St. tammany chapter 9

419
CHAPTER 9
New York’s Civil Wars
The era detailed in this chapter is one of carnage and corruption. It is also one of triumph and reform.
It is a time that shows some politicians at their worst, and others at their best. Two disparate events stand out in
this chapter. They both happen in July of 1863. The first is courage shown by the Tammany Regiment holding the
line on Cemetery Ridge. The second is wanton murder of African-Americans, lynched by mobs on the streets of
New York City. It is a decade unique, whose events reverberate to this day. In the thick of it all is Tammany Hall.
More than any other time, this era demonstrates the Society of St. Tammany as complex and multi-faceted.
It is a time that sees three great Amendments to the Constitution, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
Fifteenth. It is a time that also sees Tammany Hall opposing these Amendments, staging a national convention
with the motto: “This is a White Man’s Country; Let White Men Rule.” Tammany Hall will term Abraham Lincoln
“imbecile, extravagant, and corrupt” in life, and “wise, forbearing and magnanimous” in death. Factions that form
in the Society of St. Tammany during this decade include the Copperheads that side with the Confederates,
calling for a return to the “Union as it was,” and the War Democrats that support Lincoln’s reelection and his
vigorous prosecution of the Civil War.
Even though graft is nothing new to members of the Society of St. Tammany, the scope of certain
individuals’ ability to “concoct schemes of plunder against the treasury of the doomed metropolis,” as revealed in
this chapter, is staggering. These men have names: Richard B. Connolly, Peter B. Sweeny, and William M. Tweed.
The New York Times dogging and finally exposing these men will make it what it is today: a newspaper of record.
What will become known as the Tweed Ring will also seal the legacy of a man who uses his mighty pen for
drawing: Thomas Nast. Tweed’s meteoric rise will reach its apex on May 31, 1871 with the grand wedding of his
daughter. By July he will begin to tumble like Icarus, falling victim to hubris. With two moles having penetrated
the Ring’s inner sanctum, they deliver the goods to the Times’ publisher George Jones. William F. Havemeyer and
Samuel J. Tilden then lead the charge to prosecute the Ring and reform Tammany Hall. This reform will last, at
least for a time.
A hand-colored lithograph published by Charles Magnus, from the collection of the Library of Congress.

1861
1861
1861
420
As 1861 begins, Mayor Fernando Wood dons yet another political hat: that
of a Copperhead. A derisive term coined by the Republican Party, they link
its members to the poisonous snake. This faction is made up of extremists in
the Northern Democratic Party who side with the South in the impending
Civil War, and they adopt the name as a badge of honor. A natural evolution
of the Doughfaces, its core tenet is yielding to the Fire-Eaters and negotiating
an immediate peace settlement with the Confederacy. Taking a cue from South
Carolina, Mayor Wood proposes that New York City secede from the United
States in an address to the Common Council on January 6. His reasoning is two-
fold. First, he hopes to maintain the Port of New York as the main conduit for
exporting Southern cotton to Europe and strip the heavy import tariffs imposed
on the Port from the Federal government. Second, by creating a City-State, this
new charter would allow Wood to regain full control of New York City from
New York State. As reported in the New-York Times of January 7, Wood’s lengthy
address is summed up with the following excerpts:
“In the first article of the new instrument it is ordained that the City of New-York be and
from henceforth forever hereafter shall be and remain a free city of itself.”
“When disunion has become a fixed and certain fact, why may not New-York disrupt the
bands which bind her to a corrupt and venal master—to a people and a party that have plundered
her revenues, attempted to ruin her commerce, taken away the power of self-government and
destroyed the Confederacy of which she was the proud Empire City? Amid the gloom which the
present and prospective condition of things must cast over the country, New-York, as a Free City,
may shed the only light and hope for a future reconstruction of our once blessed Confederacy.”
The reaction in the New York press is swift, with the New-York Tribune of January
8 stating:
“Mr. Fernando Wood evidently wants to be a traitor; it is lack of courage only that makes
him content with being a blackguard. His Message is plainly intended to stimulate and fortify others
in reason while he takes care to keep his own neck out of the halter. It will be read and rejoiced over
in every nest of Fire-Eaters as proof that this City justifies and will back the Secessionists, though
everybody here knows that such is not the fact.”
The general public views Wood’s proposal with derision, but in private it is
seriously considered by the merchant elite, many of them being members of the
Society of St. Tammany. However, the financial rewards of Woods declaration
of independence are soon rendered moot. On March 1, 1861 the provisional
government of the Confederacy cuts in half the import tariffs at its Southern ports
that is excised by the Federal Government at the Port of New York. The aim is to
divert European goods bound for New York to Charleston, Savannah, and New
Orleans, and strip New York and the Union of revenue. 1
With this, Wood’s dream
of establishing a “Free City” goes nowhere.
On January 9, the New-York Times reports of the annual celebration of the Battle of
New Orleans held at Tammany Hall. The article notes the Society of St. Tammany
honoring a man it once scorned, Henry Clay:
“Around the Hall, at regular intervals, were hung the arms of the original thirteen States,
with two oil portraits of WASHINGTON, and one each of POLK, CLAY and LAFAYETTE.”
That article goes on to report of the following banner hung at the celebration:

1861
1861
1861
421
America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany
“‘I mean to stand upon the Constitution; I need no other platform.’ -- Daniel Webster’s Speech in
the Senate, July 17, 1850.
Of this latter quotation it is worthy of remark that last night was the first occasion when anything
from WEBSTER’S works or speeches has been so used by way of motto, in Tammany Hall.”
In celebrating Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in death—the two pillars of the
Whigs—Tammany Hall buries the hatchet with a Party no longer a threat.
On February 5, with Senator William H. Seward’s appointment as Secretary of
State imminent, The Republican led New York State legislature elects Ira Harris
as its new Senator. Harris is a committed Republican, former Assemblyman, and
Justice of the New York Supreme Court.
On February 9, a Confederate Constitutional Convention is held in Montgomery,
Alabama. Jefferson Davis, former United States Senator from Mississippi, wins by
acclamation, becoming President of the Confederate States of America. His Vice
President is Alexander H. Stephens, former Congressman from Georgia. These
two men will quarrel for much of the war. 2
On February 20, President-elect Abraham Lincoln, on his way to Washington,
visits New York City. It is his second visit. His last will occur on April 25, 1865.
Staying at Astor House, he makes his way to City Hall to be greeted by Mayor
Wood.
The Presidential Journey - Reception Of President Lincoln By Fernando Wood,
Mayor Of New York, At The City Hall, On Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 1861.
From the collection of the New York Public Library.

1861
1861
1861
1861
422
The Albany Evening Journal of February 20 reports of Wood’s welcome and
Lincoln’s reply, cordial on the surface, but each with its own agenda lying just
below. Speaking of New York City, Wood states:
“The present political division has sorely afflicted her people. All here material interests
are paralyzed, her commercial greatness is endangered. She is the child of the American Union, she
has grown up under its maternal care, and been fostered by its paternal bounty, and we fear that if
the Union dies, the present supremacy of New York may perish with it. To you, therefore, chosen
under the forms of the Constitution as the head of the Confederacy, we look for a restoration of
fraternal relations between the States, only to be accomplished by peaceful and conciliatory means,
aided by the wisdom of Almighty God.”
To this Lincoln replies:
“There is nothing which could ever bring me to consent willingly to the destruction of
that Union, under which not alone the great commercial city of New York, but the whole country,
has acquired greatness, unless it should be the loss that for which the Union itself is made.
As I understand it, the ship is made for the carriage of preservation of the cargo, and so
long as the ship can be saved with the cargo, it should never be abandoned. We should never cease
in our efforts to save it, so long as it can be done without throwing overboard the passengers and
the cargo. So long as the prosperity and liberty of this people can be preserved in the Union, it will
be my purpose, and shall be my effort, at all times, to preserve that Union.”
On March 4, Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin are inaugurated President
and Vice-President of the United States.
By April, Fort Sumter, a key Federal sea fort in the harbor of Charleston, South
Carolina, is under siege. This is after an unarmed supply ship sent by then
President Buchanan is turned away after being fired on by shore batteries on
January 9. By this time seven Southern States have formally declared secession
from the United States forming the Confederate States of America. President
Lincoln notifies Francis W. Pickens, Governor of South Carolina, that he intends
to send armed ships to resupply the fort. This leads the Confederate government
giving an ultimatum to Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter, to
evacuate with all due haste. Anderson refuses to surrender. At dawn on April 12,
Confederate Major General P. G. T. Beauregard orders his shore batteries to begin
bombardment of the fort. Anderson holds out for a day and half. Whereupon
realizing that he is outgunned and outmanned, and with food and supplies
dwindling, Anderson agrees to evacuate. With this event, the American Civil War
is on.
On April 27, the New-York Evening Post reports that:
“At a special meeting of the Tammany Hall General Committee last evening a series
of resolutions were presented and unanimously adopted calling upon the democracy to rally in
support of the Union and the American flag. The resolutions condemn the conduct of the seceded
states in commencing the civil war, declare the democratic party of the city a unit in the desire to
uphold the constitution, maintain the Union, defend the flag, and protect the capitol of the United
States, and resolve that all question as to what has been done or committed in the way of concession
and conciliation, and all question respecting the course and policy of the Administration should be
forgotten until the national honor has been vindicated and the national power firmly established.
The committee ordered banners with the motto ‘The union must and shall be preserved’
to he suspended in front of Tammany Hall.”

1861
1861
423
Tammany Hall once again looks to a man it reveres: Andrew Jackson. The
banner is a nod to Jackson’s famous quote delivered at the Jefferson Day Dinner
in Washington on April 13, 1830. His Vice President, John C. Calhoun is in
attendance. Calhoun foments the Nullification Crisis, in which South Carolina
declares Federal tariffs on it null—essentially an act of secession. Looking Calhoun
in the eye, Jackson states: “Our Federal Union—it must be preserved.” To which
Calhoun, son of South Carolina, retorts: “The Union—next to our liberty the most
dear.” 3
The crisis is diffused with the Compromise Tariff of 1833, but the explosive
material remains, waiting twenty-eight years for a new fuse. Tammany’s use of
Jackson’s quote comes at a time that sees New York City flush with patriotic fever.
That will all change.
A hand-colored lithograph by E.B. & E.C. Kellogg, published by Geo. Whiting.
From the collection of the Library of Congress.
On May 14, the New-York Daily Tribune reports of a meeting at Tammany Hall
in which several Sachems are installed, including William D. Kennedy, who will
subsequently be named Grand Sachem. He is the brother of Police Superintendent
John A. Kennedy, who will go on figure heavily in the events of July 13-16, 1863.
On May 26, the New-York Times reports of:
“THE TAMMANY REGIMENT
This regiment, sometimes known as the Jackson Guard, appeared on the ground without
uniforms or muskets, but nevertheless, making a good appearance. The number 975.”
The Times goes on to report that William D. Kennedy is made Colonel of what will
be formally called the 42nd New York Infantry.

