1862 Buffalo riot

Civil disturbance at immigrant workers strike at Buffalo, New York February 2025 The Buffalo Riot of 1862 was a civil disturbance on the afternoon of August 12, 1862, by Irish and German stevedores against local dock bosses, and more broadly, the federal government. The rioters, frustrated by low wages and the federal government's call for a militia draft, demanded increased pay and prevented others from working at the old rates. They initially overpowered police, seriously injuring the chief of police and other officers, but were forced to surrender after police opened fire, wounding two. Although the mayor had called for the New York State Militia, police arrested the ringleaders before the militia was needed. A central cause of the riot was the Militia Act of 1862, Republican-sponsored legislation in July of that year which expanded President Abraham Lincoln's wartime powers. The bill gave Lincoln the authority to call for a draft of militia men in states with low volunteer numbers, and on August 4, Lincoln called for a draft of 300,000 of these men for nine months' service.r2WPadmin 2022-10-20 President Lincoln's Executive Order Authorizing a Draft https://www.ohiocivilwarcentral.com/president-lincolns-executive-order-authorizing-a-draft/ 2024-07-26 Ohio Civil War en-us New York State eventually furnished enough volunteers and avoided the draft altogether, but the mere possibility of a draft angered Buffalo's immigrant stevedores. Two days after Lincoln's call for a draft, the Buffalo Morning Express reported that men "talked of nothing else, and many faces wore an anxious and troubled expression, bearing witness to the unpleasantness of the idea of shouldering a musket under compulsion."In View of the Draft https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=bmea18620806-01.1.3&e=06-08-1862-06-08-1862--en-20--1--txt-txIN-buffalo-------Erie-- Buffalo Morning Express August 6, 1862 By August 12, Buffalo's stevedores were riled up.They gathered at a local christian churches for recruitment.6 MAX MCCARTHY, MAX MCCARTHY IRISH WAR ON BUFFALO WATERFRONT WAS ONE OF CITY'S MOST DRAMATIC CHAPTERS https://buffalonews.com/news/irish-war-on-buffalo-waterfront-was-one-of-citys-most-dramatic-chapters/article_a7c0b983-eb46-50f1-9ead-15b8f9ef6527.html https://web.archive.org/web/20250911160152/https://buffalonews.com/news/irish-war-on-buffalo-waterfront-was-one-of-citys-most-dramatic-chapters/article_a7c0b983-eb46-50f1-9ead-15b8f9ef6527.html 2025-09-11 2025-09-11 Buffalo News en Meeting at the Western Transportation Company's dock on the Erie Basin, more than two hundred local Irish and German dockworkers gathered to listen to a German speaker, who was standing on a pile of lumber. The speaker criticized Yankees who "had conspired against the German, Irish and Scotch residents of the country, to force them into the army." The riot was eventually quelled by Buffalo Police, and ended with some fourteen rioters jailed.SERIOUS RIOT OF DOCK LABORERS https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=bmea18620812-01.1.3&e=12-08-1862-12-08-1862--en-20--1--txt-txIN-buffalo-------Erie-- Buffalo Morning Express August 12, 1862 References https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9506E4DA1F3FEE34BC4B52DFBE668389679FDE RIOT IN BUFFALO. Strike of Irish and German Stevedores – The Police Force Overpowered – Final Arrest of the Ringleaders. August 13, 1862 The New York Times A very serious disturbance occurred yesterday afternoon on the docks, caused by the Irish and German stevedores demanding increased pay for their work, and preventing others from working at the old rates. 2009-06-09 Category:1862 riots Category:1862 in the United States Category:Labor disputes in New York (state) Category:Riots and civil disorder in New York (state) Category:Maritime labor disputes in the United States Category:Riots and civil unrest during the American Civil War Category:1862 in New York (state) Category:Labor-related riots in the United States Category:August 1862 in the United States