The Baltimore railroad strike of 1877 involved several days of work stoppage and violence in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, in 1877. It formed a part of the
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 day ...
, during which widespread civil unrest spread nationwide following the
global depression and economic downturns of the mid-1870s. Strikes broke out along the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(B&O) on July 16, the same day that 10% wage reductions were scheduled.
Violence erupted in Baltimore on July 20, with police and soldiers of the
Maryland National Guard
The Maryland Military Department (MMD) is a department of the State of Maryland directed by the adjutant general of Maryland.
The Maryland Military Department consists of the:
*State Operations section, which manages fiscal and administrative du ...
clashing with crowds of thousands gathered throughout the city. In response, President
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...
ordered federal troops to Baltimore, local officials recruited 500 additional police, and two new national guard regiments were formed. Peace was restored on July 22. Between 10 and 22 were killed, more than 150 were injured, and many more were arrested.
Negotiations between strikers and the B&O were unsuccessful, and most strikers quit rather than return to work at the newly reduced wages. The company easily found enough workers to replace the strikers, and under the protection of the military and police, traffic resumed on July 29. The company promised minor concessions at the time, and eventually enacted select reforms later that year.
The Long Depression and the Great Strikes
The Long Depression, sparked in the United States by the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...
, had extensive implications for US industry, closing more than a hundred railroads in the first year and cutting construction of new rail lines from of track in 1872 to in 1875.
Approximately 18,000 businesses failed between 1873 and 1875, production in
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
dropped as much as 45 percent, and a million or more lost their jobs.
In 1876, 76 railroad companies went bankrupt or entered
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
in the US alone, and the economic impacts rippled throughout many
economic sector
One classical breakdown of economic activity distinguishes three sectors:
* Primary: involves the retrieval and production of raw-material commodities, such as corn, coal, wood or iron. Miners, farmers and fishermen are all workers in the ...
s throughout the industrialized world.
In mid-1877, tensions erupted in stoppages and civil unrest across the nation in what would become known as the
Great Railroad Strike
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 day ...
or the Great Strikes. Violence began in
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the E ...
and spread along the rail lines through Baltimore and on to several major cities and
transportation hubs of the time, including
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
,
Scranton
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
and
Shamokin, Pennsylvania; a bloodless
general strike in St. Louis, Missouri; and a short lived
uprising in Chicago, Illinois. In the worst case,
rioting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania left 61 dead and 124 injured. Much of the city's center was burned, including more than a thousand
rail cars destroyed. What began as the peaceful actions of
organized labor
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
attracted the masses of discontented and unemployed workers spawned by the depression, along with others who took opportunistic advantage of the chaos. In total, an estimated 100,000 workers participated nationwide.
State and federal troops followed the turmoil as it spread along the rail lines from city to city, beginning in Baltimore, where the movement of troops itself provoked a violent response that ultimately required federal intervention to quell.
Early events
In early July 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) announced it would reduce the wages of all workers by ten percent. One hundred miles would constitute a day's work, and crews would not receive allowances for time spent on delays at stations.
Various meetings of railroad employees followed, and a committee was formed to meet with officers of the railroad. They appealed to the vice president, Mr. King, but he declined to meet.
Most workers accepted the reduction in pay, but the
firemen
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also a ...
and those who ran the
freight trains
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...
resolved to stop work in protest.
The number of unemployed along the line was so great, owing to the ongoing economic problems, that the company had no difficulty replacing the absent strikers. In response, the strikers resolved to occupy portions of the rail line, and to stop trains from passing unless the company rescinded the wage cuts.
July 16–19
On July 16, the day the reduction was to go into effect, about 40 men gathered at Camden Junction, from Baltimore, and stopped traffic.
Newspapers reported a meeting held by rail workers who were sympathetic to the strike, which by that day included
brakemen and
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
as well as firemen.
That same day in Baltimore, hundreds of manufacturing workers declared a strike,
and the box-makers and sawyers walked out, demanding a ten percent increase in wages.