1861
1861
1861
1861
1861
424
On June 3, having contracted typhoid fever, Senator Stephen A. Douglas dies in
Chicago, Illinois. On June 4, the New-York Daily Tribune reports:
“At a regular meeting of the Tammany Society, held last evening, the death of Senator
Douglas was announced by the Presiding Officer Elijah F. Purdy, and the consideration of all other
business postponed.”
The Tribune goes on to report that William D. Kennedy makes an “eloquent speech”
lauding Douglas.
With his chance of becoming cannon fodder denied, the New-York Daily Tribune
of June 13 reports that:
“A Man Hangs Himself at Tammany Hall.—A man, evidently a stranger in the city, applied
to the Sergeant of a recruiting station at Tammany Hall, about 10 o’clock in the morning and
expressed a desire to enlist in the service of his country. The applicant, after a brief examination,
was told that he did not come up to the regulation height, and consequently could not be received
into the regiment. He thereupon proceeded in the yard of the hotel, saying, ‘I must do something.’
Nothing more was seen of him till half an hour, subsequently, when one of the attaches of the hotel
found the stranger suspended by the neck in a corner of the yard.”
On July 6, the New-York Times reports that:
“The time-honored celebration of the glorious Fourth by the disciples of St. Tammany,
was remembered yesterday by all who worthily bear the name in this City. The occasion was one
of more than the usual enthusiasm and significance, and was attended by a large gathering of the
members, as well as citizens, without respect to party. The National Guard Band added greatly to
the attraction, and enlivened the proceedings.
At one o’clock, P.M., WILLIAM D. KENNEDY, the Grand Sachem, followed by the
members of the Order in uniform, entered the Hall, and took seats on the platform. Mr. KENNEDY
welcomed them all to the present celebration, and referred to the greatly changed condition of the
country since the last meeting. He was hopeful, however, as to the entire ability of the Government
to rescue the country from its present misfortunes. The motto of Gen. JACKSON—”The Union, it
must and shall be preserved”—was the sentiment of the City of New-York. [Cheers.]”
On July 18, the New-York Times reports:
“LOCAL MILITARY; DEPARTURE OF THE TAMMANY REGIMENT.
This regiment was ordered to break camp at 3 o’clock this morning, and proceed at once
to Washington. The steamer Kill Von Kull has been chartered to take the regiment direct from
Great Neck, where it has been encamped for some time past, to Elizabethport; from thence it will
take the cars for the Capital.”
In reaction to Tammany mustering troops, Mayor Wood flips once again. Not to
outdone, he has his Mozart Hall raise their own regiment.
On July 22, the New-York Evening Post reports of the:
“Death of Colonel William D. Kennedy.
Colonel William D. Kennedy of the Tammany Regiment, of this city, died at Washington
this morning. He was in poor health when he left this city last week, having been exhausted by the
labors in raising and drilling his regiment. He was attacked by congestion of the brain a day or two
since, and the rallying power of the system being reduced, he succumbed to the disease.Colonel
Kennedy held, at the time of his decease, the post of Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society. He
was widely know and generally popular.”

1861
1861
1861
1861
425
Because of Colonel Kennedy’s illness and death, the Tammany regiment fails to
engage in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21—a rout of the Union forces by the
Confederates—but under a succession of commanders, it will go on to take part
in thirty-six battles and engagements, with 92 being killed, 328 wounded, and 298
missing. 4
On September 3, the New-York Evening Post reports of a meeting at Tammany Hall
that rejects any affiliation with Mozart Hall in the upcoming State Democratic
Convention, at which the Sachems single out the Mayor’s brother:

“Its representative at the State Committee, Mr. Benjamin Wood, refused to support the moderate
resolutions in favor of the Union and against secession introduced in that body, and in Congress
and elsewhere has been the northern friend of our southern foes. Your association may pass
unmeaning resolutions, but in the face of such facts can occupy but one position before the country.
Tammany Hall can have no affiliation with an organization maintaining such principles
or fellowship with men engaged is such acts of pracitical treason to the country.”
This resolution is signed by among others, Peter B. Sweeny.
On October 4, the New-York Times reports Tammany Hall denouncing a
Copperhead resolution at the Democratic State Convention held at Syracuse:
“Tammany Hall does not mean to be betrayed by the Democratic wire-pullers of the State
into any questionable position on the great issue of the day. She has issued an address repudiating,
in very explicit and unmistakable terms, the ‘peace’ resolution of the State Convention, and
proclaiming the paramount duty of sustaining the Administration in its efforts to crush this
rebellion.”
The War Democrats prevail at the “Independent People’s” convention, and mount
a fusion slate of candidates with the Republicans.
On November 5, the New York State election is held. The fusion “Union Party”
made up of War Democrats and Republicans, prevail over the Copperheads and
sweep the election, including all elected offices except Canal Commissioner. They
also win a large majority in the race for State Senate and Assembly. Richard B.
Connolly, running as a straight Democrat, is reelected State Senator.
The New York City elections are held as well. With John Kelly declining to
run again for Sheriff, Fernando Wood’s Mozart Hall backs one James Lynch, and
the Republicans candidate is Josiah W. Brown. Both of these men’s background
is unclear. Tammany’s war with Wood leads them to run William M. Tweed as
a spoiler—at considerable personal expense to Tweed. In the race for District
Attorney, Tammany backs incumbent and Tammany Sachem Nelson J. Waterbury.
The Republicans candidate is former D.A. A. Oakey Hall. Lynch wins the race for
Sheriff, Hall for District Attorney.
Up next is the New York City mayoral election. The New-York Times of November
19, describes the three candidates:
“Tammany Hall nominated, last night, JAMES T. BRADY for Mayor, and he was indorsed
by the Germans and one of the multitudinous Union parties of the day. GEORGE OPDYKE has
been nominated by the Republicans. Thus, we have two strong candidates in the field. We presume
that Mayor WOOD will soon be put in nomination, and that thus the campaign will be fairly
opened with a triangular contest.”

1861
1861
1862
1862
1862
1862
426
Brady declines the nomination, and Tammany Hall then falls back on C. Godfrey
Gunther as its candidate.
On December 3, the mayoral election is held. Running on a fusion ticket, George
Opdyke is elected mayor, with C. Godfrey Gunther coming in second, and
Fernando Wood coming in last. Opdyke will go on to preside over one of the low
points of New York City.
On December 4, the New-York Times reports of Tammany Hall’s reaction to the
mayoral contest:
“AT TAMMANY HALL. The Wigwam Rejoices at the Defeat of Wood.”
On January 8, the New-York Evening Post reports:
“Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.
Today is the anniversary of General Jackson’s victory over the British near New Orleans.
The occasion will not, however, be honored by any public celebration. No military demonstration
will be made. Not even the usual dinner of the Tammany Society will be given; and there will be
no speeches, no letters, nor toasts. Nothing more than a few discharges of cannon—and perhaps
not so much—will distinguish the day.”
On January 21, the New-York Times reports:
“BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.—ORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD FOR 1862—ELIJAH F.
PURDY ELECTED PRESIDENT—ALL THE OTHER OFFICERS RE-ELECTED—$25,000 FOR
THE NEW COURT HOUSE—ANNUAL REPORT OF THE EXCISE COMMISSIONERS.
The annual meeting of this Board was held yesterday, Mr. TWEED in the chair.”
Elijah F. Purdy is a long time member of the Society of St. Tammany, a former
Alderman, and State Senator. The “NEW COURT HOUSE” will become known as
the Tweed Courthouse. $25,000 to further fund construction of the courthouse—
begun in 1858—will, in retrospect, seem like a drop in the bucket. By this time his
friend and colleague New York Supreme Court Judge George G. Barnard certifies
Tweed a lawyer. This is in spite of Tweed having no formal legal training. Tweed
hangs his shingle at 95 Duane Street, just up Broadway from Tammany Hall.
On February 11, the New-York Daily Tribune reports of a meeting of the Council
of Sachems at Tammany Hall, the object of which is to select a new Grand Sachem
to replace William D. Kennedy. The Tribune reports the Nelson J. Waterbury is
elected Grand Sachem on the third ballot. Waterbury, a lawyer, is a long time
member of the Society of St. Tammany. He serves as New York District Attorney
from January 1859 to December 1861. In 1842, he and Samuel J. Tilden form a law
partnership, their first. 5
In the twenty years that pass, Waterbury and Tilden form
entirely different opinions on the legitimacy of slavery, and Waterbury will soon
show his true colors.
On February 20, Washington’s contaminated drinking water that most likely
claimed the lives of two former Presidents—William Henry Harrison and Zachary
Taylor—takes another victim: Abraham Lincoln’s young son William Wallace
Lincoln. He is eleven years old and succumbs to typhoid fever.

1862
427
Photograph of William Wallace Lincoln taken shortly before his death.
By Mathew Brady, from the collection of the Newberry Library.
On March 5, the New-York Daily Tribune reports that:
“Mr. Nelson J. Waterbury, in a plea for the perpetuation of Slavery, delivered before the
Tammany Society on Monday night, declared the any attempt to violate the rights of the Rebels ‘by
imposing on them officers not of their own choosing, would be an outrage on the Constitution as
wicked and indefensible, as the present Rebellion.’”
What Waterbury is referring to, as “an outrage on the Constitution” is President
Lincoln appointing former Democratic Governor of Tennessee Andrew Johnson
as the State’s new Military Governor.

