Security· Civil Aid and Humanitarian Operations
Staten Island Yellow Fever Riot response
A civil disturbance born of fear of disease.
The quarantine hospital on Staten Island, where ships' passengers and crews sick with yellow fever were landed and held, had long been resented by local residents who believed it spread the contagion into their own community. In late summer 1858 a large and organized mob attacked and burned part of the quarantine buildings. When word came that the rioters meant to return and destroy what remained, a detachment of about sixty-five Marines was sent from the New York barracks to occupy and guard the grounds. The Marines held the position for a week, protecting the federal property and the helpless fever patients while the mob made several attempts to renew its work. No casualties were suffered. The episode was a clear case of Marines being used to protect public health infrastructure and vulnerable people against their own neighbors' violence.
Record no. 373