The Express.
London, England, 1849-05-30 00:00:00

thery
drives ro
Thu
l
re
staortoiihhnetnffeliedleiiain
military.
onris
antoliioinnt.h.bl.mt....l
fen.
rd,
drille
unlvenim of
iefetretebhmet
ua
ball
Apo
otsuoutiaeuhp
sch, r du t r
legaelarhe.icadtffd immediatelyp
police
g werelitt
nttlht
remember.we there
e pcs,.
euenpm tt
uuoaf.toirotiiiforce,tytit t
the myself
hteeeatloi
nwm:fi d
tt,has ft,
nreo..hee
N.,:
would remain there to await trdets. I underiar.tr4te
t
men qm,dwly
was to be a large police force at the theatre. )11
magistrates thought this force would be aufficienatn. 4...
fammeeobanhdadweartetaeked
assailingth ethheottbuseudianagel
march, and to distribute their ammusition, which
diately
an order to the arsenal yard for the hone beleeee 'et
nmoatrehice withl gororduenredds.taTeelhrseeghde,iihaem,,e
rapidly to tura-place. The field-pietas were. lee st
arsenal.o
wit
n
aware untilN dl.:ptrl
nagwceiaatsr
we
given
y et o
oppositett thr oee t
assailed ht
eea r :h.
he
0::.;
ground of; th " istut
h
d ad
centre
eedeu, elWlese.
coAh iroe'dunr nee:: o.uP
until
o o et present
iltw,
tweei
sgr e f hots
formed mPeert ee
stones and brickbats, by which almat every man
and the horses rendered almost unmatageable. nn
pushed rapidly through Astor-place, and through the'hole were assailed with a shower of stones ; -the •
followed them. Tree mob extended from AstexeoluL•-1,6
Bowery. The mounted men being conspieteme msrbs
ceived most of the atone', and were driven off the gruud"i
dismounted, returned through the moh, u d took earn sl
the infantry. They were halted in line across the opts
beyond the theatre, with a dense mob on both sides of
who were wailing them with all sorts of opprobrious eyi
theta, and frequent volleys of stones. Two hotline( te.
were stationed at each end of the theatre, mesa;
wawa the street. We moved down Astor-place until is igg'
a little past the centre of the theatre. The re le pat--
retreated to the middle and opposite side of the sotr.W.—.Z.
commenced en attack on the military by throeiamie.—'
atones. A number a men near by and General Kahl;
struck with stones and dangerously injured. Myself. Co
Duryea, and Capt. Shumway.were injured. At the eft,
pistol was fired by some man in the mob, by Which Cubit
Shumway war wounded in the leg, and, as I bairn, on,
red Hall in the face. Previous to this the crowd birth,
persona whose voima I did not recogniseha,
repeatedly notified by General Hall and myself, and bide
pens or they would be fired upon. I was at this tappet,
knocked down, and when I arose I found three metro
the front rank' purely down and the head of theme*
forced back toward the Opera-house, the shove f• T 0 sweat
this time being incessant ; orders were then gives by spi
and report/el by COI. Duryea to charge
troopssret,"heedby
„htoe cehraor.,,gde,„anthd" soemmepeot
behyettisset
was made but the crowd was go does upon the troops thstOn
thinelatirnmo Traltmetsfo
wet* forced back to the side walk ; I stated to the Mee
that it was impassible to maintain our position without
I several times called out to thelcrowd that they magi
back, or we would tire ; after this, the sheriff gave that
to fire. General Hall, who was a short distant:eases,
made an exclamation to fire over their heads; Wade
to fire war repeat d by myself and Col. Hayes, teeth
men fired once over the herniae( the crowd, egainstlioleag.
don's house. A shoot then came from the mob, elhui
have only blank cartridges, give it to them eosin," sad an
other volley of stones came instentl ; the troops ehert thei
ordered to fire again. I think the order was given by ea
self and General Hall. General Hall slid, "Fin In'
then, for the first time, the mob began to give wey. 1k
troops then moved forward, crossing the street, and Mine
the crowd before them until the troops got near the cone
of Leyfayette•place. The mob here rallied at the tea
of Lafayette-place, on one side, and at the corner of th
theatre and the broken ground, on the other tide, Rai
advanced, throwing volleys of stones; several of the troop
were hurt severely, and orders were given to the team e
fire—one half obliquely to the right, the other belt to th
left ; upon these two bodies of men this eat doer, and th
cro vd fell back into Lafayette-place and the broken 110:401
behind the theatre. There wee no firing alter this; is
mob kept a constant Mask upon the troops for some hes
with stones and brickbat.. ; the whole number of raitey
engaged in the coeflict was about 210, one-half of the be
toward Broadway and the other toward Bowery—the eel
has been variously estimated from ten to twenty Woonal ;
that they
I
Previously to leaving Eighth-street to go 1170004 18 01 .