1862
1862
1862
1862
428
On May 13, the New-York Evening Post prints a brief article of a meeting at
Tammany Hall on May 12, St. Tammany Day. Elijah F. Purdy, Peter B. Sweeny, and
John Kelly are among those installed as Sachems.
John Kelly is born April 20, 1822 in Hester Street near Mott Street in
the Seventh Ward. He is raised a devout Catholic by his parents who are Irish
immigrants, and remains devoted to his faith. As a teenager, he is taken under the
wing of New-York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who makes Kelly
his office boy. He later learns the stone cutting trade 6
before being elected to the
Common Council in 1853. During his term in Congress, he is noted for standing
up to anti-Catholic sentiment at a time when the Know-Nothings are warning of
a coup by Rome. He is the only Catholic in Congress during this period. 7
By this
time, Kelly is happily married with two daughters and a son. Personal tragedy in
the coming years will have a profound effect on Kelly’s political legacy.
On July 5, the New-York Daily Tribune reports of celebrations held at Tammany
Hall commemorating Independence Day. Copperheads dominate the celebration
led by Grand Sachem Nelson J. Waterbury. Publically supporting the Union
troops, but all the while wishing to return the Nation to “the Union as it was,” the
Tribune goes on to report that:
“Mr. Waterbury called upon the men of the country to rally around the flag, and give
succor to the men who were nobly fighting for it. President Lincoln had done well, and if he could
succeed in putting the heel of power upon the neck of Abolition, and keep it under his foot, the
thanks of the nation would be his due. Our soldiers could fight unembarrassed, and victory would
soon perch upon the national banner.”
On September 22, President Lincoln will put his foot down, but it will not be
“upon the neck of Abolition.”
OnJuly24,MartinVanBuren,inhis79thyear,diesofnaturalcausesatLindenwald,
his estate at Kinderhook, New York. Keeping up a tradition of scorning one in life,
and honoring them in death, the New-York Daily Tribune of July 26 reports :
THE TAMMANY SOCIETY
Meeting in relation in the Death of Martin Van Buren
Last evening a meeting of the Tammany Society was held at Tammany Hall. Nelson J. Waterbury,
in the chair. The following resolutions were adopted:
“Resolved, That this Society have heard with profound regret of the death of Martin Van
Buren, ex-President of the United States.
Resolved, That the eminent services rendered to this country by the deceased during his
long and faithful public life; the wisdom, firmness, and success which marked his administration
of our National Government, and the dignity and patriotism manifested by him in his retirement,
have deeply embraced Mr. Van Buren in the confidence and esteem of his countrymen.”
On September 11, the New-York Herald reports of the Democratic State
Convention held at Albany:
“In the Democratic State Convention this evening Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour was
unanimously nominated. He made a lengthy speech, denying emphatically that the men now in
power could save the country. He bitterly denounced Congress, for the Confiscation and similar
measures; denouncing arrests for political offences as illegal; was willing to carry out the war
constitutionally.”

1862
1862
1862
1862
429
Seymour, an old school Hunker, Hard Shell, and now Copperhead, is a member of
the Society of St. Tammany starting in 1853. It is interesting to see the Copperheads
keep referring to the Constitution as a justification for ending the War on the
Confederates terms. Fernando Wood is nominated as a candidate for Congress
with the backing of Tammany Hall, for no other reason than to get him out of
their hair. In constantly shifting alliances, the “Democratic/Constitutional Union”
mounts a ticket against the “Republican Union” ticket.
What starts out as a Sunday lark, with ladies and gentlemen in Washington laden
with picnic baskets clamoring for carriages to view the First Battle of Bull Run, 8
soon becomes the stark reality of modern war. Walt Whitman volunteers as a
hospital worker, and describes the War as “a great slaughter-house & the men
mutually butchering each other.” 9
In 1862, nearly seventy thousand casualties of
Union and Confederate soldiers are the result of three battles alone: the Battle of
Shiloh, the Second Battle of Bull Run, and on September 17, the Battle of Antietam.
Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, advancing toward Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, meets with George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac at a cornfield
by a little creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. This results in the single bloodiest day
on United States soil, with combined causalities of over 22,000 dead, wounded, or
missing. It is a toss-up as to who wins. McClellan stops Lee’s advance into Union
territory, but Lee is able successfully retreat, allowing him to fight another day.
McClellan’s Army is more than twice the size of Lee’s, and his being overly cautious,
unable to finishing off Lee, is extremely troubling to President Lincoln. This leads
his Commander-in-Chief to remove McClellan from command in November. In
two years time, Tammany Hall will groom McClellan to unseat Lincoln.
Having drafted a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in July, Lincoln meets
with his Cabinet on September 22, five days after the Battle of Antietam. At the
meeting, Lincoln states to those present: “The time for the annunciation of the
emancipation policy could be no longer delayed.” He then turns to Secretary of the
Treasury Salmon Chase and says: “I made a solemn vow before God, that if General
Lee was driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration
of freedom to the slaves.” 10
On October 7, the New-York Times reports:
“The two factions of the Democratic Party, which have so long been waging a bitter war
against each other—Tammany and Mozart—yesterday afternoon came together, buried the hatchet
and resolved to act as a unit at the ensuing election. This coalition gives Tammany the Supervisor,
three Congressmen, and nine Assemblymen, and Mozart, the Surrogate, three Congressmen and
eight Assemblymen.”
On November 4, the New York State election is held. It is a clean sweep for the
Democratic/Constitutional Union ticket for State offices, with Horatio Seymour
being once again elected Governor. In the race for State Assembly, the Democrats
spilt with the Republicans, 64 to 64. In the race for Congress it is a Democratic
sweeptheNewYorkCitydistrictsbywhattheEvening Post termsthe“Seymourites.”
This includes Fernando Wood. Wood will now carry his Copperhead fight to
Washington. As 1863 dawns, Wood’s bitter enemy William M. Tweed is elected
Chairman of the General Committee of Tammany Hall.

1863
1863
430
On January 1, a formal lithograph containing the Emancipation Proclamation is
presented to Abraham Lincoln for signing. Historian F.B. Carpenter relates the
events of the day:
“The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on
the first day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and his son Frederick. As it lay unrolled before
him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held
it a moment, and then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesitation he again
took up the pen and went through the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr.
Seward, and said: ‘I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my right arm is
almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in
it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will
say, He hesitated.’ He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly wrote that
‘Abraham Lincoln’ with which the whole world is now familiar. He looked up, smiled, and said:
‘That will do.’ ” 11
On January 6, member of the Society of St. Tammany, Copperhead, and newly
reelected Governor of New York Horatio Seymour, delivers a lengthy address on
the state of the State and the Union. His remarks soon turn to the Emancipation
Proclamation, as reported in the New-York Times of January 7:
“We must not only support the Constitution of the United States and maintain the
rights of the States, but we must restore our Union as it was before the outbreak of the war. The
assertion that this war was the unavoidable result of Slavery is not only erroneous, but it has led
to a disastrous policy in its prosecution. The opinion that Slavery must be abolished to restore our
Union, creates an antagonism between the Free and Slave States which ought not to exist.”
The man of the people! Governor Horatio Seymour. Elected by ten thousand
majority, November 1862. Surrounded by his friends.
Lithograph by Ferd, Mayer & Co. Published by August Marpé.

1863
1863
1863
1863
1863
1863
431
On January 8, no mention in made in the New York press of a celebration at
Tammany Hall, commemorating Tennessean Andrew Jackson’s victory at the
Battle of New Orleans.
On February 3, former Governor Edwin D. Morgan is elected to the United States
Senate by the New York State Legislature.
On April 21, the New-York Daily Tribune reports:
“The Tammany Society elected Sachems last evening. There was but a single ticket, and
no row. Elijah F. Purdy, Copperhead, was chosen head Indian.”
Although the Tribune terms Purdy a copperhead, he will go on to be known as
War Horse Purdy
On May 12, no mention is made in the New York press of a celebration of St.
Tammany Day at Tammany Hall.
On May 22, in response to the Emancipation Proclamation, and realizing that
the Union is in need of good fighting men, black or white, the United States
War Department issues General Order Number 143 to raise segregated African-
American regiments. In all, over 178,000 men are raised, comprising of 175
regiments, of what is known as the United States Colored Troops.
The term Turning Point is defined as “a time at which a decisive change in a situation
occurs.” And that is what takes place on the first three days of July, at a little town
in south central Pennsylvania near the Maryland border. The name of this town
becomes indelibly marked in the conciseness of all Americans—Gettysburg.
In what may be his most brilliant victory, Robert E. Lee’s Confederate
Army of Northern Virginia, at 60,000 men, defeats the Army of the Potomac at
Virginia’s Battle of Chancellorsville on May 6. Now led by Joseph Hooker, the
Union forces are more than twice the size of Lee’s. By this time, Lee is convinced
that his men are invincible. 12
Flush from this victory, Lee leads his men through
Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Prodded by Lincoln, Hooker takes his Army
in pursuit of Lee. Hooker is the third ineffective commander of the Army of the
Potomac, preceded by Ambrose Burnside and George McClellan. Lincoln needs
to find a winner, and soon. The Army of the Potomac now includes the Tammany
Regiment under command of Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps. It
also includes Maj. General George V. Meade’s V Corps, and Maj. Gen. Daniel E.
Sickles’ III Corps.
Sickles—a Political General, never having received formal training at West
Point—uses his political connections to overcome Congressional objections to his
commission in the 12th Regiment of the New York National Guard, and goes on
to be appointed by Lincoln as Major General. Sickles and Hooker are close, but on
June 28, a dissatisfied Lincoln relieves Hooker of command and appoints Meade.
The Battle of Gettysburg is an event too epic to be related in this work with
any justice, but for the purpose of this history, two things stand out, and they both
occur on the third day of the Battle, where after two days of fighting the Union
forces hold the high ground just south of the town, concentrated at a location
known as Cemetery Ridge.

