In the autumn of 1862, during the second year of the American Civil War, a significant uprising occurred in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region when Irish miners violently opposed the state’s initial draft efforts. The rebellion began in western Schuylkill County, where hundreds of armed workers moved from mine to mine, halting operations and intercepting military recruits near Tremont village.
This resistance emerged during a challenging period for the Union, following the Battle of Antietam and President Lincoln’s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The summer had brought multiple Union defeats in Virginia, prompting Confederate incursions into Kentucky and Maryland. To address declining military enrollment, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin implemented a draft system for state militia units, sparking fierce opposition.
The Irish miners’ grievances extended beyond the draft. Working in hazardous conditions for minimal wages, they resided in substandard company housing throughout the mining communities. The announcement of slave emancipation intensified their anger, fueled by unfounded fears of job competition from freed slaves. Local media, including the Pottsville Standard, warned of potential conflict if emancipated slaves entered the region.
As miners organized to demand better conditions amid rising coal prices, their armed demonstrations alarmed state and federal authorities. Governor Curtin reported to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton about thousands of armed protesters in Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Carbon counties. In response, federal forces, including an infantry regiment and artillery battery, were dispatched to
Pottsville.
Initial violence was averted through the intervention of
Philadelphia’s Bishop James Wood, who convinced the largely Catholic protesters to stand down. However, by December 1862, unrest resumed with strikes at Phoenix Park Colliery near Minersville, where workers threatened violence against mine supervisors.
Throughout 1863, miners continued organizing strikes and opposing military enrollment while threatening mining officials who sought military intervention. Violence became commonplace in mining communities northwest of Pottsville and across the Coal Region. The federal government responded by implementing military occupation in Schuylkill, Carbon, and Luzerne counties to suppress draft resistance and labor activism.
After the war’s conclusion, mine operators and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad sought to maintain control through military-style enforcement. This led to the Pennsylvania Legislature’s passage of laws in 1865 and 1866 establishing a private police force serving corporate interests. The resulting Coal and Iron Police, first established in Schuylkill County, became a controversial fixture in the region’s life through the early 20th century.
The miners’ uprising highlighted the complex intersection of labor rights, immigration, and civil rights during the Civil War era. While the protesters opposed military conscription and sought improved working conditions, their movement was complicated by racial prejudice and resistance to emancipation. The government’s response – military occupation followed by privatized policing – established a pattern of corporate-backed enforcement that would characterize labor relations in Pennsylvania’s coal region for decades to come.
The events demonstrated how wartime pressures exacerbated existing social and economic tensions, leading to significant civil unrest and lasting changes in law enforcement practices. The creation of the Coal and Iron Police marked a significant shift toward private security forces serving industrial interests, a development that would influence labor relations well into the next century.