Category Archives: Peninsula campaign 1862

Crimson Tide in Virginia

Both The New-York Times and the Richmond Daily Dispatch 150 years ago were having trouble keeping up with all the battles and troop movements during the Seven Days’ Battles, including the June 29th Battle of Savage’s Station. (In fact, the … Continue reading

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Merciful McClellan

A Kinder, Gentler Army? The first part of the following is an order by General McClellan forbidding his troops to maraud the locals, which would seem to me to make good policy sense. As you can read, the second order … Continue reading

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Pep talk from General Longstreet

Battle sounds worse than it is. “Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low” From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June 23, 1862: Gen. Longstreet’s address. The following address has been issued to the men of his division by Gen. Longstreet. It … Continue reading

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General Hospital (#1)

Nursing opportunities in Black and White as war progresses From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June 9, 1862: Wanted — Nurses. –Wanted immediately, at the General Hospital, twenty men, white or black, to act as Nurses. I will give twenty dollars … Continue reading

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Scalped?

“Beauty and Booty”, “ruthless tyrant’s march”, “Hessians”. So far the South has found lots of ways to put down the North and strike a little extra fear into the hearts of Southerners as the Union army invades. 150 years ago … Continue reading

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“nobly fought and fallen”

Apparently many Richmond civilians witnessed the Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks). They returned to the Confederate capital with a “thousand extravagant stories”. Many wounded soldiers were brought to the city. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June 2, 1862: The … Continue reading

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Trying to avoid being “sent to our long home”

There was a fight near Mechanicsville, Virginia on May 23-24, 1862. It involved the Union brigade led by General John W. Davidson. The 33rd New York Infantry Regiment took part. Apparently a member of the band wrote the following letter … Continue reading

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Stars and Stripes “Over” Richmond

Or, at least its northern suburbs From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 24, 1862: Yankee Devices –Our Northern brethren are now engaged in an assiduous endeavor to restore the Union and set the Stars and Stripes afloat in Richmond, by … Continue reading

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Death of a Sharpshooter

We’ve had stories about the Berdan’s Sharpshooters before. Here’s a story from the South about a Yankee marksman getting a dose of his own medicine from a rebel Kentuckian. From The New-York Times May 21, 1862: BERDAN’S SHARPSHOOTERS. From the … Continue reading

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“with a yell that made the woods ring”

150 years ago this week members of the 33rd New York Infantry Regiment were still writing letters home about May 5th’s Battle of Williamsburg. Here’s a couple letters published in a Seneca County, New York newspaper from 1862: Letter from … Continue reading

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