Baltimore riot of 1861
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The Baltimore riot of 1861 was an incident that took place on April 19, 1861 in Baltimore, Maryland between Confederate sympathisers and infantrymen of the United States Army. It is regarded by historians as the first bloodshed of the American Civil War.
Causes of the riot
On April 12, one week prior to the riot, the battle of Fort Sumter started, signalling the beginning of the American Civil War. At the time, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas were supportive of the Confederacy but were not sure about seceding from the U.S. In addition, four "border states" (Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky) were pro-slavery, pro-Confederate, but were very uneasy about the idea of incurring the wrath of the American military. However, when Fort Sumter fell on April 13 without a single man lost, the Virginia legislature took up a measure on secession. After little debate, the measure passed on April 17. The other southern states waited to see what would happen, as the secession of Virginia was important because of the state's industrial value. Marylanders, who had been supportive of secession ever since John C. Calhoun spoke of "nullification", agitated to join Virginia in leaving the Union. Their discontent increased in the days afterward and peaked on April 19.
April 19, 1861
On April 19, the Union's Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was travelling south to Washington, D.C. through Baltimore. However, they had to travel by horse drawn cart, as the rail lines they were using did not pass through the city and going around would have taken longer. As they travelled from one end of the city to the other (where the train station was), their convoy began drawing a crowd of people who began heckling the soldiers. As they travelled further, the crowd grew larger and began blocking the route. When it became apparent that they could travel by horse no further, the troops got out of the carts and began marching through the city. However, the crowd, which had now become an unruly mob, followed the soldiers, breaking store windows and causing damage until they finally blocked off the soldiers' way through the city. The mob began throwing stones and bricks at the troops, who were inexperienced and did not know how to handle the situation. Panicked by the situation confronting them, several soldiers fired into the mob, and chaos immediately ensued as a giant brawl began between soldiers running towards the train station, the violent mob, and the police who tried to suppress the violence. In the end, the soldiers got to the train station, and the police were able to block the crowd from them. Four soldiers and twelve civilians were killed, and dozens were injured. The soldiers had left behind much of their equipment, including their marching band.
Aftermath
After the April 19th rioting, some small skirmishes occurred throughout Baltimore between citizens and police for the next month, but a sense of normalcy returned as the city was cleaned up. However, on May 13, the Union army entered Baltimore, occupied the city and declared martial law, to prevent all further incidents. The mayor, city council, and police commissioner, who were pro-South and seemingly incompetent at maintaining order in the situation, were arrested and imprisoned at Fort McHenry. Meanwhile, the states of Arkansas and Tennessee, seeing how federal troops acted in the pro-South Union state on April 19, seceded on May 6.
After the occupation of the city, Union troops were garrisoned throughout the state. The governor of Maryland Thomas Holliday Hicks was arrested, as was the whole of the Maryland legislature (which was days from approving secession), and the state was placed under direct federal administration. Days afterward, North Carolina became the final state to approve secession (May 21). Delaware was occupied by Union troops due to its proximity to (and to prevent a repeat of the events that took place in) Maryland. Kentucky declared its neutrality (although it would eventually join the Union's side), and although Missouri was on the Union side, a Confederate government-in-exile existed in Arkansas and Texas. Maryland would remain under federal administration, and Delaware occupied, until April 1865, the end of the war.
