And Earn 50 Dollars Confederate
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 25, 1862:
R. L. I. Blues.
Rally! men of Richmond, to your country’s call.
One hundred men are wanted, at once, to fill up this glorious command, and to avenge the death of its gallant leader, Capt. O Jennings Wish [Wise], who fell whilst nobly defending the hearth-stones and fire-sides of the people of the South, who are now battling against overwhelming odds of Hessian soldiers now desecrating the soil of Virginia by their unholy tread. Will not the young men of Richmond step forward, with one accord, and enroll their names under the Southern banner? Are they willing to see the Capitol of the Old Dominion– the home of the Blues, the birth-place of their mothers and sisters — invaded and conquered by the hirelings of the Lincoln despotism, without taking up arms, and with patriotic devotion welcome their oppressors with bloody hands to hospitable graves? Better die, if needs be, with the Stars and Bars of Liberty floating over them, than tamely submit to the yoke of bondage now ready for their necks. Rally, then, young men, to the call of Gen. Wise and the cause of the South, and defend your hearth-stones from the aggressor’s tread, or fall, if needs be, in defence of all that is sacred, and dear to the Southern heart.
A Bounty of $50 will be given to all who join the company. Apply at the recruiting office, on Main street, over P. H. Taylor’s Music Store.
Lieut. R. S. Sanxay,
fe 25–6t Recruiting Officer.
You can read a 1939 history of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues, founded in 1789, at Then and Now Richmond. Captain Obadiah Jennings Wise, the son of Henry Wise, was mortally wounded during the Battle of Roanoke Island. He had been an editor of the Richmond Enquirer. It is said that the blues fought in seven major Civil War battles. “By the surrender at Appomattox in 1865, the Blues had been reduced to 16 battle-weary veterans.”
Battle of Roanoke Island
