Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-08-01

THE DRAFT RIOTS OF 1868 The
story of those terrible vs. Of July ha-
cen nlly told. shall not give il here,
hough an eye witness of the confused and
1loony scene. The trouble hegan, ms |
nave said, on Saturday, the ll,h; nearly
week bad passed before we knew that
We Were safe. ! was living Mt that time
IN The old rectcry OF the parish, 30 varlck
'lrret. Th" house stood in II dangerous
quarter The large garden was srpai ated
N the rear by mere brick wall from st
John lane and New York street, which
were inhabited almost excu'ively by
colored people. At St. Johns chapel.
which stood close by, we had large
Sunday school of colored children. twill
be remembered that bv some dull M b
'ogic, the rioters ascribed The public
troubles to the negro, and made that
unfortunate race the subject of incessan
assault. Intending to leave the ci y on
Monday, | was stopped by the rumor of
coming evil, and dared not he absent al
that trying time remember one of my
servants flying into my library thai
evening, with pale face, and telling me
tbat, while passing through Clarkson
street on some crrand, she had seen a
colored man hanging on tree. and men
and women setting him on fire as he
danged from the branches. treated the
story lightly and told her it must have
been IN efligy, but she constantly affirmed
that it was true; and she was right as
subsequently ascertained. That night, or
the following one, the streets behind the
rectory were sacked by the mob. | saw
their attack from an upper window of my
house and heard the bursting in of doors,
the crash of glass. and the roaring of
voices, with shrieks and cres-a verita-
be pandemonium. Next day | learned
that IN attack was planned on St, Johns
chapel, apparently Tor no other reason
than that we had our colored school there.
By prompt application to the authorities |
got watch set on the church, and a
squadron of dragons stood all night
drawn up outside my garden wall. ready
for the rioters if they should come.
Meanwhile at dozen different points
throughout the city battles were in prog
ress; and never was greater valor display
ed than by the police, who threw themselves
lionlike, uron the wild beasts, in the
proportion generally of 100 to 5000 taking
HO anu tuo otiCOlo
with dead and wounded wherever their
swift and terrible blows fell. Thus the
days wore on, with dust and smoke, with
fire and flame; with sack OF private
dwellings and burning of charitable insti-
tutons, armories, and draft stations; with
blood and wounds and every imaginable
instance of fatroclty on the part of the mad
dcned mob, till regiments, hurriedly
withdrawn from the front, came speeding
back to the city. and we saw the grim
batteries and weather stained and dusty
soldiers tramping into our leading streets
as if into Il town just taken by seige
There was some terrific fighting between
the regulars and the insurgents; streets
were swept again apd again by grape,
houses were stormed at the point of the
bayonet, rioters were picked off by sharp
shooters as they fired on the troops fl ON
the houselops; men were hurled dying or
dead, into the streets by the thoroughly
enraged sodiery; until at last, sullen AMI
wed, and thoroughly whipped and
bea ed, the miserable wretches gave way
ut every point and confessed the power of
the law. 1t has never been known how
many perished in those awful days.
According to the lowest estimate some
1900 of the rio ers must have heeo killed,
and five or six times that number wound
ed, but they hid their losses as far as
possible, and dspused of their dead In
slence and darkness.