page_title: New York in the American Civil War
section_title: Wartime politics
hierarchical_section_title: New York in the American Civil War / Wartime politics
caption_attribution_description: SOURCE: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/cph/3a30000/3a37000/3a37800/3a37879r.jpg U.S. Library of Congress FISH, HAMILTON. Photograph from Brady negative in Ansco Collection. [No date found on item.] Location: Biographical File Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-37517 Note: Gift, Ansco, Nov. 7, 1961. en:Category:United States history images
context_page_description: The state of New York during the American Civil War was a major influence in national politics, the Union war effort, and the media coverage of the war. New York was the most populous state in the Union during the Civil War, and provided more troops to the Union Army than any other state, as well as several significant military commanders and leaders.
  The Empire State was politically divided, with a significant peace movement, particularly in the mid- to late-war years, as well as being a strong bastion of Radical Republicans who favored harsh treatment of the rebelling Confederate States of America. New York provided a key member of the Lincoln Administration, as well as several important voices on Capitol Hill.
  The press and media of the state, heavily concentrated in New York City, influenced not only state politics and the public's view on the war, but helped shape and mold national opinion as well. Important periodicals based in New York included The New York Times, New York Tribune, Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, and others. German-born illustrator Thomas Nast was among the early political cartoonists.
context_section_description: In the presidential election of 1860, 362,646 (53.7%) New York voters chose Abraham Lincoln, with 312,510 (46.3%) supporting Democrat Stephen Douglas.
  Powerful New York politicians played important roles in setting national policy and procedures during the war. Roscoe Conkling was among the leading Radical Republicans who strongly supported the vigorous prosecution of the war. They were opposed by moderate Republicans including Henry Jarvis Raymond, a New York newspaperman who served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee in the latter half of the war. William H. Seward, a United States Senator from New York and an outspoken critic of Lincoln, became the Secretary of State and an important member of Lincoln's Cabinet.
  By contrast, the colorful mayor of New York City, Fernando Wood, was a prominent early supporter of the Confederate cause. He argued unsuccessfully that the city should secede from the Union as a separate entity. New York City had many economic and financial ties to the South; by 1820, half of its exports were related to cotton, and upstate textile mills processed Southern cotton. In addition, the numerous immigrants in New York worried that freeing slaves would bring more labor competition to a market where they struggled over the lowest-paid jobs.
  When the war began, former New York Governor Horatio Seymour took a cautious middle position within his Democratic Party, supporting the war effort but criticizing its conduct by the Lincoln administration. Seymour was especially critical of Lincoln's wartime centralization of power and restrictions on civil liberties, as well as his support of emancipation. In 1862, Seymour was again elected governor, defeating Republican candidate James S. Wadsworth. As governor of the Union's largest state, Seymour was the most prominent Democratic opponent of the President for the next two years. He strongly opposed the Lincoln administration's institution of the military draft in 1863.
  Alfred Ely, Chairman of the House Committee on Invalid Pensions, was among the first U.S. representatives to be captured by the Confederate Army when he and other civilian onlookers were taken prisoner following the First Battle of Bull Run. He spent six months in a Confederate prison before being exchanged and released.
  In 1861 and 1862, former U.S. Senator Hamilton Fish became associated with John A. Dix, William M. Evarts, William E. Dodge, A.T. Stewart, John Jacob Astor, and other New York men on the Union Defence Committee. They cooperated with the New York City government in the raising and equipping troops, and disbursed more than $1 million for the relief of New York volunteers and their families. Later in the war, several leading New York politicians and businessmen helped found the Union League, a pro-Union, pro-Lincoln organization that helped fund the Republican Party, as well as charitable relief groups such as the United States Sanitary Commission.
  During the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863, despite his sharp political differences with Pennsylvania's Republican Governor Andrew G. Curtin, Governor Seymour dispatched significant quantities of New York State Militia to Harrisburg to help repel the invasion of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The first Union soldier killed on Pennsylvania soil was a native Pennsylvanian, Corporal William H. Rihl serving in a company assigned to the 1st New York Cavalry.
caption: Hamilton Fish
exif: {}