Newspaper reports counted 140 of the union's 180 members who went on strike.
Tin can
A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English),
steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans re ...
makers in the city had already been striking for higher wages for a week at this point, and their number amounted to 800, while not more than 100 can makers in the city remained at work according to reports by ''The Sun''.
At around 2:00am on July 17, the first act of violence in Baltimore emerged. According to the newspaper reports the following day, a westbound train was thrown from the tracks at a
switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
in a suburb south of the city. The switch had been opened and locked by an unknown person.
The
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
caught fire, and the engineer and the fireman aboard were severely injured.
That afternoon violence broke out in Martinsburg, West Virginia, between workers and militia guarding a train, prompting the governor of West Virginia to appeal to the President for aid.
Strikers occupied stations at
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...
;
Grafton, West Virginia
Grafton is a city in and the county seat of Taylor County, West Virginia, Taylor County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 4,729 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It originally developed as a junction point for the Bal ...
;
Keyser, West Virginia
Keyser () is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,853 at the 2020 census.
History
Keyser, the county seat of Mineral County, is ...
, and elsewhere, and halted the movement of freight.
Newspaper reports counted 400–500 men who had joined the rail strike, and in Martinsburg, 75 trains with 1,200 rail cars sat idle.
That day, ''The Sun'' reported the situation in the city:
One by one the shops have become wholly or partly silent, and very many men, especially in South Baltimore, are without work or the means of providing for their families. This state of affairs is confined not alone to railroad shops, but to other workshops, and a great deal of distress exists among the workingmen of all kinds.
On July 18, the railroad strikers in Baltimore printed and circulated a list of their grievances:
They had submitted to three reductions of wages in three years; that they would have acquiesced in a moderate reduction; that they were frequently sent out on a trip to Martinsburg, and there detained four days at the discretion of the company, for which detention they were allowed pay but two day's time; that they were compelled to pay their board during the time they were detained, which was more than the wages they received; that they had nothing left with which to support their families; that it was a question of bread with them; that when times were dull on the road they could not get more than fifteen day's work in a month; that many sober, steady economical men became involved in debt last winter; that honest men had their wages attached because they could not meet their expenses; that by a rule of the company any man who had his wages attached should be discharged; that this was a tyranny to which no rational being should submit, and that it was utterly impossible for a man with a family to support himself and family at the reduced rate of wages.
By the end of July 19, the strike had spread through major cities from Baltimore to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. It involved multiple rail companies, and had grown to include a variety of mechanics, artisans, and other laborers. General violence threatened to break out in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
and the city was
blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
d.
Numerous meetings and conferences of discontented workers continued across the country.
A committee representing the strikers (including engineers,
conductors, firemen, and brakemen) departed Baltimore to ensure solidarity along the line in demanding $2 per day. According to the edition of July 20 of ''The Sun'', the city was peaceful, but anxious, as many awaited word of the happenings in Martinsburg, which was seen as the central point of the movement.
The outbreak of violence
By Friday, July 20, about 250 trains sat idle in Baltimore as a result of the strike.
John W. Garrett
John Work Garrett (July 31, 1820 – September 26, 1884), was an American merchant turned banker who became president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1858 and led the railroad for nearly three decades. The B&O became one of the most ...
, president of the B&O, requested that Maryland Governor
John Lee Carroll
John Lee Carroll (September 30, 1830 – February 27, 1911), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 37th Governor of Maryland from 1876 to 1880.
Early life
Carroll was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Col. Charles Carr ...
move state troops from Baltimore to Cumberland, where the situation had deteriorated.
At 4:00pm Brigadier General
James R. Herbert was ordered by Governor Carroll to muster the troops of the 5th and 6th Regiments, Maryland National Guard, to their respective
armories in preparation.
With the knowledge that groups of workers had been dispersed along the lines to impede traffic, including the movement of troops, he issued a simultaneous declaration to the people of the state:
I ... by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby issue this my proclamation, calling upon all citizens of this State to abstain from acts of lawlessness, and aid lawful authorities in the maintenance of peace and order.
