Other News For February, 1863

The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) was not unlike other newspapers in that its pages were filled with news of the present conflict. On this evening of February 3, 1863, they could have no inkling that the town it served would become the headline. Here is what the paper brought its readers in Other News:

Locusts Coming This Year

Joseph Harris writes to the St. Clairsville (Ohio)Chronicle that the locust will be on hand this year, it being the 17^th since their last appearance. He says:

The Pharaoh locust made their first appearance on the wing May 19, 1846; on the 23^rd commenced singing;on the 31^st commenced boring the trees and laying eggs. June 6, commenced dying; the males first. On the 25^th all dead. (Taken from notes taken at the above dates.)
This year there will be locusts in abundance. Prepare your small trees by tying them up with straw for 25 days and you are safe, if you do it right.[1]

The Sentinel also reported of an interesting, yet disgraceful episode that occurred in the United States Senate. Under discussion was a bill pertaining to political arrests and the suspension of the writ of habeus corpus. This short article is a followup to the main disturbance and bears no headline:

In the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, Mr. Clark of Rhode Island, introduced a preamble and resolution,stating that Senator Saulsbury had behaved in a turbulent and disorderly manner when called to order by the Vice President, and had drawn a pistol and threatened to shoot the Sergeant at Arms, and that such conduct being disgraceful to the Senate, and destructive of all order and decorum, that said Senator be expelled from the Senate. The resolution was laid over.

On Thursday,Senator Saulsbury, having apparently returned to a sound state of mind, apologized for his conduct in the Senate on Tuesday last. It is probable that the resolution for his expulsion will not now be called up.

The account of the tumult is related across the page, and the tirade is full of anti- Lincoln venom. Statements from Saulsbury include:

(Saulsbury) stated that Mr. Lincoln was the weakest man ever placed in high office. He said he had been in conversation with him, and knew he was an imbecile.

(Saulsbury) if he wanted to paint a despot,he would paint the hideous form of Abraham Lincoln.[2]

The entire scene seems to have played out over several hours with the disgruntled Saulsbury being escorted from, then returning to the chamber several times. He was finally removed once and for all. Willard Saulsbury Sr. was a Democrat from Delaware. The resolution to expel him in fact was never taken up and he remained in office until 1871.

Willard Saulsbury Sr.

Pittsburgh Gazette Reports some mischief on February 26:

Snowballers Arrested

Two boys named Edward Fennity and – Howard were yesterday arrested for throwing snowballs at a man who was driving through the streets of Allegheny. The man declined to prosecute, and the boys were let off on paying the costs.

The paper also warns of a scam that the authorities feel may be in its early stages:

A few days since a rather good looking girl was engaged as a domestic at the residence of a gentleman on Penn Street, and worked well until the evening of the second day, when she suddenly disappeared, carrying away a set of fine furs, some dresses and some other clothing belonging to the lady of the house – together with her jewelry box,containing a valuable gold watch, three sets of jewelry, and other articles , worth probably $250. It is now believed that the whole affair was a well arranged scheme of robbery – that the girl had a confederate in the business, and that she will endeavor to play the same game upon others.[3]

 

George B. McClellan was seen in Boston, Massachusetts and the Boston Evening Transcript of February 6 reported two instances:

 

General McClellan visited the Everette School today, and was of course enthusiastically received by the little folks, to whom he was introduced by the teacher as “the savior of his country.” Mac being Mac. [4]

Another sighting found him at 11 o'clock on a special train bound for Salem.

At Lynn a large concourse of people were gathered to see him and a salute of 13 guns was fired. On his arrival at Salem a salute was also fired, and the pressure of the crowd at the railroad station made a passage through it very difficult. He was driven at once to the Essex House, and was there introduced to a large number of the prominent citizens. Col. Goodrich of Gen. Burnside's staff, and other soldiers who had seen service, were also present. Gen. McClellan was afterward entertained at the house of Geo. Peabody, Esq., and returned to this city [Boston] during the afternoon.

Last evening Gen. McClellan was presented with a very handsome sword, with a richly chased hilt containing a diamond. The sword was purchased at a cost of several hundred dollars by some of his friends in this city, and was presented by the Citizens Committee. No speeches were made, but a letter from the Committee requesting his acceptance of the weapon was read by one of their number. The General afterward attended a soiree at a private residence.[5]

McClellan at his finest no doubt. He may have been cultivating prominent citizens in an effort to return to command of the Amy of the Potomac or to the army in some other capacity. It surely appears that way.

The Daily Journal at Wilmington North Carolina got wind of the story and offered this in the February 7 issue, via the Richmond Whig. It questions McClellan motives:

Yankee Generals

The two dismissed Yankee heroes, McClellan and Burnside, are having a pleasant time down East. McClellan is in Bosting, hob-nobbing with the cod-fish aristocracy of the ancient Burg. He has been honored with a series of grand receptions,by Ed. H. Elridge,(Eldredge) Esq., Wm. Gray, Esq., Mr. Wolcott and Mr. Lawrence – 800 invited guests, refreshments. He had visited Cambridge, attended by that prince of flunkies, the Honorable Edward Everett, and was promised a grand demonstration in Faneuil Hall. “Those who have had the good fortune to meet the General (says Jenkins) are uniform in their commendations of the man. Though not a brilliant conversationalist, he is unmistakably a sensible man – which is much better.”

