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Ammunition served out.
Thereupon he caused ammunition to be distributed and the arms loaded.
He went through the cars composing the long train and issued an order as follows: ‘The regiment will march through
Baltimore in columns of sections, arms at will.
You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused and perhaps assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces square to the front and pay no attention to the mob, even if they throw stones, bricks or other missiles; but if you are fired upon any of you are hit your officers will order you to fire.
Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select any man whom you see aiming at you and be sure you drop him.’
If this order had been carried out and the troops had marched through in a body the trouble might not have occurred.
At that time the only railroad from
Baltimore to
Washington was the
Baltimore and
Ohio.
Trains coming from the
East for
Washington were hauled by horses, one car at a time, from
President Street Station up to
Pratt, along
Pratt to Howard street, and thence to
Camden Station.
Along this route was the scene of the riot.
Instead of disembarking at President street and marching in a body to
Camden, the regular course was attempted, and this gave the mob the opportunity to attack the troops in detail.
The train bringing the soldiers consisted of thirty-five cars.
It arrived at
President Street Station about 11 o'clock on the morning of Friday, 19th of April. Six cars, drawn rapidly by horses, reached
Camden Station, the first carload being received with jeers and hisses, but the last car was thrown from the track and delayed, the windows broken with paving stones, which had also struck some of the men.
Colonel Jones was in one of the cars which got through.
After the stones had been thrown at the sixth car the riot began in earnest, and among those who opposed the troops were some of the substantial men of the city.
As carload after carload passed by the excitement grew more and more intense and the crowd on the street increased rapidly and the passage of nine cars was obstructed by a cartload of sand which was dumped on the track by a party of merchants and clerks on Pratt street. At the head of Gay street dock some anchors were lying, and these were also dragged upon the track.
One of the wealthy merchants of the town was afterward indicted by the
Federal grand jury for participation in this act. But he was not tried.
At the corner of Pratt and Gay streets pavers had been at
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work and large pile of paving stones—the cobble stones such as were used at that time—furnished the mob with the weapons for their attack.
Policemen undertook to drag the anchors from the track, but the crowd would not permit them to do so until
Mayor Brown came along and ordered the obstruction removed.
His authority was not resisted.
But in the meantime the seventh car having come up to the obstruction, the driver hitched the horses to the other end and returned rapidly to President street, the cars following of course reversing and also returning amid a shower of stones and other missles and hoots and yells of defiance.