Crowds gathered at four different points in the city, and along the route it was believed the soldiers would take in order to embark on their trains. Mayor
Ferdinand Latrobe issued a proclamation, reciting the
riot act
The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...
and ordering the crowds to disperse, but to no effect.
He later sent correspondence to the governor, asking that the garrison not be taken from the city given the current state of affairs. Police commissioners ordered the closing of all barrooms and saloons.
At 6:35pm, as many workers in the city were finishing their
shifts, the alarm was sounded to gather the troops of the 5th and 6th Regiments.
This was the first time such an alarm had been used in the city, and it caused a great deal of excitement, and attracted yet more citizens into the streets to witness events.
The 5th Regiment
Between 135 and 250 men of the
5th Regiment, Maryland National Guard mustered at their armory on the corner of Fifth and Front streets. Each man was equipped with full uniform, a Springfield
breech loading rifle, and twenty rounds of ammunition.
At 7:00pm the group began its march toward
Camden Station
Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, and is ...
, with the intention to board a train to Cumberland.
Onlookers had gathered to watch the procession,
and the soldiers were attacked on
Eutaw Street
Eutaw Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, mostly within the downtown area. Outside of downtown, it is mostly known as Eutaw Place.
The south end of Eutaw Street is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After this point, the street continue ...
by crowds throwing bricks and stones. No serious damage was done, and they continued until again, on Eutaw near Camden Street, they were stopped by the crowd, who injured several with their missiles.
The order was given and the group formed up across the entire street, from curb to curb. They fixed
bayonet
A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
s and advanced. Shots were fired at the troops, but they successfully moved through the crowd and into the station.
The 6th Regiment
Around 6:30pm the soldiers of the 6th Regiment began assembling.
Their armory, located on Front Street across from the
Phoenix Shot Tower
The Phoenix Shot Tower, also known as the Old Baltimore Shot Tower, is a red brick shot tower, tall, located near the downtown, Jonestown (also known later as Old Town), and Little Italy communities of East Baltimore, in Maryland. When it was c ...
, consisted of the second and third floors of a warehouse, with the only exit being a narrow stairway through which no more than two men could walk abreast.
The men were met with jeers by a crowd of 2,000 to 4,000.
This escalated into
paving stones thrown through the door and windows of the building. Soldiers who subsequently arrived were beaten and driven away.
Additional police were sent for in hopes of clearing the way and
relieving the troops of the need to use force against the crowd, but those who arrived were unable to effect any order, and were forced to shelter in the armory along with the soldiers.
Shortly after 8:00pm, Colonel Peters ordered three companies of 120 men of the 6th to move as commanded by the governor and General Herbert to Camden Station.
As they exited, they were assaulted by stones from the crowd, believing those of the 6th Regiment were armed only with
blank cartridges. The troops returned fire, with live ammunition as they were equipped, and the frightened crowd retreated west across Fayette Street Bridge.
Given the ongoing clashes, the men of the 6th Regiment, Company B, being the last of the formation to leave the armory, marched south, by way of Front Street, and then west along Baltimore Street, in order to avoid the crowds.
The crowd regained their resolve and, as the body marched near Harrison and Frederick streets, they were attacked in the rear and made to halt by the pressing of the crowd.
Without orders, some soldiers fired on the crowd, killing one and wounding between one and three.
The crowd shrank back and the soldiers were allowed to continue until they had advanced to the offices of the ''
Baltimore American
The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest ...
'' newspaper, near Holliday Street, where an order was given to halt and two
volleys fired into the crowd.
They were forced to halt a third time as they turned onto
Charles Street, and again fired on the crowd near
Light Street
Maryland Route 2 (MD 2) is the longest state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs from Solomons Island in Calvert County north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/ US 40 Truck ( North Avenue) in Baltimore. The route ...
.
