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General Wool ordered the New York State militia to return to New York City from Gettysburg to quell the anti-draft rioting. Ten thousand hardened veterans of Gettysburg patrolled New York City before the anti-draft riots were over. These troops included an all Irish regiment who tore down the barricades set up by the rioting anti-draft mobs. The barricades had been used to hide behind as they hurled bricks and fired upon the police.
The Union Draft lottery resumed in New York City in August 1863. It was completed without any more violence or riots. Of the three-quarters of a million men drafted into the Union army during the Civil War, fewer than forty-five thousand men were sent to active duty.
After the draft riots had been over, Johannes walked up Third Avenue to what was left of the Provost Marshall Draft office.
“Soldier,” he said to a Union private guarding the office. “Where can I go to enlist?” The soldier pointed Johannes toward the officer in charge sitting at a narrow table with a crisp new uniform. The officer was writing dispatches to the Secretary of War. He took down Johannes’ name and instructed him to report for duty at the New York City Armory.
Johannes and other soldiers in the Union Army were sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in August 1863. They would engage the Confederate Army in a pivotal battle as a prelude to the fall of Atlanta.
Meantime, President Lincoln replaced the ineffective General Wool with Democrat General Dix, a tough no-nonsense commander. He would now be in charge of the Department of the East which included New York City.
New York City Mayor Opdyke served out the rest of his term but never ran again for elective office. The New York City draft riots disillusioned him on a future in politics.