front of the theatre, with the troops, I sett op tio
Light Artillery and the portion of the Sixth Rolm
that was to support it. Thi y arrived after the nag hi '
ceased. One gun was placed toward the Burry
the other toward Broadway. The infantry were ease
and the mob were again told that unless they la*
would be fired upon, and the artillery used, if new e
The mob dispersed, and tne firing ceased. Upwards
men of this small detachment of 210 men were impl,
chiefly before the fling commenced. Ido not belintie ,
the troops could have withdrawn in safety when the Me
war given to fire, and that they could not have mina
their pr eltion without tieing. During a period of
military service, I have laver seen a mob so violated'
one on that evening. I never before had occasion to p ;
the order to fire. a
The inquiry was adjourned to Sunday mortise, de 4
John J. V. Westervelt, the sheriff, was sworn, and kept •
evidence similar to that of General Sandford,
George W. Matsell, Chief of Police.—On Thuothybal
was tent for by the mayor, who told me that be we. leek
that there would be a riot at the Astor. plus Om* r
house. At six o'clock I occupied the house with IK I
policemen, and stationed them in different parts of I
house, I also placed about 75 policemen in a stable salmi
opposite Langdon's house, and covered the rear of tabor a
with two platoons of police. An immense crowd bad a
lected. The platoon.; coreisted of 25 men each, gape s
orders to the commandant of the police inside of the ham
to arrest the first pe-son that committed the first ape*
breech of the peace, and placed myself where I could bees .
so as to give the word. I also gave the commie donna
to talk to the people whenever they bad an mortar •
and to persuade them to be quiet. The play =mom
the audience appleuded, and some hissed ; all ea
noises were made. At this time nothing had beendsee
it
I considered an overt act. The violence continued to*
crease, and I requested the recorder ehould be sett h
A number of persons came to me, and censured no fore
suppressing the tumult. I ordered the amphitheatre cat
cleared of all persons who attempted to disturb tame,
which was done. The witness then went on to dee:sited'
ecenes which took plane immediately after the stakes
the outside of the house.
Frederick A. Talmadge, Recorder of the city, lanais
testmony.
William Hall, Brigadier-General of the 30th brink It
division, after detailing the particulars of the march tones
the Opera-house, said—Previous to arriving at the Opee
house one of the men who was on my right fellir
mode a groaning noise. I caught him as he felt,
asked him what was the matter. He put his beats*
back of hie head, and said he had been struck with am
He had to be taken out cf the line into a hose. lb
infantry here formed into lines to press the pew* inn
both ways, towards the Bowery and awards Brave.
after getting possession of the street the length of the Opet
keine, Geo. Sanford told me that he intended allow
police keep possession and tske military into Asterello
the police took possession. During this time we Iltn
stantly assailed by showers of atones, and may wire ru,
ously hurt ; one, as lwae informed last night, it is ape*
that he can live. I went into the theatre to see the Myr
saw bin and said it was impossible for to to omit:001X
position without the assistance of a magistrate, assert!
our men were knocked down and severely hint it
Sheriff and Chief of Police came with me and a Wilder
lic'men to take charge of the ground. The battalion
ra
placed in position then faced to the left. This esutedul
face towards Broeidway. Gen. Sandford gave the erie
march. We passed around into Astor-place, the ektrevir
us. In marching toward the theatre we took the tidenll
When about the centre of the theatre the order wood)
the street, and the bead of the columa was ordered t
face to the right and cross-Astor-place. We wan g
able to get across the street in consequent
immense concourse of palls there. The noise a
the people was tremendous ; a portion of the milieu/ e,
right war able to cross the street. Efforts were eat!
press the people back, and orders were given to tht pert
to disperse ; that we were loaded, and if they did sot
!
should fire upon them. At this time they were th•o!
stone,. Several of our men were disabled, to theta!"
t
so hurt that they had to leave the ground. emaroW,
let eu
t one-half f roomf
"hthee
fger o onutn
rankAot
fth"itise tfei si,lo
tI
toetttetti:
game en order to charge. I found that this was iston!
and ordered them to fall back to the curb stone. Abort
time some of the mob attempted to wrest pirate fro, O
lands of the military, but could not suecied. ww•
flerm a line but was able only partially to succeed. Somali
said to me, " Why don't you fire ?" I cannot say who*?
I think it was the chief of polioe. I made the roak !
we had no right to fire on an occasion like this resir,
had an order from the m"%istrate. Several of meta%
both sides of me were knocked
down. Genera Wean,.
Reg
the men who had been knocked down and bully tort.
mol Colonel lt aur7g
n
" This is too bad ; and not able to result it ;" Colosnu`
down.icorderme t twelve
es
was
vt
en thiseffeet
t timesf warc
yea made the remark, " Never mind, boys, 'n40,11.
guns ;" some person, I think the Recorder, (shown
mob to disperse, and told them if they did not the
yethhaeswatfuhtehoehnagadmusbeey
tary would fire upon them; the ease and confmist Ow_
great that I don't think it war heard ten feet from ell'
was standing ; one of the men had his bayonet hallo!
his gun, and the rattling of stones against the putout
to increase the noise; one of the men had his gut row;
nuke' by a stone striking it with so much force at !?...
bent the pan over on the barrel ; at this time more
of riff, men were disabled and had to leave the ream '•
she I think, gave us the order to fire ; I was stook!
a stone above my elbow, and also by one below the ,lb"
I hesitated a moment to give the order to firer in "1101
the mob would disperse, knowing that we erne
~..
with ball cartridges ; the order was giren Wirt !
should fire over their heads- I gave the oeder—M
which was promulgated by dol. Duryea, and oboe I rs
by General Sandford' I stepped in front of the liner
rated that they should elevate their pieces and finale
Langdon's house, between the first and second storyg
sheriff gave the word that we should fire high.
standing thus facing my men, a stone struck me
ein
tpe!
right of the col ,
about this time, before we fired, one of the men etorldio
Capt. Shumway had been hurt in the I.g. Afx the,
of
me byackpos,tthime
meffecdeitsatoeflywoldiahn
0361 have felt ev
tea 1
I
was over it was ascertained that the captain had_b
he was unable to do any more duty that night. CellO;
was also hurt in the face and taken away. At tne
my attention was called to my cheek, that was Meta'