New York City in the American Civil War

Powerful New York politicians and newspaper editors helped shape public opinion toward the war effort and the policies of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

As Southern states began seceding with the election of Lincoln, New Yorkers in general supported the war effort, but there were several notable early exceptions.

Wood's Democratic machine was concerned to maintain the revenues and jobs in the city (which depended on Southern cotton), which also supported the patronage system.

Led by William "Boss" Tweed, the Democrats were elected to numerous offices in New York City, and to the state legislature and judges' seats, often through illegal means.

A series of U.S. Army forts, most constructed prior to the war, housed garrisons of Union troops to protect New York Harbor and the city from possible Confederate attack, but none occurred.

Among the early regiments trained at Camp Astor were the Anderson Zouaves, commanded by Col. John Lafayette Riker, a descendant of the family who had owned the island.

In addition to government factories, hundreds of small private businesses throughout the New York area, such as the National Arms Company, provided military accoutrements, supplies, sundries, and items of use and comfort to the soldiers.

[3][4][5][6] Initially intended to express anger at the draft, which wealthier men could buy substitutes for, the protests quickly degraded into civil disorder against the Republicans and especially against Black Americans.

Using artillery and fixed bayonets, after the first day the military suppressed the mob, but not before numerous buildings were ransacked or destroyed, including many homes, the Tribune office, an orphanage for blacks, and P.T.

Greeley, who during the secession crisis of 1861 had espoused a hard line against the Confederacy, became a voice for the Radical Republicans during the war, in opposition to Lincoln's moderation.

Two journalists for the Brooklyn Eagle conspired to exploit the financial situation during early part of 1864, a plot known as the Civil War gold hoax.

Thomas W. Knox, a veteran journalist for the New York Herald, published a series of scathing attacks on General William Tecumseh Sherman and his men.

Secret agents from the Confederacy operated in New York City throughout the war, providing information on troop strengths, political views, shipments, etc.

The plot was initially foiled due to a double agent who turned over communications to Federal officials, and to a massive military presence that deterred the plotters.

But, on November 25, the saboteurs finally struck, setting fires at several hotels and other leading landmarks, including P. T. Barnum's museum, which had been rebuilt following the Draft Riots the year before.