Hopes for a quick Union victory died at the first battle of Bull Run in July 1861. Ninety-day soldiers could never defeat the Rebellion. New York officials, financed by local merchants, offered enlistees bounties up to $777 (equal to two years' wages for laborers). Irishmen mobbed the U.S. consulate at Dublin, willing to don the blue uniform to obtain ship passage and a chance at citizenship. Barracks cluttered the park at City Hall.