Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Week

News from 150 years ago

rail-splitter’s new tools

Posted on February 12, 2014 by SUMPTER

Almost a year and a half ago Democrats in Seneca Falls, New York formed a McClellan Club. Here’s a report about an organization in New York City that supported President Lincoln and the Union. One of the speakers modified the … Continue reading →

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camouflaged explosive devices

Posted on February 11, 2014 by SUMPTER

The Union was building a huge navy to support army operations and to blockade southern ports. The Confederacy was never going to build enough ships to compete straight up against the North. In the latter part of 1863 Thomas Edgeworth … Continue reading →

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Streight away

Posted on February 10, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this morning jailers at Richmond’s Libby Prison found out they had lost something – 109 Union officer prisoners who escaped during the night through a tunnel they had dug. Although Colonel Thomas E. Rose was the leader … Continue reading →

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little drummer boy …

Posted on February 8, 2014 by SUMPTER

… promoted to sergeant for shooting a rebel officer 150 years ago the Northern press celebrated a young hero. From the February 6, 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South): SERGEANT JOHN CLEM. OUR YOUNGEST SOLDIER. SERGEANT … Continue reading →

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“rotten eggs were in demand”

Posted on February 7, 2014 by SUMPTER

According to this account, Confederate patriots broke up a peace meeting 150 years ago this month in Greensboro, North Carolina. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 6, 1864: A Peace meeting in North Carolina. –The New York papers, which copy … Continue reading →

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peace talk

Posted on February 6, 2014 by SUMPTER

The Richmond Dispatch might have (feared) and loathed Abraham Lincoln and his Black Republican party, but it didn’t like Northern Democrats much either. 150 years ago this week the newspaper reported on a speech in the U.S. Congress by New … Continue reading →

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recourse to Captain Smith

Posted on February 5, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago an editorial in the Confederacy argued that the new nation would be better off if its economy were more self-sufficient, more like the Yankee economy, in fact. It is interesting that the piece harkened back to Jamestown’s … Continue reading →

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From DC to the Cooper

Posted on February 4, 2014 by SUMPTER

It certainly wasn’t a novelty for New York City’s Cooper Institute to host an abolitionist presentation, but 150 years ago this week the speaker was Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, the first woman to speak before the U.S. Congress. It looks like … Continue reading →

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bacon savings

Posted on February 3, 2014 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Richmond Daily Dispatch February 3, 1864: A Model company. –How many corporations will seek and endeavor to get letters like that given below? Such an autograph from Gen. Johnston would be a valuable addition to any dividend … Continue reading →

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“speaking trumpet” to be muted?

Posted on February 1, 2014 by SUMPTER

As a major bill was winding its way through the Confederate Congress, a Richmond newspaper found one proposed change to draft exemptions particularly troubling. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 1, 1864: Congress and the Press. The Confederate Congress, unless … Continue reading →

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