There two men and one boy were killed.
From there they followed Charles to Camden Street and on to the station.
Attack on the depot
Around 8:30pm, the men of the 5th and 6th regiments met at Camden Station along with about 200 police officers.
As reported by ''The Sun'', Governor Carroll and Mayor Latrobe were present at the station, along with B&O vice president King, General Herbert and his staff, and a number of police commissioners.
Here they decided that conditions were too dangerous to send any troops away to Cumberland.
The train intended for the transportation of the troops consisted of 11 cars, and the engine was steamed and ready for departure. The crowd fell upon the engine, assailing it with stones, disabling it, and driving off both its engineer and fireman.
At 9:15pm another train was sent down the tracks by some from the crowd, with no one aboard, to wreck itself into yet another train.
According to ''The Sun'', the tracks were torn up from Lee Street, along Ohio Avenue to Cross Street, as well as elsewhere in the suburbs.
By 10:00pm the mob that had gathered at the station, and filled the streets for several blocks, numbered as many as 15,000.
The soldiers and police worked to keep the mob at bay, and drove them to the far end of the station near Lee Street. There the mob assailed the buildings of the depot with stones.
At 10:30pm the rioters set fire to passenger cars, the
dispatcher
A dispatcher is a communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. A number of organizations, including police and fire departments, emergency medical s ...
's office, and the
roundhouse.
Some firefighters dispatched to the scene were driven off, and others had their hoses cut when they attempted to set up their pumps, but, under the protection of the police and soldiers, the flames were extinguished.
''The Sun'' reported the fires damaged one passenger car and engine, destroyed the dispatcher's office, and damaged the roof of the depot's shed.
Two subsequent fires were started in the south of the city, but were dealt with without major damage.
That night Governor Carroll requested federal assistance from President Rutherford B. Hayes, convinced that the state forces were insufficient. Hayes ordered General
William Barry, commander at
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...
, to hold all available forces in readiness.
The men of the 5th and 6th stayed at the depot throughout the night and into the next morning. If any needed to leave, they did so in civilian clothes and unarmed, for fear of the crowd should they be discovered to be a member of the militia.
Camden Street remained under constant guard by 16 sentinels. They served in two-hour shifts, with four-hours' rest in between.
Casualties
Sources differ on the total casualties that day. By Stover's account, only 59 men of the 6th reached their destination, and the group suffered 10 killed, more than 20 seriously wounded, and several dozen more with minor injuries.
By Stowell's account, only one militiaman was killed, but as many as half of their number
deserted along the march.
In their struggle to enter Camden Station, the 5th suffered 16 to 24 injuries, but none seriously wounded or killed.
Between 9 and 12 civilians were killed, and 13-40 injured.
Immediate aftermath and sporadic violence
Through the early hours of that Saturday, July 21, many from the 6th Regiment deserted, until only 11 were left, who were then incorporated into the ranks of the 5th.
As Governor Carroll recalled: "... the slender force at my command was incompetent to protect the city, or to carry a sense of security to those who had a right be secured ..."
That morning, all business remained suspended.
The bars in Baltimore remained closed, and a guard of soldiers and police protected workers as they set about the task of repairing the tracks and restoring the station to operating order. Toward nightfall, a battery of artillery was stationed at the depot.
President Hayes released a proclamation in which he admonished:
all good citizens ... against aiding, countenancing, abetting or taking part in such unlawful proceedings, and I do hereby warn all persons engaged in or connected with said domestic violence and obstruction of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before twelve o'clock noon of the 22d day of July
After dark, a mob of 2,500–3,000 gathered at Camden Station, jeering the soldiers. The crowd grew increasingly restless until the soldiers guarding the area around the depot were again assaulted with stones and pistol fire.
The sentinels were called in, the soldiers assembled, and the command given to "Load, ready, aim!" at the mob was given. The crowd, by then familiar with what was likely to follow, dispersed, and the regiment was not ordered to fire.
