New York Draft Riots get out of hand?

We all know that the New York Draft Riots in 1863 were pretty violent, with an estimated 2,000 killed. What if the draft riots got out of hand and spread to other parts of the country. What would happen if the rioters captured Manhattan before the New York Militia and Union Army could arrive?

I thought of an interesting POD to make it more violent.

A week before the riots, the US won at Gettysburg. If we lost Gettysburg, the draft riots would have likely been more violent. This, coupled with the Confederates on the verge of attacking Washington D.C., would force Lincoln to make harsher decisions. This may start riots in many major Union cities.
 
Newt Gingrich's Gettysburg trilogy actually explores this very idea. The Union loses Gettysburg, which leads to more violent draft riots. Ultimately, forces led by Sickles were brought up to put down the riots.

For the actual riots themselves, there's not going to be much of a difference, tbh. An unorganized mob cannot stand up against seasoned, well-armed and well-trained veterans. It might last an extra day or two, and there'll probably be a few more deaths (say, 5000 instead of 2000), but nothing major.

You're going to see martial law for a while. This means a group of soldiers occupying New York for however long the martial law is maintained. It will breed resentment. I honestly don't think it'll cause that big of a fuss after that, though. There'll be fewer recruits from NYC. Probably a somewhat larger anti-draft campaign. But the government isn't going to suspend a draft because a couple thousand New Yorkers were killed. The unit of soldiers in New York isn't going to be big enough to make a lack felt elsewhere, and they won't even stay particularly long.

In the end, it's an interesting thought, but it won't make much of a difference outside of New York City, summer 1863. I recommend taking a look at Grant Comes East and reading the chapters taking place in NY. It gives a good tactical perspective of how the government would react to the riot.
 
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