Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Month

“destitution, insult and wrong”

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in January 1863: Our Suffering Soldiers. It is a fact that can no longer be denied, that suffering of the most aggravated character exists among the soldiers, from the neglect of Government. In … Continue reading

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Lots of Riding … and Writing

In the fall of 1862 the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment operated in northwest Virginia. One of its main jobs was apparently protecting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from rebel raiders in the soon-to-be 35th state in the federal Union. … Continue reading

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Licensed to Sell?

Alabama corn price controls From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December 29, 1862: Cor[n] law i[n] Alabama. –The Legislature of Alabama has passed a bill requiring that no person, except the producer and miller, shall sell corn without first obtaining a … Continue reading

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South Carolina Succession!

About two years after the secession of South Carolina from the United States the Palmetto state changed governors: Milledge Luke Bonham replaced Francis Wilkinson Pickens. It certainly wasn’t an election in the current American sense. According to Wikipedia, “On December … Continue reading

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When?

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1862: “When Shall We Have Peace.” The Portland Advertiser, the leading Republican paper in Maine, asks the important and interesting question and answers it. We commend the answer to the careful … Continue reading

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“needlessly, wickedly sacrificed”

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1862: Again Defeated. What is to be said in this week of the nation’s agony? What word is sufficient in these days red with battle and hot with the flush of … Continue reading

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Need to know

A Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1862 reprinted more feedback on the Union debacle at Fredericksburg. Facts, speculation, opinion, and politics all seem to be mixed together as the northern press was trying to get to the bottom … Continue reading

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Pressure pointed

Counting the reasons not to go into winter quarters 150 years ago this week citizens in Richmond could read this recap of the New York Herald’s case for immediate attacks by the federal armies. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December … Continue reading

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Purdy Promoted

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in November 1862: Promoted. William B. Purdy, eldest son of A.S. Purdy, of this village, who enlisted in the Navy, as a marine, from the city of Hartford, Conn., where he has been … Continue reading

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Wrap it up!

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 22, 1862: Archbishop Hughes Fears a foreign War. Under date of November 1st,Archbishop Hughes has written a letter to Secretary Seward. He reiterates the stern views he has always held of the necessities of … Continue reading

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