On Eutaw Street, where the sentinels had remained, the men fixed bayonets, and briefly struggled with the crowd as they attempted and failed to break the
line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
.
Between 9:00pm and 10:00pm the guards enacted a strategy whereby the police officers, backed by the bayonets of the soldiers, advanced to the crowd and arrested each a man, who was then taken into the station, disarmed, and held there. The strategy was largely successful, and by 11:00pm the area around the station was mostly cleared, though sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the night.
Between 165 and 200 were detained in total,
and the most violent of the captives were removed and taken to the police station. The news reported that four, including one police officer, were injured in the exchange, and several who resisted arrest were beaten severely.
At the
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
near the Carey Street Bridge, a crowd of more than 100 gathered and threatened to set fire to the area. A contingent of the 5th under Captain Lipscomb arrived, and a volley fired over the heads of the crowd was sufficient to dissuade the crowd.
An unsuccessful attempt was also made to burn a B&O transportation barge at
Fell's Point
Fell's Point is a historic waterfront neighborhood in southeastern Baltimore, Maryland. It was established around 1763 along the north shore of the Baltimore Harbor and the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. The area has many antique, musi ...
.
The news reported that 16 were arrested in a confrontation between citizens and the police at Lee and Eutaw,
and that during the night, three separate attempts were made to set fire the 6th Regiment armory, but all were frustrated by the remaining
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
there.
Just before midnight, 120–135 marines arrived at the station and reported to the governor, who ordered them to set about capturing the leaders of the mob.
Governor Carroll telegraphed and advised President Hayes that order had been restored in the city.
Between 2:00am and 3:00am on Sunday morning, July 22, the peace was again broken and fire alarms began to ring throughout the city. To the west, at the
Mount Clare Shops
The Mount Clare Shops is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States, located in Baltimore, Maryland.United States National Park Service. Washington, DC. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: ...
of the B&O, a 37-car train of coal and oil had been set on fire. Police, firefighters, and thousands of citizens flocked to the scene.
A contingent of 50 marines was dispatched to the area to provide assistance.
The cars which had not yet caught fire were detached from those burning, and by the time the flames were extinguished between seven and nine cars had been burned.
Between $11,000 and $12,000 in damage was sustained.
At 4:00am another alarm sounded: the
planing mill A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws. In the planing mil ...
s and
lumber yard
A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services suc ...
of J. Turner & Cate near the
Philadelphia Wilmington & Baltimore rail depot, had been set on fire. The entire property, extending over a full city block, was destroyed. Realizing the severity of the situation, the firefighters concentrated their efforts on trying to save the surrounding structures.
According to news reports, the first passenger trains left the city at 9:00am, and continued running throughout the day.
Around 10:00am, General
W. S. Hancock arrived and was followed by 360–400 federal troops from New York and Fort Monroe, who relieved those guarding Camden Station.
They brought with them two
12-pounder artillery pieces. From that point on, the men of the 5th and the federal troops took turns guarding the station.
Around noon, General
Henry Abbot arrived at President Street with a battalion of 99 to 114 engineers. As the group advanced toward the armory of the 6th Regiment where they were to be quartered, they were met by a crowd of 500.
Jeers from the crowd turned to missiles until one soldier, Private Corcoran, was struck in the head and wounded. Abbot gave orders that his men were to halt and fix bayonets, at which point the crowd scattered.
Throughout the day and the previous, as many as 500 new special police were sworn in, doubling the size of the police force.
Each was provided with a
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
, a
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
and
espantoon
The espantoon is an ornate straight wooden baton, equipped with a long swiveled leather strap for twirling. It originated in, and is still strongly associated with, the Baltimore Police Department, the police department of the city of Baltimore, Ma ...
.
The recently arrived regulars brought the garrison of federal troops in the city to between 700 and 800.
The vessels
''Powhatan'' and
''Swatara'' had also been ordered to the city, along with their 500 marines.
