
of their operations, were made out--also from the subordinate military
officers to their immediate superiors. The final reports of General
Wool, commanding the Eastern Department, and Major-general Sandford,
commanding the city troops, caused much remark in the city papers, and
called forth a reply from General Brown, who considered himself unjustly
assailed in them. Explanation of the disagreement between him and
General Wool having been fully given, it is not necessary to repeat it
here. The same may be said of the statement of General Wool, regarding
his orders on Monday the 13th, respecting the troops in the harbor.
But in this report of General Wool to Governor Seymour, there are other
statements which General Brown felt it his duty to correct. General Wool
says, that finding there was a want of harmony between Generals Sandford
and Brown in the disposition of troops, he issued the following order:
MAJOR-GENERAL SANDFORD, BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL BROWN.
GENTLEMEN:--It is indispensable to collect your troops not stationed,
and have them divided into suitable parties, with a due proportion of
police to each, and to patrol in such parts of the city as may be in
the greatest danger from the rioters. This ought to be done as soon as
practicable.
JOHN E. WOOL, _Major-general_.
After this had been issued, General Sandford reporting to me that his
orders were not obeyed by General Brown, I issued the following order:
"All the troops called out for the protection of the city are placed
under the command of General Sandford."
General Brown in his reply says, that he "_never saw or heard of
this first order_." The only explanation of this, consistent with the
character of both, is that General Wool sent this order to General
Sandford alone--either forgetting to transmit it to General Brown, or
expecting General Sandford to do it.
At all events, sent or not, it was a foolish order. One would infer
from it that the whole task of putting down the riots belonged to the
military, the commanders of which were to order out what co-operating
force of police they deemed necessary and march up and down the
disaffected districts, trampling out the lawlessness according to rule.
This might be all well enough, but the question was, how were these
troops, strangers to the city, to find out where "_such parts of the
city_" were in which was "_the greatest danger from the rioters_?" It
showed a lamentable ignorance of mobs; they don't stay in one spot and
fight it out, nor keep in one mass, nor give notice beforehand where
they will strike next. Such knowledge could only be obtained from police
head-quarters, the focus of the telegraph system, and _there_ the troops
should have been ordered to concentrate at once, and put themselves
under the direction of the Police Commissioners. Again, General Wool
says he issued the following order to General Brown, on Tuesday:
"SIR:--It is reported that the rioters have already recommenced their
work of destruction. To-day there must be no child's play. Some of the
troops under your command should be sent immediately to attack and
stop those who have commenced their infernal rascality in Yorkville and
Harlem."
This order, too, General Brown says he never received. Thinking
it strange, he addressed a note to General Wool's assistant
adjutant-general, respecting both these orders, which had thus strangely
wandered out of the way. The latter, Major Christensen, replied as
follows:
"The orders of General Wool published in his report to Governor Seymour,
viz.: 'That patrols of military and police should be sent through the
disaffected districts;' and the one July 14th, 'To-day there must be no
child's play,' etc., were not issued by me, and I cannot therefore say
whether copies were sent to you or not. They were certainly _not_ sent
by me.
"C.F. CHRISTENSEN,
"Major, Assistant Adjutant-general."
We have explained how the error may have occurred with regard to the
first order. But there is no explanation of this, except on the ground
that General Wool perhaps sketched out this order, without sending it,
and afterwards seeing it amid his papers, thought it was a copy of one
he had sent. He was well advanced in years, and might easily fall into
some such error.
It is not necessary to go into detailed account of all the statements
contained in General Wool's letter which General Brown emphatically
denies; but the following is worthy of notice. He says that General
Brown issued orders that General Sandford countermanded, and that
General Brown acted through the riots under his (Wool's) orders; whereas
the latter says, he never received but three orders from Wool during the
whole time, and only _one_ of those referred to any action towards the
rioters, and that was to bring off some killed and wounded men left by
a military force sent out either by Sandford or Wool, and which had been
chased from the field by the mob.
But the statements of General Wool are entirely thrown into the shade
by the following assertion of General Sandford, in his report. He says:
"With the remnant of the [his] division (left in the city), and the
first reinforcements from General Wool, detachments were sent to all
parts of the city, and the rioters everywhere beaten and dispersed on
Monday afternoon, Monday night, and Tuesday morning. In a few hours, but
for the interference of Brigadier-general Brown, who, in disobedience of
orders," etc.
