of steel. The Twenty-seventh Regiment of National Guards, led by Colonel
Stevens, had been sent from the City Hall, and their regular heavy tramp
sounded ominously, as they came steadily on. The church-bell was set
ringing furiously by the mob and there was every appearance of a
determined resistance. As Colonel Stevens approached the first barricade,
he halted his regiment, and ordered his pioneer guard to advance. They
promptly obeyed, armed with their axes. A shower of stones met them, while
clubs were waved frantically in the air, accompanied with oaths and
threats. They, however, moved firmly up to the barricade, and the shining
steel of their axes, as they swung them in the air, was as terrific as the
gleam of the bayonets, and the crowd retired precipitately behind the
second barricade. The first was now speedily torn down, and the head of
the column advanced. The second was a more formidable affair, in fact, a
regular bastion, behind which were packed in one dense mass an immense
body of desperate men, reaching down the street, till lost in the
darkness. It seemed now that nothing but deadly volleys would answer. One
of the city officers advised Colonel Stevens to retreat, but, instead of
obeying, he ordered the pioneer guard to advance, and sustained it by a
detachment of troops. Amid the raining missiles they moved forward, when
the crowd fell back, some fleeing up the side streets. The guard then
mounted the barricade, and in a short time it was scattered in every
direction; and when the order "Forward" was given, the column marched
straight on the mob. At this moment, Justice Lowndes, at the head of a
band of watchmen, arrived on the ground, when the two forces moved forward
together, clearing the street of the rioters. While the fight was going
on, some of the gang remained inside the church, and kept the bell ringing
violently, until Colonel Stevens ordered one of his officers to cut the
rope.

A portion of the mob now hurried to Thompson Street, where Mr. Ludlow