An 1862 labor and anti-draft riot by immigrant dockworkers in Buffalo exposed tensions between immigrant communities and federal Civil War conscription policy.
Key Facts
- Date
- August 12, 1862
- Rioters involved
- More than 200 Irish and German dockworkers
- Ringleaders jailed
- Approximately 14
- Draft call by Lincoln
- 300,000 militia men for nine months' service
- Enabling legislation
- Militia Act of 1862, passed July 1862
- Police casualties
- Chief of police and officers seriously injured; 2 rioters wounded by gunfire
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Militia Act of 1862 granted President Lincoln authority to draft state militia men where volunteer numbers were insufficient. On August 4, Lincoln called for 300,000 men for nine months' service. Buffalo's immigrant stevedores, already aggrieved by low wages, feared forced conscription and resented what they perceived as a Yankee conspiracy against German, Irish, and Scottish residents.
On the afternoon of August 12, 1862, more than two hundred Irish and German dockworkers gathered at the Western Transportation Company's dock on the Erie Basin. After hearing speeches condemning the draft, they demanded higher wages, blocked others from working at existing rates, and clashed with police, seriously injuring the chief of police before officers opened fire and wounded two rioters.
Buffalo police suppressed the riot and arrested approximately fourteen ringleaders before the New York State Militia, summoned by the mayor, was required to intervene. New York State ultimately furnished enough volunteers to avoid the draft entirely, but the disturbance highlighted the deep hostility of immigrant working-class communities toward federal wartime conscription measures.
Political Outcome
Riot suppressed by Buffalo police; approximately 14 ringleaders arrested; New York State avoided the militia draft by meeting volunteer quotas.