The Draft Riot Continues

As nighttime set in, the looting and vandalism ceased, but some of the rioters continued roaming the streets, making noise and shooting off firearms. The rioters included “men, women and children.” It thus seems likely that entire families participated in the riot. The reporter for the Milwaukee Daily Wisconsin even stated: “The women had accompanied the crowd all through the day, helping them destroy the residences we have named, and helping themselves to the plunder. There were 25 or 30 women in the crowd through the day, some of them with clubs, and 9 or 10 of them actually proceeded in the van of the mob displaying the most brutal hostility.” In the evening, the rioters used beer kegs to barricade some of the streets, and newspaper reports describe drunken revelry and debauchery persisting into the night. Disturbingly, a few rioters broke into the kitchen of merchant John Eckle’s house and raped his servant girl. On the following day, Tuesday, there are not clear records of what occurred across Port Washington. Many residents fled town, most seeking refuge to the south in Milwaukee.

Governor Salomon dispatched state Provost Marshal Walter McIndoe to Milwaukee to respond to the situation. In the early morning hours of November 11, eight companies of the 28th Wisconsin (about six hundred men) under Colonel James Lewis deployed on board the steamers Comet and Sunbeam to Port Ulao, four miles south of Port Washington. From there, several companies marched inland and deployed in a wide arc around the town and then closed in and confronted the rioters. Meanwhile, a few other companies were landed at the Port Washington pier. The 28th Wisconsin was engaged in tandem to encircle the rioters within the town. Significantly, they did not encounter any armed resistance and none of the soldiers felt compelled to fire on any of the rioters. Some of crowd attempted to hide out in the woods, barns and sheds to evade arrest, but they were usually pointed out by the townspeople. Eighty-one of the rioters were arrested and held at the Court House.