News reports recalled court held that day in the southern district, where 195 charges of riot and 17 charges of drunkenness were resolved.
That night the city was quiet.
A telegram was dispatched from Adjutant General
Edward D. Townsend
Edward Davis Townsend (August 22, 1817 – May 10, 1893) was Adjutant General of the United States Army from 1869 to 1880.
The son of David S. & Eliza (Gerry) Townsend and grandson of Vice President Elbridge Gerry, Townsend was educated at B ...
to General Hancock, who had just arrived in the city earlier that day. He was directed to move his men to Pittsburgh, where riots were ongoing.
The 7th and 8th regiments
Following the cessation of open violence, the city set about forming two new regiments of national guard to expand available forces. The local news recounted on the 24th, that Abbot's engineer corps had re-purposed the armory of the 5th Regiment for use as a recruiting station, toward the goal of forming the newly authorized 8th Regiment, to include a company of artillery.
They brought with them from the armory of the 6th, two
howitzers
A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like oth ...
, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, and 250
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
s.
The Governor and
Adjutant General
An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer.
France
In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...
put out a call for volunteers to fill each regiment with 1,000 men. General
James Howard was chosen to command the 7th, and General Charles E. Phelps the 8th.
According to reports in ''The Sun'', the following day at 3:00pm, those who were left of the original 6th Regiment disbanded. No official order was given to this effect, but their duties had by this point been entirely assumed by federal troops, the soldiers of the 5th, and the newly formed 7th and 8th. The armory of the 6th remained guarded by a single police officer.
Negotiations
On Thursday, July 26, a committee from the engineers, firemen, brakemen, and conductors met with Governor Carroll, as recounted in the following day's newspapers. They presented him with a list of their unanimously adopted demands. The governor informed them that he had no power to satisfy them, which was a matter for the railroad, but assured them he intended to enforce the law and put down violence by any means necessary. The committee in turn maintained they had no connection with the violence, but merely intended to stop work until their demands were met. Carroll's reply was published in the local papers:
You have more to do than simply abstain from riotous proceedings. You must not stand behind riots and let violators of the law promote the destruction of property. You are responsible for the violence that has been done, whether you were actually engaged in it or not. You on your part must drive away from you the evil-disposed people who have done so much harm, and discountenance in the plainest way everything tending to violence.
The next day, it was reported that some railways throughout the country resumed traffic, though the B&O remained idle.
B&O vice president King published a reply to the demands of the strikers, saying that they could not be met for lack of work and low prices for hauling freight. He wrote that the choice of the company was to either
lay off many men and retain only those for whom they had work, or to spread what work was to be done among its employees; they chose the latter as the more humane.
He continued:
The experience of the last ten days must satisfy everyone that if freight trains are stopped on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the city of Baltimore is not only deprived of the great commercial advantages which she has heretofore enjoyed, but the entire community is made to feel that all business must be seriously crippled and the price of all kinds of family supplies greatly increased.
Later that evening, second vice president Keyser, upon the request of the strikers, addressed a workingmen's meeting at Cross Street Market Hall, and presented the company's written response reprinted in the papers for the public.
The letter, signed by both King and Keyser, stated the company's position as follows: the company would not negotiate on the matter of the 10 percent wage reduction, but it would "be pleased to address itself to the investigation of any of the minor grievances of which the men complained". The ''Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser'' reported a general hope that, owing to the imminent increase in traffic due to the transport of harvested crops, the firemen would be able to make daily round trips, thus avoiding layovers, and that the company could arrange for them to return home on passenger trains when this was not feasible.
Keyser's reprinted response advised that the ten percent cut was "forced upon the company", but that he was confident they would be able to provide more full employment, and thus increase wages, due to an abundance of freight to be moved. He said that a system of passes would be arranged to address the issue of idle time caused by delays. He entreated the men that if the situation could not be resolved, it must "bring want and suffering upon all; suffering from which you and your families cannot hope to be exempt."
