Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Month

working furlough

Posted on January 29, 2014 by SUMPTER

At sometime during January 1864, 6,000 Union soldiers were bottlenecked in Elmira, New York waiting for trains south. Some of the soldiers were probably new recruits; others veterans returning from furlough. We read that out west General Grant was cancelling … Continue reading →

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shrapnel shell

Posted on January 28, 2014 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1864: A Rebel Shell. Jas. Townsend, formerly of this village [Seneca Falls], and a member of the 1st New Jersey Battery, has left upon our table a rebel shrapnel shell, which … Continue reading →

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still heading south

Posted on January 20, 2014 by SUMPTER

The North needed men to continue a “vigorous prosecution” of the war. 150 years ago this month large numbers were waiting at the Elmira, New York railroad depot for their trip South. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in … Continue reading →

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honoring his mother …

Posted on January 18, 2014 by SUMPTER

and honoring her son From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1864: PRESENTATION OF A BATTLE-FLAG. – The members of the 11th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, have recently presented their old battle-flag to Mrs. Rachel Nevius, of Lodi, in … Continue reading →

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cold snap

Posted on January 3, 2014 by SUMPTER

I thought 3 °F seemed kind of cold this morning – and I sure wasn’t outside for a whole guard shift From a Seneca County, New York in January 1864: During the recent cold snap, eighty soldiers on guard at … Continue reading →

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kudos

Posted on January 2, 2014 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1864: GONE TO THE WARS. – The editor of the Seneca County Sentinel, disgusted with the newspaper business, has gone for a soldier, leaving the paper in his absence in the … Continue reading →

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objects lesson

Posted on January 1, 2014 by SUMPTER

In the first month of the new year a conservative editorial from a Democrat paper in the Finger Lakes region of New York State objected to what it saw as the war aims of the Lincoln administration -emancipation, increasing national … Continue reading →

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“billowed with their graves”

Posted on December 31, 2013 by SUMPTER

America in 1863. Democrat newspapers in central New York state thought that General-in-Chief Halleck underestimated the Union loss during 1863 in his year-end report. A couple articles from Seneca County, New York newspapers in December 1863: Our Losses for the … Continue reading →

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death by cracked skull

Posted on December 26, 2013 by SUMPTER

You could get killed in battle; you could die a slow, lingering death from your battle wounds or from disease; or a horse could fall on you and crack your skull. That’s what happened to General Michael Corcoran on December … Continue reading →

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hitting home

Posted on December 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

I know the feeling. When I read current events, I’m aware I don’t have the energy to feel compassion for all the constant death and destruction around our world. Also, for the most part, I’m very analytic reading about that … Continue reading →

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