As the Civil War dragged on, dwindling voluntary enlistment and mounting deserter rates gave way to the National Conscription Act, which called upon 24, men to be drafted from New York City alone. All this came to a head with the New York Draft Riots, four days in during which tens of thousands of rampaging rioters, men and women alike, filled the streets of lower Manhattan, leaving death and destruction in their wake. And, looking ahead to the future, no one could.