Tag Archives: Charleston Mercury

information please

papers closed and mail disrupted The success of the Union armies is putting a big crimp in the newspaper business. Even though everything was reported quiet at Petersburg (although “consolidation” was imminent), the Southern mail wasn’t able to leave Richmond … Continue reading

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Union Hasn’t Forgotten Charleston

It is said that 150 years ago today the USS Pembina captured the schooner Rowena in the Stono River near Charleston. The southern press was also noticing increased Union military activity in the area. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June … Continue reading

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Yankees = Dishonest Romans

150 years ago today the Union captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. Of course, no one in Richmond knew this as they perused their newspapers. However, readers of the February 6, 1862 edition of the Richmond Daily Dispatch would … Continue reading

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John Bell, Martyr, Mercury, Spy

Four quick takes – all from the June 9, 1861 edition of The New-York Times: 1. The Times castigates the 1860 nominee of the Constitutional Union Party for not supporting said Union: Where is John Bell? During the Presidential campaign … Continue reading

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Mercury Still Fanning the Flames

From The New-York Times April 1, 1861 (The New York Times Archive): NEGRO REGIMENTS TO BE RAISED. The latest sensation in the Cotton States has been caused by an announcement in the New-York correspondence of the Charleston Mercury that the … Continue reading

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War in the Fourth Estate

As the Daily News sites have noted the Charleston Mercury has been beating the drum for South Carolina’s secession, especially since Lincoln’s election. The Mercury was edited by Robert Barnwell Rhett, Jr., whose father was a well-known fire-eater. Robert Barnwell … Continue reading

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