Author Archives: SUMPTER

Thinking it over …

Posted on September 17, 2013 by SUMPTER

And keeping the lid on that hard tack Too much history? I thought this photo would be a great placeholder for a day I couldn’t come up with a post or was on vacation, but there is a bit too … Continue reading →

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no resale allowed

Posted on September 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Melon Market Speculation? From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 16, 1863: Violating a Market ordinance. –Barbers McDonald, Catherine Welsh, and Margaret Sullivan, three Irish women, were fined $5 for buying watermelons in the market to sell again. The melons were … Continue reading →

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a tender inquiry

Posted on September 14, 2013 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times September 14, 1863: NEWS FROM WASHINGTON.; OUR SPECIAL WASHINGTON DISPATCHES. GEN. GILLMORE’S OPERATIONS. … WASHINGTON, Sunday, Sept. 13, 1863. It is understood here that Gen. GILLMORE has tenderly inquired of Government if he would be justified … Continue reading →

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cruel performance

Posted on September 11, 2013 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 11, 1863: Musical. –“When this cruel war is over” and “Annie of the Vale” are the titles of two ballads very handsomely published by Geo. Dunn & Co. The first piece is the sort … Continue reading →

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“Dead House”

Posted on September 10, 2013 by SUMPTER

I’m about a week late with this article from a Seneca County, New York newspaper in September 1863: We are pained to learn of the death of PETER W. BOCKOVEN, son of GEO. W. BOCKOVEN of this town, which occurred … Continue reading →

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mendicants no more

Posted on September 9, 2013 by SUMPTER

Here is an editorial praising the Invalid Corps (later the Veteran Reserve Corps) as a way for slightly disabled volunteers to earn their pension benefit and as a way to free up healthier soldiers for front line duty. From The … Continue reading →

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“whiskey-drinking odor about it”

Posted on September 7, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today The New-York Times praised Abraham Lincoln’s letter to James Conkling defending his Emancipation Proclamation and the use of black troops to fight the rebellion. Mr. Conkling read the letter to a pro-Union mass meeting in Springfield, … Continue reading →

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coffee break

Posted on September 6, 2013 by SUMPTER

A product label from 1863:

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four hundred pound supper

Posted on September 5, 2013 by SUMPTER

It might not be a coincidence that that the same issue of the Richmond Daily Dispatch that praised the Confederate armies also published a letter written by George Washington that expressed his concern with the seeming apathy of Americans not … Continue reading →

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“The Southern army is … the Southern people”

Posted on September 4, 2013 by SUMPTER

[I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it said that General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia became the Confederacy’s most important national institution. And, of course, I’m paraphrasing] From the Richmond Daily Dispatch September 4, 1863: The spirit of the army. –Every … Continue reading →

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