432
ThefirstinvolvestheactionsofDanielSickles.InanactofinsubordinationtoArmy
of the Potomac Commander General George G. Meade, he moves his command,
the III Corps, from a defensive position at Cemetery Ridge to the Peach Orchard,
where it is decimated by the Confederate Corps of Lt. General James Longstreet.
At this engagement, a cannonball shatters Sickles leg and later that afternoon it is
amputated. He goes on to donate it to the Army Medical Museum in Washington,
D.C., now known as the National Museum of Health and Medicine, where it
resides to this day. 13
The second begins at one o’clock,when the Confederate forces
unleash a terrible artillery bombardment on the Union high ground. J.E. Mallon,
Colonel of the Tammany Regiment, describes the bombardment:
“On the afternoon of the 3d instant, about 1 o’clock, the enemy opened with a destructive
artillery fire, which will ever be remembered by those subjected to its fury. After this fire, which
lasted about four hours, had considerably slackened, the infantry of the enemy debouched from
the woods to our front for the grand attack of the battle. This regiment was posted about 100 yards
in rear of the front line. When those of the enemy who approached our brigade front had been
successfully disposed of, and when those who had with great energy and persistence penetrated
that portion of our line to our right, near the corps batteries, I caused the regiment to be formed
in line facing the decisive point.
The line was but fairly established and but just started in the direction of the contested
point, when Colonel Hall, with words of encouragement, cheered us forward. With the impetus
conveyed by these words, the regiment vigorously advanced, and in that charge which rescued our
batteries from the hands of our foe, which saved our army from disaster and defeat, which gave to
us glorious, triumphant success, this regiment was foremost and its flag in the advance.” 14
Tammany Monument, Gettysburg National Military Park.
Photograph by Jeffrey B. Evans.

1863
1863
433
The Tammany Regiment is part of Hancock’s II Corps that holds the line on
Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate guns spend most of their artillery ammunition
in what is the largest bombardment of the War, and believing that the Union
batteries have been knocked out, mount “Pickett’s Charge.” However, General
Meade, correctly predicting Confederate Infantry assault, has his Artillery hold
fire until the Rebels charge up Cemetery Ridge—the “High-Water Mark of the
Confederacy.” The resulting bombardment by the Union is devastating to the
Confederate forces. They are repulsed, and nearly half are killed. This leads to a
Union victory, having successfully stopped Lee’s attempt to invade the North. Lee
is able to retreat back across the Potomac. The result of the Battle is the largest
number of casualties in the Civil War—over 50,000 killed, wounded, or missing
over three days.
On July 6, the New-York Times reports of celebrations at Tammany Hall
commemorating Independence Day. The article details Governor Seymour’s
remarks at the celebration:
“It filled his heart with price to meet with such a reception from a Society which bad
nearly, if not quite, outlived its country. [Applause.] He did not believe that personal liberty was
suspended, because the rebellion had taken place. Personal rights must not be trampled upon,
even if a war does exist within our borders. [Cheers.] He was much indebted to Tammany Hall for
many favors. He was proud to be among the Sachems of the old wigwam, and, in conclusion, again
and again returned his thanks for the very cordial reception which he had met at their hands.”
“Personal rights must not be trampled on” is code by Seymour for his opposition to
the impending draft.
By this time, New York City is left almost defenseless, the local militia’s having
departed to join the bloody fray. The horrors of war are detailed in the casualty
lists published in the newspapers, and the young men that clamored to join the
Union Army now return as cripples. In addition, the volunteers that inundated
the recruiting stations at the beginning of the war are now nowhere to be seen.
In response to this the government passes the National Conscription Act.
Agents go door-to-door enrolling all white males age twenty-five to thirty-five,
and unmarried males thirty-five to forty-five. From this pool draftees are selected
by lottery. The act has the controversial provision that draftees can provide a
substitute or pay three hundred dollars as a recruiting bounty. In other words, a
poor Irishman can provide his family three hundred dollars if he goes off to war in
the place of a rich native born American. Blacks are exempt from the draft, because
in this gray period after emancipation, they are not yet considered citizens.
As word of the Union victory at Gettysburg make its way back to New
York, the imminent draft lottery gets increased notice in the New York press.
Tammany Governor Horatio Seymour tries to get the lottery postponed, saying
that it is unconstitutional, and that the Republican government sets unfair quotas
on Democratic New York City. His efforts to postpone the New York lottery fail,
and on Saturday, July 11 the slips of those enrolled, place in a large rotating drum,
begin to be selected. As the names are called to the derision of the crowd, chants
of “What’s the matter Connelly? Couldn’t you come up with $300 to buy your way
out?” and “Three hundred dollars! That’s all your worth! Just three hundred dollars,
when a nigger goes for a thousand?” 15
are heard.

1863
434
Thus, class and race define the events of the following days. By the end of the day
1236 draftees are picked. The weekend proceeds peaceably, but on Monday, July
13, the City descends into chaos. The Black Joke Engine Company No. 33, whose
volunteer members have lost their exemptions, arrive at the resuming lottery at
the Ninth District Headquarters, stone the building, drive off the police, smash
the draft wheel, and set the building on fire repelling competing fire companies
arriving at the scene. What follows is now known as the New York City Draft Riots.
Faced with becoming cannon fodder, the poor, mainly Irish, are enraged. This is
not what they signed up for when Tammany Hall sped their naturalization. What
starts out as a protest against the draft quickly turns into a race riot, with the mob
forgetting that African-Americans are now fighting in the Union Army. The riots
last until July 16. The Colored Orphans Asylum on Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street
is set ablaze, with the children barely escaping. The rioters run rampant, burning,
looting, assaulting, and killing throughout the City. The Metropolitan Police alone
are tasked with trying to quell the riot, with the State Militia having been sent to
support the Federal Troops in Pennsylvania. Police Superintendent John Kennedy,
brother of the late Tammany Sachem William, tries to gather information first hand
and goes among the crowd in plain clothes, but is recognized by mob and nearly
beaten to death. It takes a heavy rain on Monday evening to break up to mobs.
On Tuesday, Governor Seymour arrives at City Hall Park, and standing
between District Attorney A. Oakey Hall and now Street Commissioner William
M. Tweed, 16
Seymour tries to bond with the mob, addressing them as “My Friends.”
The New-York Times of July 15 reports on his remarks:
“He implored the men whom he saw before him to refrain from all acts of violence and
from all destruction of property. They owed it to themselves and to the Government under which
they lived to assist with their strong arms in preserving peace and order. If they would only do
this and refrain from further riotous acts, he would see to it that all their rights were protected.
[Cheers.] He was their friend, and the friend of their families.”
Illustration by Henry L. Stephens, from the collection of the Library of Congress.

1863
1863
435
Seymour’s words fall on deaf ears. Despite the fact the Irish and the Blacks live
cheek to jowl in the Five Points, sometimes intermarrying, Irish mobs attack any
Black person they see. The New-New York Daily Tribune of July 16 reports one
particularly brutal event:
“The mob gave chase to the colored man and seized him as he was entering his residence,
No.94 Thirty second street. Dragging him into the middle of the street they jumped upon him and
pounded him with their fists and with stones until his life was extinct. ‘Hang him’—‘Hang him’
was the cry, and procuring a piece of clothes line the crowd suspended the lifeless body of the
unfortunate from a limb of a tree where he remained hanging several hours.”
Illustration by Frank Vizetelly.
From the collection of the New York Public Library.
By Tuesday afternoon, with events spinning out of control, Republican Mayor
George Opdyke cables Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, apprising him of the
dire situation and requests that troops be sent to New York City. With Lee having
successfully retreated into Virginia, Stanton complies with Opdyke’s request,
and State Militia and Federal Troops are ordered to return to New York City. On
Wednesday it is announced that the draft is temporally suspended. On Thursday,
Battle hardened troops, supported by Charles W. Sandford’s New York State
Militia, descend on the City and come to the aid of the Police. With martial law
declared, they give the rioters no quarter, going from house to house, bayonets
doing their deadly work, driving members of the mob to the roofs, and over the
edge. The final clash occurs on Thursday evening near Gramercy Park, location of
some of the wealthiest homes in the City.
The exact number of people killed and wounded is unclear, but it is
estimated that over 100 people are killed, with nearly a dozen blacks lynched,
and over 2000 people injured. The New York City Draft Riots will stand out as an
example of the City at its worst.

1863
1863
1863
1863
436
On August 4, the New-York Evening Post reports of a meeting that shows a new
political force rising at Tammany Hall:
“The ‘Old Guard’ was again defeated, and William M. Tweed was chosen to sit on the
vacant log.
By now Tweed is the Chairman of Tammany Hall’s General Committee, and will
soon gain the moniker “Boss.”
With the New York City recovering from the Draft Riots, there is still a glaring
problem: How to replenish the ranks of the Union Army decimated by two
and a half years of war. Lincoln’s Enrollment Act is scaled back dramatically
after the bloodshed in New York, largely through the efforts of Samuel Tilden
and Governor Seymour, reducing the new draftees from 26,000 to 12,000. The
Copperhead dominated Common Council, in an effort to block any new draft,
appropriates three million dollars to further fund the hated commutation clause.
Republican Mayor Opdyke promptly veto’s it, viewing it as a rebuke to Lincoln,
and one that would fail to raise any recruits. Enter William Tweed and his fellow
colleague on the Board of Supervisors, Republican Orison Blunt. Blunt is a wealthy
industrialist and gun manufacturer. The Board of Supervisors being independent
of the Common Council, Tweed and Blunt come up with a plan that addresses the
rich versus poor flaw of the draft, the aim of which is to convince the common
workingman that conscription is fair. The plan is simple: form an Exemption
Committee, appropriate two million dollars to fund the exemption of poor men
who’s family would be destitute if they went off to war, fund the exemption of
Firemen, Police, and the State militia, allowing them to protect the City, and allow
the men who choose to be drafted to collect $300.00 directly for their families.
Tweed and Blunt travel secretly to Washington in August, and meet
with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to pitch the plan. As stated before in this
history, Edwin Stanton is on the defense team along James T. Brady, that gets
Tammany member Daniel Sickles off for murder. With the support of former
Treasury Secretary John Adams Dix, an old Tammany hand, Stanton agrees to
the plan, allowing Tammany Hall to manage the August draft. It is a success.
The lottery selects 1034 men, all of them appeal to the Exemption Committee,
and the Committee finds 983 substitutes. By the end of the war, the Exemption
Committee, overseen by Tweed, pays for over 115,000 recruits to join the Union
Army. 17
On August 31, the New-York Herald, clearly in the Copperhead camp, gives
its take on the upcoming Union State Convention to be held in Syracuse on
September 2. This fusion party is made up of Republicans and War Democrats.
What follows is an excerpt of the Herald editorial that compares the Unionists
to the devil:
“These abolition politicians have a bad habit of changing their name after every defeat,
as Satan varies his disguises whenever his temptations fail. The term Union could scarcely be
more grossly misapplied than when it is assumed by such a faction. They are the disunion, not the
Union, party. The only Union which they will accept is a Union on equal terms with negroes.”
On September 3, the New-York Times reports on the Union State Convention, at
which the following resolution is adopted:

