11th New York Infantry - Draft Riots and Disbanding

Draft Riots and Disbanding

On May 18, 1863, Colonel James C. Burke received authority to reorganize the original regiment as a three-years regiment to be known as the J. T. Brady Light Infantry. Burke was required to raise 250 men for the effort but failed. His authorization was revoked on June 7 and transferred to Colonel Henry F. O'Brien. O'Brien was required to raise 250 men by August 1, 250 others by September 1, and an additional 250 men by November 1. These recruiting efforts were hampered by the draft riot in New York City of July 1863.

As the 11th New York Regiment had experienced first hand, the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 had taken a heavy toll on Union forces, including those from New York City. As the war dragged on, a military manpower shortage occurred in the Union and Congress passed the first conscription act in United States history on March 3, 1863, authorizing the President to draft male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 for a three-year term of military service.

Initially intended to express anger at the draft, the protests deteriorated into "a virtual racial pogrom, with uncounted numbers of blacks murdered on the streets". The conditions in the city were such that Major General John E. Wool stated on July 16, "Martial law ought to be proclaimed, but I have not a sufficient force to enforce it".

States' militias and Federal troops attached to the Army of the Potomac, including the newly reorganized 11th New York, were dispatched to quell the riots. Other regiments utilized included the 152nd New York, the 26th Michigan, the 27th Indiana and the 7th Regiment New York State Militia, which arrived from Frederick, Maryland after a forced march. In addition, New York governor Horatio Seymour sent the 74th and 65th regiments of the New York state militia, which had not been federalized, and a section of the 20th Artillery from Fort Schuyler in Throgs Neck. At the height of the violence, Colonel O'Brien, the 11th Regiment's commanding officer, was seized by the mob, beaten, and killed. In the wake of the riots, the reorganization produced few recruits and stalled. On October 1, 1863, the reorganization was discontinued and the men who had enlisted were transferred to the 17th Veteran Infantry Regiment.