Category Archives: 150 Years Ago This Week

News from 150 years ago

fulcrum point?

Ever more Yankees, including General Grant, were concentrating at Chattanooga. This Richmond editorial knew the North was going to attack and hoped that if the South won it would break “the backbone of the war.” Otherwise, “the South will be … Continue reading

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swarming with yankees

Richmond was just about overflowing with Yankee prisoners. Some were being disposed to Danville and Lynchburg. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 14, 1863: The prisoners of War in Richmond. The morning report of the Libby prison yesterday shows the … Continue reading

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brief

150 years ago this month Joseph E. Johnston was in charge of the Confederate Departments of Alabama and Mississippi. Apparently he had enough time on his hands to make (tiny) speeches. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 14, 1863: Gen. … Continue reading

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ladies’ night

I’m pretty sure the Dispatch editors found the following document historical for the racial component. My added take: it’d be a lot better party by making sure the women got there; therefore, the 50% price reduction? From the Richmond Daily … Continue reading

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in pain

To paraphrase Shelby Foote: Before the Civil War many Americans said “The United States are …”; after the war they said “The United States is. It’s been well-documented how when the war started many Southerners had to choose between their … Continue reading

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that European diet

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 10, 1863: Eat Press [Less] meat. –The great scarcity of meats of all kinds in this Confederacy renders it absolutely necessary that all classes should be exceedingly economical in its use, in order to … Continue reading

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Monday theater

150 years ago today “President Abraham Lincoln attends the theater in Washington, D.C., ironically observing actor John Wilkes Booth perform in The Marble Heart.” According to The Lincoln Log (you can search by the date or the name of the … Continue reading

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and yet so far

Going on three years now Charleston and especially Fort Sumter have been hugely symbolic (New York City Republicans fired a “miniature Fort Sumter” at a Washington’s birthday celebration back in 1861). The Union has been banging away all year, but … Continue reading

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gamblers unanonymous

150 years before New Yorkers voted for a constitutional amendment that allows as many as seven non-Indian casinos in the state, the Provost Marshal of the Army of the Potomac was actually trying to discourage gambling among his men (the … Continue reading

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sidewalks are for white folks

And blacks can’t congregate about their churches, even on Sundays This piece made me think of the white settlers in Humboldt County, California back in April 1861. U.S. troops were fighting and killing the troublesome Indians. An editorial said the … Continue reading

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