Dead Rabbits riot

Dead Rabbits riot
A view of the ferocious fight between two gangs, the "Dead Rabbits" and the "Bowery Boys", in the Bowery, New York City
DateJuly 4–5, 1857
Attack type
Riot
Deaths8
Injured30–100 injured
PerpetratorsDead Rabbits and Bowery Boys
George Henry Hall, A Dead Rabbit, 1858. Also entitled Study of the Nude, or Study of an Irishman, it depicts a man meant to represent one of the Dead Rabbits gang members from the Dead Rabbits Riot of July 4, 1857 in New York City's Lower East Side slums.
The Nativist New York City criminal gang the Bowery Boys, the archenemies of the Irish Dead Rabbits gang, wore firemen uniforms (being volunteer firefighters) and black stovepipe top hats to show their gang colors and pro-American affiliation.
Police Officer Shangles, an 1857 New York City Policeman during the Dead Rabbits Riot.

The Dead Rabbits riot was a two-day civil disturbance in New York City evolving from what was originally a small-scale street fight between members of the Dead Rabbits and the Bowery Boys into a citywide gang war, which occurred July 4–5, 1857. Taking advantage of the disorganized state of the city's police force—brought about by the conflict between the Municipal and Metropolitan police—the fighting spiraled into widespread looting and damage of property by gangsters and other criminals from all parts of the city. It is estimated that between 800 and 1,000 gang members took part in the riots, along with several hundred others who used the disturbance to loot the Bowery area. It was the largest disturbance since the Astor Place Riot in 1849 and the biggest scene of gang violence until the New York Draft Riots of 1863. Order was restored by the New York State Militia, supported by detachments of city police, under Major-General Charles W. Sandford.[1]

  1. ^ Nate Hendley, ed. (2009). American Gangsters, Then and Now: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 65–66. ISBN 9780313354526.