The perfect gravity with which this assertion is made is something
marvellous. One would infer that the police was of no account, except
to maintain order after it was fully restored by the military on Tuesday
morning. General Sandford might well be ignorant of the state of things
in the city, for he was cooped up in the arsenal, intent only on holding
his fortress. So far as he was concerned, the whole city might have
been burned up before Tuesday noon, and he would scarcely have known it,
except as he saw the smoke and flames from the roof of the arsenal. He
never sent out a detachment until after the Tuesday afternoon, when,
as he says, but for General Brown's action, the riot would have been
virtually over. The simple truth is, these reports of Generals Wool and
Sandford are both mere after-thoughts, growing out of the annoyance they
felt on knowing that their _martinetism_ was a total failure, and the
whole work had been done by General Brown and the Police Commissioners
from their head-quarters in Mulberry Street. Acton and Brown had no time
to grumble or dispute about etiquette. They had something more serious
on hand, and they bent their entire energies to their accomplishment.
General Sandford held the arsenal, an important point, indeed a vital
one, and let him claim and receive all the credit due that achievement;
but to assume any special merit in quelling the riots in the streets
is simply ridiculous. That was the work of the police and the military
under the commissioners and General Brown.
The statement of the Police Commissioners, Acton and Bergen, on this
point is conclusive. They say that General Sandford's error consisted
in "not choosing to be in close communication with this department, when
alone through the police telegraph, and other certain means, trustworthy
information of the movements of the mob could be promptly had."
That single statement is enough to overthrow all of General Sandford's
assertions about the riot. It was hardly necessary for them to declare
further in their letter to General Brown:
"So far from your action having had the effect supposed by General
Sandford, we are of the opinion, already expressed in our address to
the police force, that through your prompt, vigorous, and intelligent
action, the intrepidity and steady valor of the small military force
under you, acting with the police force, the riotous proceedings were
arrested on Thursday night, and that without such aid mob violence would
have continued much longer."
WELL-EARNED PRAISE.
On the week after the riot the Board of Police Commissioners issued the
following address to the force, in which a well-earned tribute is paid
to the military:
_To the Metropolitan Police Force._
On the morning of Monday, the 13th inst., the peace and good order of
the city were broken by a mob collected in several quarters of the city,
for the avowed purpose of resisting the process of drafting names to
recruit the armies of the Union.
Vast crowds of men collected and fired the offices where drafting was in
progress, beating and driving the officers from duty.
From the beginning, these violent proceedings were accompanied by arson,
robbery, and murder.
Private property, unofficial persons of all ages, sexes, and conditions,
were indiscriminately assailed--none were spared, except those who were
supposed by the mob to sympathize with their proceedings.
Early in the day the Superintendent was assaulted, cruelly beaten,
robbed, and disabled by the mob which was engaged in burning the provost
marshal's office in Third Avenue, thus in a manner disarranging the
organization at the Central Department, throwing new, unwonted, and
responsible duties upon the Board.
At this juncture the telegraph wires of the department were cut, and the
movement of the railroads and stages violently interrupted, interfering
seriously with our accustomed means of transmitting orders and
concentrating forces.
The militia of the city were absent at the seat of war, fighting the
battles of the nation against treason and secession, and there was no
adequate force in the city for the first twelve hours to resist at all
points the vast and infuriated mob. The police force was not strong
enough in any precinct to make head, unaided, against the overwhelming
force. No course was left but to concentrate the whole force at the
Central Department, and thence send detachments able to encounter and
conquer the rioters. This course was promptly adopted on Monday morning.
The military were called upon to act in aid of the civil force to subdue
the treasonable mob, protect life and property, and restore public
order.
Under such, adverse circumstances you were called upon to encounter a
mob of such strength as have never before been seen, in this country.
The force of militia under General Sandford, who were called into
service by the authority of this Board, were concentrated by him at and
held the arsenal in Seventh Avenue, throughout the contest. The military
forces in command of Brevet Brigadier-general Harvey Brown reported
at the Central Department, and there General Brown established his
head-quarters, and from there expeditions, combined of police and
military force, were sent out that in all cases conquered, defeated, or
dispersed the mob force, and subjected them to severe chastisement. In
no instance did these detachments from the Central Department, whether
of police alone or police and military combined, meet with defeat or
serious check.
In all cases they achieved prompt and decisive victories. The contest
continued through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and till 11
o'clock on Thursday night, like a continuous battle, when it ended by a
total and sanguinary rout of the insurgents.
During the whole of those anxious days and nights, Brigadier-general
Brown remained at the Central Department, ordering the movements of the
military in carefully considered combinations with the police force, and
throughout the struggle, and until its close, commanded the admiration
and gratitude of the Police Department and all who witnessed his firm
intelligence and soldierly conduct.