1863
1863
1863
437
“Resolved, That it is the first and highest duty of every American citizen to do all in his
power to maintain the integrity of the American Union and supremacy of the constitution of
the United States over the whole national domain, and that in this crisis of the national fate we
recognize the supreme obligation of laying aside all differences of political opinion, and of giving
to the Government a generous and cordial support in its efforts to suppress the rebellion.”
On September 10, the New York State Democratic Convention is held in Albany
to nominate candidates for state office. Tammany Hall’s involvement is nowhere
to be seen, and the Copperheads, led by Governor Seymour, dominate the
convention. This is demonstrated by the following resolution, adopted without
debate, as reported in the New-York Herald of September 11:
“Resolved, the doctrine of the right of States to secede from the federal government is not
more false to the constitution than the claim of the right of the federal government to obliterate
State boundaries and State rights, and that, therefore, we repudiate the doctrine put forward by
the administration—‘that no seceded State returning to its allegiance shall be permitted to resume its
place in the Union until it has conformed in its constitution to the will of the party in power.’”
On September 17, the New-York Daily Tribune reacts to the Albany convention:
“We have seen this Governor, so elected, using all the State machinery at his command to
thwart, hamper, and embarrass the war-making power of the Union—thus giving aid and comfort
to the sinking hopes of the Rebels. We have seen that, next to Lee and his Army, the followers of
Jeff. Davis rely upon Seymour’s help.”
The article goes on to identify Elijah Purdy, and William M. Tweed, as “Anti-
Seymourites.” Indeed, the Rebels hopes are sinking. Along with the Army of the
Potomac’s victory at Gettysburg, the Army of the Tennessee, led by Ulysses S.
Grant along with his close colleague William Tecumseh Sherman, achieves a
major victory with the surrender of the Confederate garrison holding the fortress
city on the Mississippi, ending the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4. In a little over a
year, Sherman will be on the march in Georgia.
On November 3, the New York State elections are held. Among the races for
various state offices are the contests for Secretary of State and Attorney General.
In addition, the elections for Senate and Assembly are held. The New-York Times
of November 4 reports the tone on election night:
“After the polls were closed, large crowds gathered in Printing House-square to hear the
results. The Democrats did not attempt to conceal their chagrin at the turn affairs had taken, while
the Union men were exuberant in their rejoicing, and made the air ring with their shouts at each
encouraging announcement.”
The Unionists sweep the elections, including electing Chauncey Depew Secretary
of State, and John Cochrane Attorney General. Depew is a noted lawyer who will
go on to become lead counsel for Cornelius Vanderbilt, and later United States
Senator. Cochrane is a former Tammany Sachem and New York Congressman,
and a Brigadier General for the 65th New York Volunteer Infantry. A former
Democrat, now in the Republican camp, he will return to the Democratic Party
and be reelected Tammany Sachem in 1872 at the height of William M. Tweed’s
troubles. In the race for State Legislature, the Unionists win the majority in both
the Senate and Assembly.

1863
1863
1863
1864
1864
438
On November 19, President Lincoln travels to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to dedicate
the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. In just two minutes, Lincoln delivers an address
defining the epoch that is the United States. Even the most casual follower of history
knows how it begins, and so, there is no need to quote it.
Detail of a photograph at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery.
Lincoln can be seen at the center, highlighted.
Discovered by Josephine Cobb at the National Archives in 1952.
In late November, the candidates for the upcoming mayoral election are selected.
It is a three-way race, with the Copperhead factions of Tammany and Mozart
Hall nominating City Inspector Francis Boole, the War Democrats nominating C.
Godfrey Gunther, and the Republicans nominating Supervisor Orison Blunt. It is
Gunther’s second try. Boole is the City Inspector.
On December 1, the New York City mayoral election is held. C. Godfrey Gunther
wins handily, with Blunt coming in second, and Boole dead last.
On January 9, the New-York Herald reports:
“The anniversary of the battle of New Orleans passed off yesterday without the slightest
manifestation of public feeling. A few years ago the 8th of January was a great day among the
sachems of Tammany Hall; but now they seem to have forgotten that such a person as Old Hickory
ever had an existence. So we go.”
OnFebruary24,theDemocraticStateConventionisheldinAlbany.Ontheagenda
is the selection of delegates, and adopting a platform to take to the upcoming
Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Three factions, Tammany Hall,
Mozart Hall, and the followers of John McKeon, arrive at the State’s capitol.
McKeon is a former Congressman and United States District Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, appointed by Franklin Pierce McKeon is a thorn
in the side of Fernando Wood’s Mozart Hall as well. The New-York Evening Post of
February 25 describes the fallout:

1864
1864
1864
1864
1864
1864
439
“There was a split in the Democratic State Convention at Albany yesterday, the Tammany
delegation withdrawing while the Mozart and McKeon factions were admitted. The latter adopt
the ‘peace platform,’ which Tammany refuses to accept.”
On February 26, the New-York Evening Post report further infighting at Albany:
“McKeon tried to expel the Mozarters also, by alleging that one of their Chiefs, Devlin,
had obtained his office of Corporation Attorney by corrupt means. But either no one believed
McKeon, or corruption is not considered a disqualifying offence among these fellows: for the
Mozarters remained. Their leaders, Messrs. Benjamin and Fernando Wood were not put upon the
delegation to Chicago, which is a strange slighting of these illustrious preachers of peace, but they
are nevertheless pretty well represented in less conspicuous names.”
“Devlin” is Charles Devlin, who in 1857 sparks the New York City Police Riot,
having paid then Mayor Wood $50,000 for the post of Street Commissioner.
On March 8, the New-York Times reports that:
“Last evening a grand war meeting was held at Tammany Hall, for the purpose of filling
up the ranks of the famous Second Corps, who at Gettysburg so greatly distinguished themselves,
and who, by their bravery in that and numerous other engagements, have won so proud a position
and name in the history of the war.”
This remarkable meeting, demonstrating that Tammany Hall is a national stage,
is attended by Major General’s Winfield Scott Hancock and Carl Schurz. Hancock
will go on to be the Democratic Candidate for President in 1880. Schurz is a
committed Republican who delivers the German-American vote for Lincoln in
1860. He will go on to become the first German-American to serve in the Senate,
representing Missouri. The article reports that:
“On motion, Hon. ELIJAH F. PURDY took the Chair. He thanked the assemblage for
their compliment, and stating the purpose of the meeting, introduced Maj.-Gen. HANCOCK.
The General was received with enthusiastic cheers. He said he felt highly honored by an invitation
to address so many citizens in the ancient Temple of Democracy. They had not assembled to talk
politics or to discuss the manner of putting down the rebellion. That could only be done by blows.”
On April 8, the United States Senate passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude. It now
awaits passage by the House.
On April 18, the New-York Daily Tribune reports of a meeting at Tammany Hall
at which the annual election of Sachems is held. In addition of the usual names of
Tweed and Sweeny, a Sephardi Jew of Portuguese descent by the name of Albert
Cardozo becomes Sachem. Cardozo, a lawyer, is elected to the Court of Common
pleas in the November 1863 elections, and will later serve as Justice of the Supreme
Court of New York. His judicial career will not end well.
On May 14, the New-York Daily Tribune reports the Society of St. Tammany
holding a meeting on the anniversary of St. Tammany on May 12:
“AttheannualmeetingoftheTammanySocietyorColumbianOrder,onThursdayevening,
Grand Sachem Purdy presiding, the sachems and officers recently elected were duly installed.

1864
1864
1864
1864
440
Bythespringof1864,despitevictoriesatGettysburgandVicksburg,theUnionArmy
is mired in bloody stalemates with the Confederacy. The Battle of the Wilderness on
May 5-7 stands out as an example. It is a bloody, inconclusive mess, fought in a dense
thicket in the woods of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, just west of Fredericksburg.
In it Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee fight to a standoff, and Grant disengages
to continue his Overland Campaign and war of attrition. A faction known as the
Radical Republicans, led by longstanding Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner,
become dissatisfied with Lincoln’s prosecution of the war, and forms the Radical
Republican Party. This faction includes Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase, a staunch
abolitionist. On May 31, a few hundred members of this faction meet informally in
Cleveland, and nominate John C. Frémont as their candidate for President. Henry
Raymond’s New-York Times of June 3 reacts to this faction:
“The Cleveland Convention was simply a flank movement against the Administration.
Hostility to ABRAHAM LINCOLN was its mainspring and motive-power. It was a congregation of
malcontents—of men who had griefs, and who sought revenge. Nothing more is needed to establish
this fact than a glance at the names of those few among the delegates who were ever heard of before.”
In response to the “flank movement,” of the Radical Republicans, the Republican
supporters of Lincoln form a coalition with the War Democrats called the
National Union Party. Their aim is to show that national unity rises above politics,
especially in times of war, and that Abraham Lincoln should remain the leader
and Commander in Chief of the nation. This fusion party holds its convention
on June 7-8 in Baltimore. After a first ballot in which Ulysses S. Grant gets 22
votes from the Missouri delegation, Lincoln is unanimously re-nominated on
the second ballot. The vote for Vice President is not so certain. Lincoln, and his
Vice President Hannibal Hamlin have a good working relationship, but political
intrigue fostered mainly by Charles Sumner causes Hamlin to be identified with
the Radical Republicans, 18
and War Democrat, Military Governor of Tennessee
Andrew Johnson is nominated on the revised first ballot.
On June 15, the United States House of Representatives fails to pass the Thirteenth
Amendment, coming up, ironically, thirteen votes short of the two-thirds majority.
One of the Representatives voting against it is New York Congressman Fernando
Wood. In a speech on the floor of the House on June 14, he gives his reasons,
addressing the Speaker of the House, Republican Schuyler Colfax of Indiana:
“Again, sir, the proposed amendment to abolish slavery in the States of the Union is unjust
in itself, a breech of good faith, and utterly irreconcilable with expediency. It is unjust because it
involves a tyrannical destruction of individual property under the plea of a legitimate exercise of
the functions of Government.”
Wood goes on to make an incredible claim:
“ The sentiment of opposition to slavery is so powerful that I could hardly expect to offer
any reason which would awaken sympathy in behalf of its continuance, even if I showed that it was
the best possible condition to insure the happiness of the negro race, or that its abolition was an
invasion of the rights of the masters and the wellbeing of the communities where it existed.” 19
On July 5, the New-York Evening Post reports of celebration at Tammany Hall
commemorating Independence Day. Grand Sachem Purdy presides, and delivers
a speech. The Post reports the conclusion of his remarks:

