Coxey's Army passes Treasury Department

Well before Coxey and his band of followers departed the Brightwood Riding Park for their May 1 march to the Capitol, the U.S. government had been concerned with Coxey’s intentions. Did he plan to peacefully protest or would Coxey and his band precipitate rioting and looting in the nation’s capital? The U.S. Secret Service kept a careful eye on Coxey and his plans from the march’s inception in Massillon, Ohio and even infiltrated agents into the marchers’ ranks. Federal agents speculated that Coxey’s aim might be to seize control of an important government building as a strategy to advance his economic agenda. As a precaution, the Secret Service procured additional weapons and men to safekeep the Treasury building. 

In the weeks leading up to Coxey’s May 1 protest march, news reports contributed to the increasing anxieties of Washingtonians. Some reporters predicted an invasion of unemployed would descend on the city leading to rioting, looting, and wanton violence. Although he only departed Massillon with a hundred or so men, by the time his band neared Washington, there were reports that his followers had swelled into the thousands, with some papers even reporting that 500,000 or even up to three million marchers would enter the city. Coxey and his supporters were partly to blame for those reports as they fed optimistic predictions to reporters who covered the marchers as they made their way from Ohio to Washington. Some media reports, however, dismissed these fears as exaggerated. The New York Times opined that referring to Coxey’s band as an “army” only inflated anxiety. The city’s existing laws and police numbers were sufficient to contend with the 200 or so marchers likely to arrive, the paper concluded, reasoning that the likely outcome of Coxey’s march would be that Washington’s homeless population would increase as some of the unemployed marchers remained in the city at the end of the protest.

As Coxey’s Army approached the city and as news stories continued to sound the alarm, President Grover Cleveland convened his cabinet to assess preparations. Federal officials issued a flurry of orders, dispatching a calvary contingent to Maryland to intercept Coxey’s Army to ensure it proceeded peacefully. The Marines based at the Navy Yard began to drill, calvary troops patrolled the city streets, and reports circulated that additional troops had arrived at Fort Meyer. The District of Columbia commissioners, the officials that governed the city at that time, issued a proclamation calling the marchers a threat to the peace. The city added additional police recruits to the ranks and the D.C. National Guard prepared for deployment. Some members of Congress feared these overtly martial preparations would only incite violence, although others shared the growing anxieties of federal and city officials. Coxey, again, did not help matters, telling reporters that revolution could be inevitable if Congress failed to assist the unemployed.

News reports about other unemployed marchers – some Coxey-inspired and some not – heading to Washington along with other stories about labor strife throughout the country added to the anxiety of federal and city officials. In 12 other cities, “armies” of unemployed workers formed and started to make their way to Washington, including several departing from the west coast. News stories about standoffs between marchers and railroad companies and sheriffs, as well as reports about marchers hijacking trains to make the trip east, reached the capital to worry residents. Moreover, as Coxey approached Washington, the United Mine Workers went on strike in Pennsylvania, and in Chicago the American Railway Union action at the Pullman Company began to worsen. As Coxey and his marchers made their way to the capital, these news reports from around the country influenced the shape of the government’s response to his protest.

1.     Fernandez, Manny. “A Protest March or Invasion?” The New York Times, October 2, 2010.

2.     Prout, Jerry. Coxey’s Crusade for Jobs: Unemployment in the Gilded Age. Dekalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2016.

3.     Alexander, Benjamin. Coxey’s Army: Popular Protest in the Gilded Age. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 2015.

4.     “No Welcome for Coxey Men: Will be Viewed with Suspicion in Nation’s Capital.” The New York Times, April 19, 1894, 6.

5.     “Anticipating His Arrival: District Officials Preparing to Receive Coxey’s Army; Militia Standing By.” The Washington Times, April 17, 1894.

6.     “A Coxey Office: Headquarters Have Been Opened Here by Colonel Redstone; He Expects 300,000 Men.” The Evening Star, March 24, 1894.

Images:

1.     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96510671/

2.     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/89708591/