In November 1864, a group of eight Confederates set fires throughout Manhattan, hoping to destroy the city — but their plot ultimately went up in smoke.
Flames licking the proud hotels and theaters along Broadway. Smoke curling over the brownstones and stockyards of New York City. Panic in the North — and a new push for peace. This was the dream of the Confederate Army of Manhattan, a group of Southern operatives who attempted — and failed — to burn Manhattan in November 1864.
Seeking revenge for Union destruction in the South, the Confederates planned to burn the most important city in the North. But their plot fizzled fast. Not only did they fail to inflict any real damage on Manhattan, but their attempted attack roused the ire of the North, even among northern “Copperheads” who opposed the war and advocated for a peace agreement.
But the Confederate Army of Manhattan’s failed plot did have an impact. It led to the final execution of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, Robert Cobb Kennedy. And it led to a bitter row between brothers Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, after John Wilkes professed support for the attack…