Author Archives: SUMPTER

Nation’s Abundance, Army’s Impedimenta

Posted on November 22, 2012 by SUMPTER

Don’t be like Mac. A couple weeks after relieving the dilatory George McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac, President Lincoln advises Nathaniel Banks to stop requisitioning supplies, stop procrastinating, and get his Army of the Gulf sailing … Continue reading →

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Branded with a ‘D’

Posted on November 21, 2012 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 20, 1862: A soldier branded for desertion. –The court-martial now in session recently sentenced Corporal Richard R. Poore, of company A, 15th Virginia cavalry battalion, for desertion, to be reduced to the ranks, forfeit … Continue reading →

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Little Mac in Big Apple

Posted on November 20, 2012 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today recently ousted General George McClellan spoke to adoring crowds in New York City. Apparently he held off on dissing the Lincoln administration and seems to be genuinely appreciative of all New Yorkers had contributed to the … Continue reading →

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Good Fences …

Posted on November 19, 2012 by SUMPTER

would make good neighbors – if the Yankees hadn’t destroyed them, too. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 15, 1862: The fence law. The last Legislature of Virginia, in view of the savages of the enemy rendering it impossible for … Continue reading →

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All Liquored Up

Posted on November 17, 2012 by SUMPTER

New recruits from Buffalo cause havoc on a troop train; another member of an “old’ regiments dies by disease. These two quick articles were printed consecutively in the same column in a Seneca County, New York newspaper in November 1862: … Continue reading →

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Keystone Cops

Posted on November 16, 2012 by SUMPTER

Provost Guard has its work cut out for it at Camp Curtin. Richmond’s Daily Dispatch says the removal of native Pennsylvanian George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac has caused an increase in the turbulence at Camp … Continue reading →

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Hyde Parked – for good!

Posted on November 15, 2012 by SUMPTER

Civil War Interactive used to have a great paragraph about 150 years ago today – the gadget loving President Lincoln visited the Washington Navy Yard with Secretaries Seward and Chase to watch Captain John A.B. Dahlgren test a device called … Continue reading →

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“more indignation and alarm”

Posted on November 14, 2012 by SUMPTER

No surprise here. A Seneca County newspaper that was strongly oriented in favor of the Democratic Party is unhappy with President Lincoln and his administration for the removal of George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. This … Continue reading →

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Mac Heads North

Posted on November 13, 2012 by SUMPTER

Seneca County in upstate New York voted mostly for the Democratic party in 1862. In late September a group of men in the town of Seneca Falls named a political club after George B. McClellan, the commander of the Army … Continue reading →

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Be like Zach

Posted on November 12, 2012 by SUMPTER

Democrats throughout the North had a good deal of success in the 1862 midterm elections. The Democrats picked up 28 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives (although Republicans were still able to control the House thanks to the support … Continue reading →

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