Author Archives: SUMPTER

Back East

Posted on March 19, 2013 by SUMPTER

Based on its placement in a notebook full of clippings, I believe this article from a Seneca County, New York newspaper was probably published around March, 1863. Regular U.S. Infantry had come back from the West to fight the rebels … Continue reading →

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Election in Fredericksburg

Posted on March 18, 2013 by SUMPTER

Americans are fortunate that we mostly have “free and fair” elections. 150 years ago yesterday the people of Fredericksburg, Virginia apparently relied on Confederate troops to ensure that the Yankees on the other side of the Rappahannock did not try … Continue reading →

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furlough

Posted on March 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Apparently an officer in the New York 33d Volunteer Infantry took advantage of a winter break in the action to visit home. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in March 1863: Personal. Capt. MCGRAW, of the 33d Regiment arrived … Continue reading →

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Smoke-free Confederacy

Posted on March 15, 2013 by SUMPTER

After claiming that the Press only has the public good in mind (as opposed to power hungry politicians), this Richmond paper urges southern farmers to give up tobacco and cotton cultivation so that the land can be used exclusively to … Continue reading →

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“Sedition made Easy”

Posted on March 14, 2013 by SUMPTER

This attack on traitorous Copperheads has a good summary of the Constitutional justification for the three laws passed by the 37th Congress that gave a great deal of power to the Executive branch. From The New-York Times March 11, 1863: … Continue reading →

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Shrieks and Moans in Richmond

Posted on March 13, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today an explosion killed at least forty workers, mostly women, at the Confederate Ordnance Laboratory on Brown’s Island, Richmond. It is pointed out that this event shows the wartime need for female industrial workers since so many … Continue reading →

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can’t carry a tune

Posted on March 12, 2013 by SUMPTER

Like a song I can’t get out of my head, I just can’t seem to let go this statement about March 7, 1863: Federal troops in Baltimore, Maryland, confiscate all song sheets that are deemed “secession music.” I have not … Continue reading →

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Webster was wrong

Posted on March 9, 2013 by SUMPTER

Contrary to Daniel Webster’s assertion, Liberty does not require Union, according to this Southern editorial. Also, it’s too bad the Lincoln administration is pursuing this war because in time there could have been an alliance between two strong, liberty-loving nations. … Continue reading →

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Work Cut Out

Posted on March 8, 2013 by SUMPTER

Just like old times – white surgeons received their degrees at a black church led by a white, slave-owning minister. But I can understand how the writer would find this ceremony, with Richmond belles checking out the new doctors, comforting … Continue reading →

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“General of pluck”

Posted on March 7, 2013 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch March 7, 1863: The condition of the Army of the Potomac. A letter in the New York Tribune dated from the Army of the Potomac, gives a description of the working of matters there at … Continue reading →

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