Comments on: Pratt Street Riots, April 19, 1861

By: Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr.

Henry A. Fleckenstein, Jr. — Tue, 10 May 2011 11:14:37 +0000

With Habeus Corpus suspended by Lincoln, were the police chief, commissioners, state legislators, & their cohorts held under arrest for any length of time. I’ve read somewhere that the state legislators were confined in unlawful custody until their legislative session ended, because Lincoln feared that Maryland would vote with her sister state of Virginia to secede from the Union & Washington would be surrounded by Confederate States.
Many Marylanders, pissed that their state was placed under Federal martial law, left the eastern half of the state for Richmond to join the Confederacy & fight in the War of Northern Aggression…My great, great Grandfather whose name was William Hoffman, left Baltimore with his family & moved to Richmond where at the age of ten, he became a water boy for the Confederate army.

By: Robert L.Williams

Robert L.Williams — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:32:10 +0000

I am working on the History of President Street Station, Looking for photographs and etc. Please contact me

By: Jan R

Jan R — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:16:41 +0000

Very well written. I have two questions:

“…arrested the police chief, city commissioners, state legislators, and…”. What happen to these people – did prosecutions resulted from the riots?

As you pointed out, Maryland has a unique control over access to Washington D.C. This, no doubt, made federal authorities react decisively. But, how did the Baltimore riots compare to riots in other “border states” at the start of the Civil War?

Thank you.

By: Reed Hellman

Reed Hellman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:29:14 +0000

Hello Michael, and thanks for reading my stuff. I don’t know for sure how you go about determining which riot has been “the worst”. The 1968 disorders were very bad, but this is the only Baltimore riot to usher in a civil war.

By: Michael Lantz

Michael Lantz — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:27:52 +0000

Was this the worst riot in Maryland history?I know that the civil disorders in Baltimore in 1968 was bad,but the one in 1861 looks like a Civil War battlefield.Were people smashing windows like they were in The New York Draft Riots in 1861?