page_title: Chicago railroad strike of 1877
section_title: Battle of the Viaduct
hierarchical_section_title: Chicago railroad strike of 1877 / July 26 / Battle of the Viaduct
caption_attribution_description: English: 1877 Battle of the Viaduct, Chicago
context_page_description: The Chicago railroad strike of 1877 was a series of work stoppages and civil unrest in Chicago, Illinois, which occurred as part of the larger national strikes and rioting of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Meetings of working men in Chicago on July 26 led to workers from a number of industries striking on the following morning, and over the next few days, large crowds gathered throughout the city, resulting in violent clashes with police. By the time order was restored on the evening of July 26, 14 to 30 rioters were dead or dying, and 35 to 100 civilian and nine to 13 policemen were wounded.
context_section_description: Elsewhere at the Halstead Street viaduct, the mob stopped streetcars and threw stones and fired pistols at the group of 25 police who arrived at the scene. The police returned fire, eventually exhausted their ammunition, and were forced to retreat.
  By 11:00 AM the crowd there had grown to 10,000. They were met with a larger detachment of police who charged the crowd with baton and pistol. The crowd broke and fled to the opposite site of the viaduct and into adjacent streets. Firing continued for a half hour, until, low on ammunition, the police once again were forced into an withdraw. This initially orderly retreat, turned to a rout, and the fled as far as Fifteenth Street where they met with a cavalry unit and police reinforcements.
  The combined force charged the mob, who broke and ran. They fired at the crowd and killed at least two. Others were beaten, at least one badly, having his skull crushed. The cavalry remained in the area the rest of the day to disperse groups as they gathered, and detain those who would not be removed. In this way more than a hundred were arrested. They were later reinforced by the Second Illinois Regiment, along with two artillery pieces, and at 12:30, at the mayor's behest, two additional companies of regular were dispatched.
caption: Battle at the Halstead Street viaduct
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