He asserted that, although 90 percent of rail workers had accepted the reduction, the whole business of the railroad and city had been halted due to the 10 percent rejecting them, and resolving to not allow the rest of the men to continue work. He said the rescinding of the wage cuts were "entirely out of the question" and requested the men either return to work, or allow those who would to resume working.
As ''The Sun'' reported: "A vote was taken, and the proposition of the company was rejected unanimously."
Resumption of freight traffic
The force gathered at Camden Station at 8:30am on Saturday, July 29, included 250 federal troops, 250 men of the 5th Maryland Regiment, and 260 policemen. Under this guard, freight traffic once again resumed in and out of Baltimore.
That day between 8 and 34 trains were dispatched in total.
The newspapers reported the resumption of business and the glut of stalled products pouring through the city, including:
* of
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
,
* of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
* of
coal oil
Coal oil is a shale oil obtained from the destructive distillation of cannel coal, mineral wax, or bituminous shale, once used widely for illumination.
Chemically similar to the more refined, petroleum-derived kerosene, it consists mainly of seve ...
,
*1,463 head of
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
, and
*90 car loads of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
.
Between the 30th and the 1st, ''The Sun'' reported that the remaining strikers had declared they would not interfere, but were confident the company would be unable to find sufficient workers without them, and that by remaining united, they could yet see their terms met.
Given notice to report to work on Monday, July 30 or be discharged from the company, most chose discharge, but the company had little trouble in acquiring the workers needed to run the trains.
On Wednesday, August 1, ''The Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser'' summarized the situation as it then stood:
The strikers have gained absolutely nothing by the movement. The ten per cent reduction has been enforced by the four trunk lines, and the only concessions were those that might have been had for asking, without the loss of a single day's work. Such of the strikers as were caught committing criminal acts are now under arrest, and the great majority of the rest are most anxious to resume their places. Some of the railroad companies have discharged every man that took part in the strike, while others have only dropped the ringleaders, and have held out inducements to the others to return to work.
Aftermath and legacy
By the time peace was completely restored in the city, the cost to the state for suppression of the mob was between $80,000 and $85,000.
Later that year, the B&O agreed to a number of reforms: crewmen would not be called to work more than an hour before a train's departure, crews were to be paid a quarter of a day's pay if the train they were working was canceled, and passes were to be given for men working who had long layovers. In 1880, the B&O Employees Relief Association was established.
The first
parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
of the 5th Regiment through the city following the crisis was on October 15. They marched that day with, according to contemporary accounts, 400 counted among their ranks.
In 1901, a
new armory for the 5th was completed on West Hoffman Street, and is now included on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The following year, Governor Carroll addressed the
General Assembly of the Maryland Legislature, and offered his appraisal of what had occurred in Baltimore:
Undoubtedly the extraordinary depression which has existed for the past four years in all branches of business, compelled the great railway lines to make reductions in their expenditures, and thus the numbers of unemployed have been constantly added to.
The want and suffering produced by such a condition of the working classes is always an evil greatly to be deplored, but one, unfortunately, that cannot be reached by immediate legislation. The great and only remedy for unemployed labor, is the revival of business, and the encouragement of a judicious political system by which it will be brought about.
In 2013, a historical marker was placed on the Howard Street side of Camden Station. It was state-funded and coordinated by the
Maryland Historical Trust
The Maryland Historical Trust is an agency of Maryland Department of Planning and serves as the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office. The agency serves to assist in research, conservation, and education, of Maryland's historical and cultural ...
and the
Maryland State Highway Administration
The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore City. Formed originally under authority of the Ge ...
. The text of the marker was proposed by Bill Barry, Director of Labor Studies at the
Baltimore County Community College.
See also
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore railroad strike of 1877
1877 labor disputes and strikes
1877 in Maryland
1877 in rail transport
Railroad strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) cut wages for the third time in a year. This strike finally ended 52 da ...
Rail transportation labor disputes in the United States
Riots and civil disorder in Baltimore
Labor disputes in Maryland