The Wide Awakes put down the draft riots
New voters and immigrant laborers flock to the polls in support of Lincoln, who sweeps the free states on his way to a popular vote plurality and an electoral landslide. Eighty percent of the original Hartford Wide Awakes volunteer to serve in the Union Army. In New York, Sidney Gladwin and Francis Lambert both join the 23rd of New York Infantry Company-A. They fight on the front lines repelling Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania. When the draft riots break out, The 23rd is ordered back to New York City to quell the violence. Gladwin stays in New York for the rest of his career. Colonel Francis Lambert returns to the city where he remains an active leader of the ascendant Republican Party for the next two decades. He abandons the GOP due to the corruption of monopolists influencing labor laws. For the rest of his life, Francis Lambert is one of the most popular speakers and well-respected advocates for immigrant rights in New York City.