1864
1864
1864
1864
441
“Thanks, too, to the great captain of our age, George B. McClellan: high praise for him for
his heroic deeds. Let us invoke the spirits of the departed free to witness the sincere renewal of our
solemn pledge: ‘The Union—it must and shall be preserved.’”
And so, even though Tammany Hall refuses to participate in the Democratic State
Convention held in Albany in February, at which a “Peace Platform” is adopted
to take to the Democratic National Convention, they are ahead of the curve in
supporting McClellan as the Democratic candidate for President.
On July 6, the New-York Times also reports on the celebration held on July 4 at
Tammany Hall. The article details the remarks of Abraham Oakey Hall:
“After various other exercises, District-Attorney HALL delivered a bitter partisan oration,
in which he denounced the Administration as imbecile, corrupt and tyrannical, and compared it
to the Government of GEORGE III during the Revolution.”
Hall will go on to become Mayor of New York City and join the “Ring.”
On July 8, the New-York Times reports:
“The County Volunteer Committee resumed recruiting yesterday morning at 10 o’clock,
announcing the event by the firing of cannon in the Park, the strains of a brass band from the roof
of their quarters, and raising of the national ensign. The Committee announced themselves ready to
furnish substitutes for any person, either liable or not liable to draft, at the rate of $120 for one year, $220
for two years, and $320 for three years. They have also established headquarters at Tammany Hall.”
On August 29, the New-York Daily Tribune reports of a meeting held at Tammany
Hall. At this meeting, the Tammany Hall General Committee convenes, and:
“Mr. E. Purdy moved that a committee of five be appointed to prepare resolutions in favor
of the nomination of Gen. Geo. B. McClellan as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency.”
On August 29-31, the Democratic National Convention is held Chicago. This
time, Chicago holds its national convention in another temporary structure, the
circular Amphitheatre on Michigan Avenue near what will become Grant Park.
Tammany delegates arrive, fully backing George McClellan. He wins unanimously
on the revised first ballot. His running mate is former and future Ohio Senator,
Congressman George H. Pendleton. Pendleton is a committed Copperhead, who
will go on to vote against the Thirteenth Amendment. The New York Times of
August 30 reports that:
“The following resolutions were then offered by Gov. HUNT, of New-York, and referred
to the Committee on Resolutions:
That in future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union and
Constitution, and insist on maintaining our national unity, as the only solid foundation of our
strength, security and happiness as a people and as a framework of government conducive to the
welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern; and, with a view to terminate
the pending conflict and restore the blessings of peace, we are in favor of an armistice and of earnest
and honorable efforts to adjust terms of settlement and union on the basis of the Constitution of
the United States, and for the final solution of all differences, we would recommend a convention
for the States to review the Constitution and adopt such amendments and modifications as may
seem necessary to insure to each State the enjoyment of all its rights, and the constitutional control
of its domestic concerns, according to the original intent and purposes of the Federal compact.”

1864
1864
442
“Gov. Hunt” is Washington Hunt, the former Whig Governor from 1851 to 1852,
now aligned with the man he beat by 262 votes in 1850, Horatio Seymour. The
Democrats assume that they have a good chance winning, reasoning that by being
“in favor of an armistice” they will have the nation side with them, it being weary
of war and Confederate entrenchment.
A political cartoon by Louis Maurer, published by Currier & Ives.
Two-faced candidate McClellan is seen standing on a platform, supported by
the Devil, Jefferson Davis, Fernando Wood, and disgraced Ohio Congressman
Clement Vallandigham. To the left is a Union soldier imploring McClellan to
step down, and to the right an ape-like Irishman who says “All right General! if
yere in favor of resistin the draft, killing the niggers, and pace wid the Southerners
I’ll knock any man on the head that’ll vote aginye.”
On September 1, the New-York Times reports:
“The announcement of the nomination of GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN for the Presidency
by the Chicago Convention, caused great jubilation among the Democracy of the City. Tammany
Hall having her posters, flags and transparencies all prepared in advance, decorated with dubious
portraits of her nominee, spread them to the breeze and saluted them with one hundred guns.”
On September 2, Atlanta falls to William Tecumseh Sherman, who leaves it in
ashes. All at once the Confederacy is on its heels, and any possibility of a peace
settlement based on returning to “the Union as it was,” is rendered nil. So as August
turns to September, George B. McClellan’s chance of winning the presidential
election suddenly becomes extremely unlikely, the result of this brutal campaign
led by his brother-in-arms. The New-York Times headline of September 3 is
nothing if not succinct:

1864
1864
443
“FALL OF THE REBEL STRONGHOLD.
SHERMAN ENTERS THE CITY.
A THUNDERBOLT FOR COPPERHEADS.”
On September 7, the New York State Union Convention is held in Syracuse. Again,
the New York Union Party is a temporary fusion of War Democrats and Lincoln
Republicans. In a broad field that includes Tammany member John Adams Dix,
Reuben E. Fenton is nominated as candidate for Governor. Fenton, a former
Democratic Congressman from 1853 to 1855, switches to the Republicans, and is
reelected to Congress in 1863. The New-York Daily Tribune of September 8 reports
the following resolution being adopted:
“Resolved, That the late signal triumphs of the national arms in Mobile Bay, on the Weldon
Railroad, in Tennessee and around Atlanta conform our hopes and strengthen our convictions
that in spite of the desperate efforts of the rebels the flag of the Union will soon float in triumph
over every square mile of our country, and that liberty, Union and peace will gladden the hearts
and bless the homes of this sorely tried and afflicted, but dauntless and high-hearted people.”
On September 15, the New York State Democratic Convention is held in Albany.
Copperhead Horatio Seymour is once again nominated to be the candidate for
Governor. The New-York Herald of September 16 reports on the proceedings, in
which the following resolution is adopted:
“Resolved, That the organization known as the Tammany Hall organization is the
regular organization of the democracy of New York, and the delegates claiming seats under that
organization have been regularly elected as delegates to this Convention.”
William M. Tweed jumps into the fray, presiding over the Committee of Electors.
The lengthy article goes on to report further resolutions that try to have it
both ways, recognizing the Union victories, while calling for the repeal of the
Emancipation Proclamation:
“Resolved, That the Democratic party of the State of New-York is as it has always been,
unalterably opposed to the rebellion, and that we recognize in the victories of the national army
and navy, and in the manifest popular determination to change the present Administration and
return to the policy to which the Executive, Congress and the people were solemnly pledged in the
Crittenden Resolution, cooperative movements toward peace and Union.
Resolved, That the Administration of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by its usurpations, its
disregard of the Constitution, its violation of personal liberty and State Rights, its resort to military
power to subvert civil authority, its temporizing and cowardly degradation of the nation in its
foreign policy, its perversion of the war from its original object, and its avowed determination to
prolong it—in the language of ABRAHAM LINCOLN—to compel ‘the abandonment of Slavery,’
has become revolutionary in its character, and that it is the duty of the conservative men of all
parties to unite in substituting in its place an Administration which will seek, “in the Constitution
of the United States, and the laws passed in accordance therewith, the rule of its duty and the
limitations of its power.”
The Crittenden-Johnson Resolution is a measure drafted by Senator Andrew
Johnson of Tennessee, and Congressman John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. Passed
on July 25, 1861, after the Confederates rout the Union at the First Battle of Bull
Run; its aim is to retain the loyalty of the slave-holding Border States by pledging
that the Union will take no action against the “peculiar institution” of slavery.
Congress overwhelmingly strikes it down in December 1861.

1864
1864
1864
1864
444
On October 13, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney dies, age eighty-three.
On October 18, the New-York Times prints an editorial that contains to following
excerpts:
“There is no end to Copperhead charlatanry. Look at the front of Tammany Hall, or at
almost any of the Copperhead banners swung over the street, and you see beneath the Janus-
faced portraits of MCCLELLAN and PENDLETON, the inscription—‘The Union as it was, and
the Constitution as it is.’”
“No man who talks accurately will say that the Union of 1860 was, in all points, the same
as that of 1830 or 1790. It would be like saying that the man was in all parts the same as the boy
and the infant.”
On November 8, the nation decides that “the Union as it was” is a memory, and
that moving forward the United States will continue to evolve. Lincoln and
Johnson defeat McClellan and Pendleton in a landslide. Reuben Fenton defeats
Horatio Seymour in the race for New York Governor. The Unionists sweep the
races for Lieutenant Governor, Canal Commissioner, Inspector of State Prisons,
and win the majority of the State Assembly. The Republicans and Unionists win
an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives, including Republican
Lawyer and former Brigadier General Nelson Taylor, who defeats Fernando
Wood. A small consolation to Tammany Hall is that Sachem John Kelly is once
again elected Sheriff of New York County. Kelly is reelected because, according to
his biographer J. Fairfax McLaughlin, “John Kelly made a reputation for honesty
and capacity as Sheriff, which the whole history of the office has never been excelled
by any man who occupied it.” 20

On November 17, the New-York Herald reports of a meeting held at Tammany
Hall. At this meeting, the Society of St. Tammany officially reacts to the election
rout, adopting several resolutions, including the following:

“Resolved, that we condemn the administration of Abraham Lincoln as imbecile,
extravagant, and corrupt, and believe that a persistence in its injudicious and partisan conduct
of the war, and its notorious faithlessness to the spirit and letter of the constitution and laws, will
contribute to embitter on prolong the existing struggle, increase the sacrifice of human life and
the ruinous burden on the public debt, justly invoke suspicion and distrust in the North, and repel
rather than invite returning loyalty on the rebellious States of the South.”
Tammany Hall doubles down on its hatred of Lincoln, denying the fact that all wars
are conducted in a partisan manner. It conveniently forgets that the Constitution
is subject to amendment, such as the impending Thirteenth, as well as forgetting
the quote of its old mentor, William L. Marcy: “… to the victor belongs the spoils of
the enemy.”
On December 6, Abraham Lincoln appoints Salmon Chase Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court. The shift from Jacksonian Democrat Roger B. Taney, to Radical
Republican Chase is remarkable—the two men being diametrically opposed on
the subject of slavery, Taney having written the Dred Scott decision, and Chase
a former member of the Free Soil Party. Chase’s ascent demonstrates how the
death of a Supreme Court Justice can forever change the vector of the Nation’s
path.