It is understood that he had at no time under his immediate command more
than three hundred troops, but they were of the highest order, and were
commanded by officers of courage and ability. They cordially acted
with, supported, and were supported by, the police, and victory in
every contest against fearful odds, was the result of brave fighting and
intelligent command.
In the judgment of this Board, the escape of the city from the power
of an infuriated mob is due to the aid furnished the police by
Brigadier-general Brown and the small military force under his command.
No one can doubt, who saw him, as we did, that during those anxious and
eventful days and nights Brigadier-general Harvey Brown was equal to the
situation, and was the right man in the right place.
We avail ourselves of this occasion to tender to him, in the most
earnest and public manner, the thanks of the department and our own.
To the soldiers under his command we are grateful as to brave men
who perilled all to save the city from a reign of terror. To Captains
Putnam, Franklin, and Shelley, Lieutenant Ryer, and Lieutenant-colonel
Berens, officers of corps under the command of Brigadier-general Brown,
we are especially indebted, and we only discharge a duty when we commend
them to their superiors in rank and to the War Department for their
courageous and effective service.
Of the Inspectors, Captains, and Sergeants of police who led parties in
the fearful contest, we are proud to say that none faltered or failed.
Each was equal to the hour and the emergency. Not one failed to overcome
the danger, however imminent, or to defeat the enemy, however numerous.
Especial commendation is due to Drill-sergeant Copeland for his most
valuable aid in commanding the movements of larger detachments of the
police.
The patrolmen who were on duty fought through the numerous and fierce
conflicts with the steady courage of veteran soldiers, and have won, as
they deserve, the highest commendations from the public and from this
Board. In their ranks there was neither faltering nor straggling.
Devotion to duty and courage in the performance of it were universal.
The public and the department owe a debt of gratitude to the citizens
who voluntarily became special patrolmen, some three thousand of whom,
for several days and nights, did regular patrolmen's duty with great
effect.
In the name of the public, and of the department in which they were
volunteers, we thank them.
Mr. Crowley, the superintendent of the police telegraph, and the
attaches of his department, by untiring and sleepless vigilance in
transmitting information by telegraph unceasingly through more than ten
days and nights, have more than sustained the high reputation they have
always possessed.
Through all these bloody contests, through all the wearing fatigue and
wasting labor, you have demeaned yourselves like worthy members of the
Metropolitan Police.
The public judgment will commend and reward you. A kind Providence
has permitted you to escape with less casualties than could have been
expected. You have lost one comrade, whom you have buried with honor.
Your wounded will, it is hoped, all recover, to join you and share
honor. It is hoped that the severe but just chastisement which has been
inflicted upon those guilty of riot, pillage, arson, and murder,
will deter further attempts of that character. But if, arising out of
political or other causes, there should be another attempt to interrupt
public order, we shall call on you again to crush its authors, confident
that you will respond like brave men, as you ever have, to the calls of
duty; and in future, whenever the attempt may be made, you will have to
aid you large forces of military, ably commanded, and thus be enabled to
crush in the bud any attempted riot or revolution.
To General Canby, who, on the morning of Friday, the 17th inst., took
command of the military, relieving Brigadier-general Brown, and to Gen.
Dix, who succeeded General Wool, the public are indebted for prompt,
vigorous, and willing aid to the police force in all the expeditions
which have been called for since they assumed their commands. Charged
particularly with the protection of the immense amount of Federal
property and interests in the Metropolitan district, and the police
force charged with the maintenance of public order, the duties of the
two forces are always coincident.
Whatever menaces or disturbs one equally menaces and disturbs the other.
We are happy to know that at all times the several authorities have
co-operated with that concert and harmony which is necessary to secure
vigor and efficiency in action.
Sergeant Young, of the detective force, aided by Mr. Newcomb and other
special patrolmen, rendered most effective service in arranging the
commissary supplies for the large number of police, military, special
patrolmen, and destitute colored refugees, whose subsistence was thrown
unexpectedly on the department. The duty was arduous and responsible,
and was performed with vigor and fidelity. All the clerks of the
department, each in his sphere, performed a manly share of the heavy
duties growing out of these extraordinary circumstances. The Central
Department became a home of refuge for large numbers of poor, persecuted
colored men, women, and children, many of whom were wounded and sick,
and all of whom were helpless, exposed, and poor. Mr. John H. Keyser,
with his accustomed philanthropy, volunteered, and was appointed to
superintend these wretched victims of violence and prejudice, and has
devoted unwearied days to the duty. The pitiable condition of these poor
people appeals in the strongest terms to the Christian charity of the
benevolent and humane. The members of the force will do an acceptable
service by calling the attention to their condition of those who are
able and willing to contribute in charity to their relief.