Abram Duryée Abram Duryée ( ; April 29 , 1815 – September 27 , 1890 ) was a Union Army general during the American Civil War , the commander of one of the most famous Zouave regiments , the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry . After the war he was New York City Police Commissioner . Birth and early years . Duryée was born in New York City to a family of soldiers of French Huguenot ancestry . His grandfather fought in the American Revolutionary War , and his father and two uncles were officers during the War of 1812 . Graduating from the grammar school at Columbia College , Abram worked as a merchant and became wealthy as a mahogany importer in New York . In 1833 , he joined the New York State Militia , serving in the 142nd New York Regiment . He moved on to the 27th Regiment ( the 7th today ) five years later . Starting as a private , he eventually rose to Colonel of the regiment in 1859 . During his time in the militia , he led the regiment in the Astor Place Riot and was wounded twice . When he resigned his commission in 1859 , it was against the protests of his colleagues . Civil War . Just after the start of Civil War , Duryée raised a new regiment , the 5th New York Volunteers , in less than a week . He became its colonel on May 14 , 1861 . It was one of the several Zouave units that were formed in the mid - 19th century . " Duryée ' s Zouaves " , as they became known , fought at Big Bethel . Duryée was appointed brigadier general , on August 31 , 1861 , to rank from that date . President Abraham Lincoln submitted the nomination to the U . S . Senate on December 21 , 1861 and the Senate confirmed the nomination on February 3 , 1862 . Duryée was given command of a brigade in the division under General James B . Ricketts . He later fought in the Battle of Cedar Mountain , Second Battle of Bull Run , and several others . At the Battle of Antietam , he succeeded Ricketts as division commander , when the latter replaced General Joseph Hooker as corps commander . He was not afraid to be in the thick of the action ; he was wounded at Second Bull Run , South Mountain , and Antietam . After Antietam , Duryée went on a short leave of absence , and , when he returned , was disheartened to find his brigade under the command of Brig . Gen . John Gibbon , who was his junior by date of rank . He resigned on January 5 , 1863 , after the army rejected his claims to his old command . Despite this , on July 20 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Duryée for appointment to the brevet grade of major general of volunteers , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the nomination on July 26 , 1866 . He was also elected by the 71st New York Infantry Regiment as their colonel and as Brigadier General by the 4th New York Brigade , both of which he declined . Later career . In 1873 , Duryée was appointed New York City Police Commissioner . During his tenure as police commissioner , on January 13 , 1874 , Duryée led a force of 1 , 600 policemen to suppress a labor protest in Tompkins Square Park . Although there were no notices in sight to inform the crowd that the meeting ' s permit had been revoked , Commissioner Duryée led a squad of patrolmen into the crowd and ordered protestors to disperse . Police immediately began to attack the crowd using batons and mounted police charges . Samuel Gompers later described the scene in his memoirs , writing that " mounted police charged the crowd on Eighth Street , riding them down and attacking men , women , and children without discrimination . It was an orgy of brutality . I was caught in the crowd on the street and barely saved my head from being cracked by jumping down a cellarway . " 46 protestors were arrested by the police , and ten were later arraigned on charges of assault and battery against police officers , aiding and inciting riot , or with charges of " meeting and talking wildly in the streets . " Speakers for the New York Committee of Safety , the organizers of the Tompkins Square protest , condemned Commissioner Duryée for having " charged his police upon inoffensive workingmen like so many ' bulldogs . ' " Duryée defended the police ' s use of force : " It was the most glorious sight I ever saw the way the police broke and drove the crowd . Their order was perfect as they charged with their clubs uplifted . " In 1884 , Duryée served as dockmaster . Abram Duryée died in New York and is buried in Green - Wood Cemetery , Brooklyn . Family . He had one son , Jacob Duryée ( 1839 – 1918 ) , who was also a lieutenant colonel in the Civil War , and who was nominated by President Andrew Johnson on July 5 , 1867 for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13 , 1865 , which the U . S . Senate confirmed on July 19 , 1867 .