1864
1865
445
On December 20, Savannah, Georgia surrenders to the Union Army, hastened by
Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Again, it is the object of this history to document both national events, as well as
personal tragedies crossing paths at Tammany Hall. On January 28, the New-York
Daily Tribune reports:
“Suicide of a Well Known Photographer—Coroner’s Inquest.
At about 10 o’clock on Thursday night a person entered the Tammany Hotel and asked
for a room. It was given to him, and he then registered the name ‘H.W. Shanagee.’ He had stopped
at the hotel several occasions previously, and on each occasion registered a different name. His
giving the above name, therefore, excited no comment. At his request, a large glass of brandy and
water was sent up to his room, and he then retired. The following morning he was found lying on
his bed dead. On the table beside him were three small vials which had contained laudanum, quite
empty. They were all correctly labeled and bore the names of the druggists from whom they were
purchased. The following letter was also found upon the table:
‘My Dear Wife, for all our disagreements I hope you forgive me, and for this cowardly
and rash act, I love you dearly; but the way I was situated and various other things made our lives
unhappy. May God bless you and make you happy, and may we meet above with our dear children.
Pray for the repose of my soul and my dear children also. I am in such a state of mind I hardly
know what I write, but I am weary of the world.
Your affectionate husband, H. W. M. Meade.’”
A daguerreotype from 1853 by the Meade Brothers Studio.
Shown sitting are Sarah and Henry Meade.
From the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

1865
1865
1865
1865
446
Mostly forgotten for much of the 20th and 21st century, Henry W. M. Meade,
along with his brother Charles, (no relation to General Meade) are well known
photographers of mid 19th century New York, and contemporaries of Mathew
Brady and Southworth and Hawes. The Meade Brothers have a four-story studio
at 233 Broadway—the site now occupied by the Woolworth Building—across
City Hall Park from Tammany Hall. In June of 2013, they finally get their due,
and a yearlong exhibition of their work is held at the National Portrait Gallery in
Washington.
On January 30, the New-York Daily Tribune reports that Tammany Hall continues
to be one of the recruiting offices actively engaged with signing up new enlistees
for Union Army:
“That these recruiting offices are doing a good service is attested by the fact that since
Nov. 17, no less than 700 soldiers have been obtained, all of whom have been accredited to various
towns and counties in this State.”
By this time, Ulysses S. Grant is in command of Union forces that consist of
George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac, and Benjamin F. Butler’s Army of the
James. These three men are now in the endgame of what’s known as the Siege of
Petersburg, actually a thirty-mile line of trenches stretching east of Richmond,
Virginia, to the town of Petersburg just to the south. Petersburg is key to supplying
Robert E. Lee’s Army of the Potomac that is besieged in Richmond. By cutting off
Lee’s supply lines, his forces begin to experience extreme stress. Running out of
food and supplies, many of his men start to desert. Grant’s forces on the other hand
are well fed and supplied, and new recruits, enlisted by among others Tammany
Hall, continue to flow south week after week.
On January 31, the United States House of Representatives finally passes the
Thirteenth Amendment, and it awaits ratification, the Senate having passed it in
April.
On March 4, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson are inaugurated President
and Vice President of the United States. Victory within reach, Lincoln plants
the seeds of Southern Reconstruction with his second inaugural address that
concludes with the following excerpt, now considered virtually sacred:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” 21
No mention is made in the New York press of the Society of St. Tammany
acknowledging this event.
On March 29, Grant’s Union forces begin an offensive that finally breaks the
Confederate lines around Petersburg. Lee, seeing that the capture of Richmond is
imminent, orders his troops to evacuate on the evening of April 2, and Jefferson
Davis and his Cabinet flee to Danville, Virginia. On April 3, the first Union troops
to enter Richmond are the African-Americans of the 29th Connecticut Regiment
(Colored). 22

1865
1865
1865
447
On April 4, the New-York Herald reports:
“Tammany Hall and the Victories.
The members of Old Tammany met together last evening at the Old Wigwam, to celebrate
the recent glorious victories of the Union armies. The old ‘War Horse’ Elijah F. Purdy, presided.
The only subject discussed was the recent brilliant movements of Grant, and a series of patriotic
resolutions on that subject were unanimously adopted.”
The Herald makes no mention of the role of the 29th Connecticut Regiment.
Unlike Meade and McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant possesses the one thing that his
predecessors were unable to master: the ability to relentlessly pursue Robert E.
Lee, battle after battle. This is demonstrated in the first week of April, in a series
of engagements known as the Appomattox Campaign. Dogging the Confederates
west of Richmond, Grant sends a letter to Lee offering terms of surrender on
April 8. By this time Union forces have destroyed a Confederate supply train, and
surrounded the Confederates on three sides as Lee arrives at the little village of
Appomattox Court House, Virginia. There, on April 9, Lee makes his last stand,
trying to break through the Union Cavalry unaware that two infantry Corps are
backing up it up. Upon realizing this, Lee faces up to the inevitable and agrees to
meet with Grant at the home of Wilmer McLean, where he offers his surrender.
Grant accepts. Witnessing the surrender outside McLean’s house is Pennsylvania’s
41st United States Colored Infantry, having joined the Army of the James and
participated in the Siege of Petersburg. 23
Grant has generous terms for his old
comrade from the Mexican-American War—allowing Lee and his men to keep
their side-arms, refusing to prosecute them for treason, allowing the defeated
Southerners to keep their mules and horses for the spring planting, and providing
Lee’s starving men with rations. The American Civil War is now essentially over,
with the Confederacy’s greatest General admitting defeat. However, it will take
until June 23 for the last Confederate commander to stand down.
Our American Cousin is a popular farce of the mid 19th Century. What happens
at its performance on the evening of April 14 at Ford’s Theatre in Washington is
anything but. Anyone with even the most meager understanding of American
history knows what happens there. John Wilkes Booth succeeds at his evil task, but
the greater conspiracy—Booth’s fellow would be assassins attempting a trifecta,
in a bid to sever the head off the body of the Union—fails. Abraham Lincoln is
martyred, but elsewhere in Washington William Seward survives, barely, and the
assassination attempt of Andrew Johnson is a fiasco. It is worth noting that April
14th is Good Friday.
Booth’s derringer, from the collection of the Library of Congress.

1865
1865
448
Portrait of Lincoln taken by Alexander Gardner, February 5, 1865.
Between 10 and 11 AM on the morning of April 15, Chief Justice Salmon Chase
swears in Andrew Johnson as President of the United States.
On April 17, the New-York Daily Tribune devotes two full pages of six columns
each to the events in Washington. After going into lengthy detail of “The Great
Calamity!” the Tribune goes on to report of “New York In Mourning,” including a
meeting at Tammany Hall presided over by William M. Tweed. At this meeting
the following remarkable resolution is adopted:

1865
1865
1865
449
“Resolved, That believing Abraham Lincoln, as a ruler, to have been governed by patriotic
motives, honesty of purpose, and an elevated appreciation of the grave and responsible duties
imposed upon him in the greatest crises of our country’s history—commanding in so great a degree
the confidence of the loyal people of the nation—and exhibiting in the recent events which had
culminated in the downfall of the Rebellion, a wise, forbearing and magnanimous statesmanship,
the exercise of which gave such hopeful promise to the speedy and perfect restoration of the
national Union in the spirit and the principles upon which it was founded, we regard his sad end
and untimely decease as a great misfortune to the whole country.”
At this point, it is worth reminding the reader of another resolution adopted at
Tammany Hall on November 17, 1864:
“Resolved, that we condemn the administration of Abraham Lincoln as imbecile,
extravagant, and corrupt, and believe that a persistence in its injudicious and partisan conduct
of the war, and its notorious faithlessness to the spirit and letter of the constitution and laws, will
contribute to embitter on prolong the existing struggle, increase the sacrifice of human life and
the ruinous burden on the public debt, justly invoke suspicion and distrust in the North, and repel
rather than invite returning loyalty on the rebellious States of the South.”
On April 21, Abraham Lincoln leaves Washington D.C. On April 25, he makes
his final visit to New York City. The Committee of Arrangements overseeing his
last reception includes William M. Tweed. 24
The City is completely shut down.
Arriving at the depot in Jersey City, Lincoln’s earthly remains cross the Hudson
by ferry and makes their way to City Hall where the masses assemble to pay their
final respects. The funeral car led by sixteen horses then makes its way from
City Hall, up Broadway, across 14th Street, and up Fifth Avenue to the Hudson
River Railroad Station. The New-York Times of April 26 reports of eight Divisions
making up the funeral procession, including the Society of St. Tammany:
“In glaring violation of the rule of the day against political inscriptions, one strong force
of citizens, in the Second Division, marched as ‘The Democratic General Committee of Tammany
Hall.’ No other such case was visible.”
The Times goes on to report of the mourners ending the cortège:
“…bringing up the rear, with a strong double rank of policemen before and behind, came
a body of about two hundred colored men. Part of them were freedmen recently from slavery,
and these bore a banner with two inscriptions: ‘ABRAHAM LINCOLN our Emancipator,’ and ‘To
Millions of Freemen he Liberty gave.’ This was the only portion of the procession which was received
with any demonstrations of applause. For them, a just and kindly enthusiasm overrode the strict
proprieties of the occasion, and handkerchiefs waved and voices cheered all along as they marched.”
The train bearing Lincoln then departs, bound his final resting place, Springfield,
Illinois.
On May 12, no mention is made in the New York press of the Society of St.
Tammany commemorating St. Tammany Day.
On June 7, Ulysses S. Grant comes to New York City for a formal visit. Arriving
much the same way Lincoln did, traveling from Washington by train to the depot
in Jersey City and crossing the Hudson by ferry, he takes up residence at the Astor
House. There he is fêted at a lavish dinner, but not before having to greet the
masses, some of which have only their own best interests in mind, as reported in
the New-York Herald of June 8:

