The military draft that President Abraham Lincoln instituted in 1862 was unpopular in many heavily German communities, since many Germans had left their homeland to escape compulsory military service. On November 10, 1862, roughly 300 rioters attacked the draft office in Port Washington and vandalized the homes of Union supporters, until troops arrived to quell the disturbance. In Milwaukee the same week, a mob of protesters shut down the draft proceedings, and in West Bend, the draft commissioner was beaten bloody and chased from the scene. View more information elsewhere at wisconsinhistory.org.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

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[Source: Turning Points in Wisconsin History]

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