Category Archives: Military Matters

White Runaways

Posted on March 26, 2012 by SUMPTER

I’m used to advertisements in the Richmond Daily Dispatch offering rewards for runaway slaves. 150 years ago today there were at least three advertisements for military deserters. Here’s an example from the Richmond Daily Dispatch March 26, 1862: Deserters. –The … Continue reading →

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Flamethrowers for the Union Navy?

Posted on March 17, 2012 by SUMPTER

The editors of the Richmond Daily Dispatch were proud of the CSS Virginia as it held off the Union’s Monitor at Hampton Roads. The South was seemingly competitive with the North in ironclad technology. Here the newspaper reports that Yankees … Continue reading →

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Grant Needs to “get to moving again”

Posted on March 16, 2012 by SUMPTER

Uncomfortably Sedentary Grant? I like this quote attributed to U.S. Grant. From The New-York Times March 14, 1862: THE REBELLION. … Gen. GRANT, in a letter to an officer stationed at Fort Henry, dated March 5, says: “I have not … Continue reading →

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Rebels Head South

Posted on March 12, 2012 by admin

Civil War Daily Gazette has been doing a great job keeping us up-to-date on the Confederate retreat in Virginia. Here’s a bit from a northern newspaper. From The New-York Times March 13, 1862: NEWS FROM MANASSAS; Reports of Our Correspondent … Continue reading →

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“Colossus of Roads”

Posted on March 9, 2012 by SUMPTER

The two-day Battle of Hampton Roads concluded 150 years ago today when the USS Monitor duked it out with the CSS Virginia. Although the battle was considered a draw, both sides could take pride in their respective ironclads. Here’s a … Continue reading →

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Lemonade Factory

Posted on March 5, 2012 by SUMPTER

thank goodness for malaria and bad roads and the loss of Nashville and … From the Richmond Daily Dispatch March 5, 1862: The Prospect ahead. The public mind of the entire South is fast recovering from the causeless panic occasioned … Continue reading →

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Nashville in Confederate Hands???

Posted on February 29, 2012 by SUMPTER

The same week that the city of Nashville fell to Union forces the CSS Nashville successfully ran the blockade after a trip to England. Apparently Captain Robert Baker Pegram used some deception to evade the blockading ship off the North … Continue reading →

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Jeff’s Doing It, Too

Posted on February 28, 2012 by SUMPTER

Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 28, 1862: By the President of the Confederate States of America. a proclamation. Whereas, the Congress of the Confederate States has by law vested in the President the power … Continue reading →

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His Company Torn to Shreds

Posted on February 27, 2012 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times February 26, 1862: THE SAD SIDE OF THE PICTURE. FORT DONELSON, TENN., Monday, Feb. 17, 1862. The following private letter, written by a former attache of the New-York Post-office, presents another side of the victory gained … Continue reading →

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Contraband Needs in South Carolina

Posted on February 25, 2012 by SUMPTER

Overseers and Durable Clothing Union military success along the South Carolina coast created a logistics problem for General Thomas W. Sherman and Commodore Samuel F. Du Pont – as plantation owners have fled, thousands of slaves are looking for help … Continue reading →

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