1865
1865
1865
1865
1865
450
“Occasionally the representatives of Tammany and her satellites were seen, but looked
upon with lowering eyes by the disciples of Chase.”
But their efforts come up short:
“Even at old Tammany, where a little pow-wow of sachems was held under the auspices
of Purdy and Delavan, very bitter groans were vented, because they were excluded from their
legitimate right to do honor to the man they had dreamed making their presidential candidate,
before Mr. Lincoln and Seward headed them off by making him lieutenant general.”
On July 6, the New-York Evening Posts reports of the celebrations held on July 4,
including one at Tammany Hall:
“The Tammany Society, whose powerful expositors of a certain class of ‘Democratic’
leaders turned out in full force to aid the Union cause, assembling in the great wigwam about the
hour of noon.
The hall was neatly decorated with flags and streamers, which were profusely displayed
and tastefully adjusted. Around the hall were two society banners, a Democratic banner of the
Eighth Ward, an equestrian statue of Gen. Jackson, portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Madison,
Clay, Jackson, Mr. Purdy, Mr. Delavan, and Mr. Tweed.”
On September 6 and 7, the Democratic State Convention is held in Albany. The
New-York Herald of September 7 reports:
“Resolved, That the organization know as the Tammany Hall Organization is the regular
organization of the democracy of New York, and that the delegates claiming seats here under that
organization have been regularly elected as delegates to this Convention.”
The resolution is adopted. The candidates nominated at the Convention include
General Henry W. Slocum for Secretary of State, John Van Buren, son of the late
President, for Attorney General, and Lucius Robinson for Comptroller. Robinson,
the current Comptroller, is a former member of Tammany Hall who jumps to
the Republican Party when it is founded. He is elected Comptroller as a War
Democrat in 1862. He will go on to become a vigorous opponent of Tammany
Hall. Benjamin Wood manages to get nominated for State Senate.
On September 20, the Republican State Convention is held in Syracuse. Among
the nominees is Francis C. Barlow, a Brigadier General who serves at Antietam,
Gettysburg, the Siege of Petersburg, and the final Appomattox Campaign. He
is chosen by the Republicans to run against fellow General Henry Slocum for
Secretary of State.
On November 7, the New York State elections are held. It is sweep for the
Republicans, and Henry Slocum, John Van Buren, and Lucius Robinson are
defeated. It is not the last we will hear from Slocum and Robinson. John Van
Buren, however, will depart for Europe after the loss. He will return to New York
in a shroud. The Republicans dominate the race for State Senate and Assembly,
but Benjamin Wood is elected to the State Senate from the Fourth District of New
York City.
On November 8, the New-York Herald reports of the remarks by Isaiah Rynders at
a Tammany Hall meeting as the election returns come in:

1865
1865
1866
1866
451
“Mr. Rynders, after a brief survey, exclaimed—‘Where are the old Sachems who once
used to gather in the Old Wigwam? Where has her glory departed to? Why is the Old Wigwam so
sad and silent? Send right over for Horace Greeley, and he will be your chairman tonight.’”
Rynders then delivers misogynistic, racist remarks that will serve as a last gasp for
the Copperheads, already fading into obscurity:
“They call me a copperhead, and if to be one consists in preferring a white man to a black
one, I am. If to prefer a white woman, coming fresh from nature and from nature’s God, to a woolly-
headed, flat-nosed, big-lipped, crooked-shinned, long-heeled wench, with all the oriental odors,
that do not suit my nasal organs, however they may tickle those of Greeley, over the way—(roars
of laughter)—If to prefer the white woman to this specimen be proof that I am a copperhead, I am
one dyed in the wool—not in the wench’s—(laughter)—and you may chain me up for it and put
me out of harm’s way”
As to where the “old Sachems” are; William M. Tweed is biding his time, waiting
in the wings.
Moving on from the November election, Tammany Hall turns to the mayoral
election in December. The New-York Times of November 24 comments on the
General Committee of Tammany Hall’s selection of Recorder John T. Hoffman as
their candidate for Mayor:
“JOHN T. HOFFMAN, the Tammany Hall candidate, is a man of ability, energy and
integrity. He is known, by all who know him at all, to be incapable of aiding or countenancing
dishonesty in any official action, nor is he in the least likely to become the tool of cliques or
individuals seeking personal profit at the expense of the public good.”
On December 2, the New York mayoral election is held. It is a four-way race.
Running against Hoffman is incumbent C. Godfrey Gunter, nominated by the
McKeon faction of the Democratic Party, and the obscure John Hecker and
Marshall O. Roberts, nominated by the Mozart Hall faction and the Republican
Party respectively. John T. Hoffman wins.
Although Hoffman “is a man of ability, energy, and integrity,” his association—as
a practical matter—with the likes of William M. Tweed will ultimately thwart his
political career.
On January 9, the New-York Times reports of the celebration at Tammany Hall
commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Andrew Jackson’s victory at New
Orleans:
“The semi-centennial anniversary of the battle of New Orleans was celebrated last evening
with something more than regal splendor. Never since the Autumn of Tammany began was there
such a mighty gathering of Sachems and their devoted followers.”
It has been four years since the Society of St. Tammany celebrated this occasion.
The Republican Times refers to the “Autumn of Tammany,” assuming that the
Society is in its twilight years, and soon will pass away. But, in fact, Tammany Hall
is just beginning to hit its stride.
On January 13, the New-York Times reports of the death of Tammany Grand
Sachem Elijah Purdy.

1866
1866
1866
1866
452
On April 10, the New-York Daily Tribune shortens its name to the New-York Tribune.
On April 17, the New-York Tribune reports on the election of officers to the
Society of St. Tammany. Among the Sachems elected are Mayor John T. Hoffman,
Peter B. Sweeny, Sheriff John Kelly, Matthew T. Brennan, and William M. Tweed.
By now, Sheriff Kelly is bereft, having lost his wife and son to tuberculosis. 25
Kelly is now a widower with two daughters. Hoffman and Sweeny being made
Sachems will prove advantageous for Sweeny. He seeks out, and receives the
appointment of City Chamberlain by Hoffman. It is reported that Sweeny pays
$60,000 for the privilege. 26
The City Chamberlain is a financial office that works in
conjunction with the City Comptroller. Its main role is to manage the deposit of
public monies—taxes—in selected banks, and paying the City’s debts with these
funds. The previous Chamberlains received as a commission a percentage of the
interest accrued in these accounts, something that had been legalized by the State
Legislature—a yearly commission of as much as $200,000. 27
OnMay13,theNew-YorkHeraldreportsofameetingheldonMay12,St.Tammany
Day, in which Mayor Hoffman is elected Grand Sachem by acclamation.
On July 5, the New-York Herald reports that:
“The ninetieth anniversary of our national independence was appropriately celebrated by
the Tammany Society. The Grand Council Chamber was tastefully decorated with national flags,
and marble busts of Washington, Clay, Jackson, Webster, and Franklin were placed at prominent
positions.”
The article goes on to print a letter of regret sent to Grand Sachem Hoffman by
President Johnson:
“Sir—I thank you for your cordial invitation of the time-honored Society of Tammany to
participate in the celebration of the approaching anniversary of our national independence.
The national tone and patriotic spirit of the invitation meet my hearty approval. They
are the indications of a growing public sentiment, which, now that the bitter strife of civil war
has ceased, requires a renewal of the pursuits of peace and a return to the constitution of our
fathers, rigid adherence to its principles, increased reverence for its sacred obligations; a restored,
invigorated and permanent Union, and a fraternity of feeling that shall make us, as a people, one
and indissoluble. There can be for the patriot no higher duty, no nobler work, than the obliteration
of the passions and prejudices which, resulting from our late sanguinary conflict, have retarded
reconciliation and prevented that complete restoration of all of the States to their constitutional
relations with the federal government which is essential to the peace, unity, strength and prosperity
of the nation. Regretting that my public duties will not permit me to be present at your celebration,
I am, very respectfully yours, ANDREW JOHNSON.”
Members of his own Cabinet, including Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, oppose
President Johnson striving for “the obliteration of the passions and prejudices,” that,
in plain language, means being extremely lenient with the former Confederates.
Johnson has already proven himself prejudicial, vetoing the Civil Rights Act of
1866 that gives African-American’s equal protection. Congress overrides the veto
and it becomes law. Johnson goes on to oppose the Reconstruction Acts. These
Acts, drafted by the Radical Republicans, impose marital law in the Southern State,
dissolve their governments, and reconstitute them into five military districts. The
Confederate States only being readmitted into the Union after they draft a new
constitution.

453
SectionFiveoftheFirstReconstructionActissignificant.Itstatesthatthese
new state constitutions allow males, twenty years of age or older “of whatever race,
color, or previous condition” be allowed to serve as delegates and vote for the new
constitution. Simply stated, African-American suffrage is now greatly expanded.
It further states that the under their new constitution, the Southern States must
ratify “the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the
Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen, and when such article shall
have become a part of the Constitution of the United States,” before being allowed
to rejoin the Union as a State. Of course, the Thirteenth, and the impending
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are closely linked under one core tenet:
full rights of African-Americans as citizens of the United States. By 1867, as a
result of these Acts, African-Americans will begin to vote in large numbers.
However, it will be an uphill battle into the 20th century, with the voting rights of
African-Americans severely challenged.
Johnson’s veto of these Acts will cost him dearly, his veto being overridden
by Congress as well. The Democratic Party in general, and Tammany Hall in
particular will oppose male African-American suffrage.
Political cartoon from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.
Published May 12, 1866.

St. tammany chapter 9

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Similar to St. tammany chapter 9

Similar to St. tammany chapter 9 (15)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

St. tammany chapter 9