The Atlantic Guards were a 19th-century American

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

active in New York City from the 1840s to the 1860s. It was one of the original, and among the most important gangs of the early days of the Bowery, along with the Bowery Boys,

American Guards American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, O'Connell Guards, and the

True Blue Americans True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...

. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 26-27, 102, 106) Peterson, Virgil W. ''The Mob: 200 Years of Organized Crime in New York''. Ottawa, Illinois: Green Hill Publishers, 1983. (pg. 13) Kenney, Dennis Jay and James O. Finckenauer. ''Organized Crime in America''. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1995. (pg. 75) Although engaging in street fighting, these gangs were generally less criminal in nature than their Five Point rivals, stopping "just short of murder", instead formed as nativist vigilante groups focused on protecting Bowery neighborhoods.Giamo, Benedict. ''On the Bowery: Confronting Homelessness in American Society''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1989. (pg. 9) Sante, Lucy. ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003. (pg. 200-203) It was common for Bowery and Five Point gangs alike to imitate (and sometimes parody) actual military companies and wear signature "uniforms" (e.g. the stove pipe hats and long black frock coats of the True Blue Americans). The Atlantic Guards wore a red stripe on their trousers. A longtime ally of the Bowery Boys, they were referred to by journalist Carleton Beals as " Bill "the Butcher" Poole's Christopher Street thugs" and often warred with the

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

gangs of the Five Points, most especially, the Dead Rabbits. This feud would continue throughout the 1840s and 50s, at the height of the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

movement, culminating in the Dead Rabbits Riot in 1857. The riot originally began with a Five Points raid on No. 42 Bowery, the headquarters of the Bowery Boys and the Atlantic Guards, in "celebration" of the Fourth of July. The Five Pointers showered the saloon with sticks and paving stone before moving on to the nearby Branch Hotel. The guests managed to hold off the mob until they were driven off by an estimated 300 Atlantic Guards and Bowery Boys. Fighting continued, however, and soon escalated into a citywide gang war lasting two days before order was restored by the New York State Militia under Major-General

Charles W. Sandford Major General Charles W. Sandford (May 5, 1796 – July 25, 1878) was an American militia and artillery officer, lawyer and businessman. He was a senior officer in the New York State Militia for over thirty years and commanded the First Div ...

.Mendelsohn, Joyce. ''The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. (pg. 238)

In popular culture

*The Atlantic Guards are referenced in the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

s ''Andersonville'' (1993) by MacKinlay Kantor and ''The Coming Storm'' (2011) by Dominic Lagan.

In popular culture

References

Further reading