Tag Archives: total war

“compelled to inflict on them”

Posted on November 18, 2015 by SUMPTER

This commission is worthy of support, for it will relieve their necessities, and assuage the distress which we, in the course of this war, have been compelled to inflict on them. The American Union Commission held a big fundraiser at … Continue reading →

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nutshell happiness

Posted on January 2, 2015 by SUMPTER

The Richmond Dispatch still observed the Christian Sabbath back in 1864, so its January 2nd issue looked back on 1864 and ahead to 1865. The defiance seems muted in this Monday morning editorial as the writer could not even wish … Continue reading →

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leaden sky ledger

Posted on December 13, 2014 by SUMPTER

As a Richmond paper tallied the military balance sheet for 1864, the conclusion was inescapable – the South had had a great year. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1864: The Military Account Current Between North and South … Continue reading →

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“true olive branch”

Posted on December 10, 2014 by SUMPTER

The December 10, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South was impressed by General Sherman’s operations in Georgia. Here’s an excerpt: SHERMAN’S MARCH. THE campaign of General SHERMAN is striking and daring, but not more so than … Continue reading →

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vandals?

Posted on December 2, 2014 by SUMPTER

A Democratic-leaning paper in upstate New York was not quite so enamored of total war in Georgia as The New-York Times appeared to be in its Thanksgiving day issue. Presumably the rebels would soon resist the Union army with a … Continue reading →

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shrapnel

Posted on November 22, 2014 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 22, 1864: Killed in Bed by a shell. –During Sunday night, forty-one shots were fired at the city of Charleston, and on Monday, thirty-one, up to 6 P. M. A man and wife, named … Continue reading →

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self-defense

Posted on October 22, 2014 by SUMPTER

About three weeks before the U.S. presidential election the October 22, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South) took a swipe at the peace-loving Democrats: War, cold steel … don’t forget plundering the civilian population, as the … Continue reading →

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“annihilated by their own stomachs”

Posted on August 25, 2014 by SUMPTER

Captain James H. McDonald of the 50th New York Engineers has already served in the war for over three years. He recovered from being wounded in the arm at Fredericksburg. In this recruiting letter he promoted the Engineers as being … Continue reading →

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missing Stonewall

Posted on June 24, 2014 by SUMPTER

A couple correspondents from the New York 1st Veteran cavalry maintained that the Union occupation of Staunton, Virginia in early June 1864 was quite well-received by the citizens. SENECA said everything was passing off quite smoothly as the Union demolished … Continue reading →

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civil war

Posted on March 26, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today a Southern newspaper looked to the American Revolutionary War to find a general who knew the polite way to wage a war of subjugation. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch March 26, 1864: Two extracts from revolutionary … Continue reading →

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