The motive of this visit to the Puritans is yet a secret. These are the people that had McClellan dismissed, and have persecuted all connected with him. Does he seek to humiliate them by extorting ovations, or is he seeking a restoration to the command of the Army, by a public acknowledgment of the supremacy of the genuine Yankee?[6]

 

This was only half of the short article reporting on the trip, and it was no more flattering to Burnside in the other half.

The Boston trip was made at the invitation of conservative Republicans there. Perhaps the article in the Daily Journal was correct in its assumption that McClellan was gaining a measure of satisfaction at the Boston elites, and the Republican Party's, expense. The Republicans may have found themselves with their collective heads in a noose. If they could cozy up to McClellan, the soldiers might tend to vote for their party. Affection for Mac was still high in the Army of the Potomac. After the Battle of Fredericksburg, Francis Blair Sr. wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln dated the December 18 urging him to give McClellan a high command, preferably the Army of the Potomac:

“We must look to the army as a great political as well as war machine. The soldiers are to give us success in the field and at the polls. McClellan is dear to them. He will bring them to the support of the country & you.” [7] The Republicans needed Mac.

 

Democratic Presidential Campaign - 1864

McClellan may have began nursing his political aspirations during the Winter of 1862 – 63, and the trip to Boston was a way for him to gain some traction. It is interesting that McClellan was living in New York City (Manhattan) and was often seen in company of several prominent conservative Democrats, including John Jacob Astor who had been a volunteer on his staff during the Peninsular Campaign as well as other friends, old and new, who were influential Democrats. It would not be uncommon to continue long standing relations with those men. Still, it may have given the Republicans pause. New York City newspapers followed his movements as did numerous other papers around the country.

And there was :

The War

The Scientific American of February 21 brings news of a new implement of devastation:

Crozier's Patent Automatic Battery

All that is necessary, then, in this battery, is to work the handle up and down,and the battery vomits forth a discharge of bullets which is truly terrible to contemplate in its destructive power. [8]

 

 

Although the Seventh Indiana (119^th Regiment of Volunteers) did not muster in until October 1863, news of the Enrollment Act was being spread in the Northern press in February. The act was signed by Lincoln March 3, and posters like this would blossom across the country during the late Winter and Spring of 1863.

 

 

The Picket

Sources

1-The Adams Sentinel, February 3, 1863 (image 2) from Google news

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SDNreWq1RjYC&dat=18630203&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2-ibid

3- The Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, February 26, 1863, images 2 and 3 at Google news, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=TNEldfgDb5MC&dat=18630226&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

4-Boston Evening Transcript, February 6, 1863, image 2 from Google news.google.com http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=sArNgO4T4MoC&dat=18630206&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

5- Ibid, image 4

6- Daily Journal, Wilmington North Carolina, February 7, 1863 image 2 from Google news.google.com http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Cew3JUE5alsC&dat=18630207&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

7- Sears, Stephen W., George B. McClellan The Young Napoleon, 1988, page 351

8- The Scientific American, February 21, 1863, page 1 and 2 from Internet Archives, http://archive.org/stream/scientific-american-1863-02-21/scientific-american-v08-n08-1863-02-21#page/n0/mode/2up

Broadside from Indiana Historical Society, Civil War Materials collection, http://images.indianahistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/dc008&CISOPTR=202&CISOBOX=1&REC=9

McClellan and Saulsbury from the Library of Congress

Other News For January, 1863

The new year brought much the same story as the old. The battles at Stone's River and Fredericksburg still commanded much space. Letters from soldier correspondents were beginning to reach hometown newspapers and the sad lists of dead and injured brought much sadness to the reader. The war had long before became an all consuming feature of nearly every American’s life. The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation vied for space with the battles and casualty lists. The following is some of the “Other News” that did find its way into print.

The January 22 issue of The Highland Weekly News, (Hillsborough,Ohio) belatedly reports of the admission of “Western” Virginia on January 1, giving some particulars of admittance.

Forty-eight counties of Virginia constitute the new state,which, in 1860 had a population of 350,000, including 13,000 slaves. All children born of slave parents after March 4, 1863 are declared free, and all under 10 years of age to be free at 25,no slave hereafter to come into the state for permanent residence.[1]

 

Flag of the First Regiment, West Virginia Veteran Volunteer Infantry

 

The paper did indicate the wrong date for newborns to be considered free as it was actually July 4, 1863 and the date it was signed into law was December 31, 1862. **

Thus West Virginia would soon join Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, and Missouri as a slave state in the Union. Gradual emancipation is mandated however. The state did not technically receive statehood at the time this was written. It is reporting that Abraham Lincoln had signed the statehood bill into law. A vote of the citizens on March 26, 1863 approved the bill and West Virginia officially entered the Union on June 20, 1863.

This paper also informs its readers that a new bridge being built across the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky will cost $500,000 and take 15 to 18 months to complete. [2]

The New York Daily Tribune (extra edition) describes the arrest of a man for the assault of another:

Brutal Assault--

A man named James Dalton was arrested yesterday, charged with assaulting Daniel Scott, at the residence of the latter, No. 159 South Second Street. It appeared upon an examination, that the parties were engaged in a fight, and that the accused bit Scott's nose completely off. He was held to answer. This occurred in Brooklyn, and it was front page material. [3]

 

The Tiffin Weekly Tribune (Tiffin, Ohio) on January 2 issues a call for firewood, by offer and by warning:

Wood or Money!

Those subscribers who promised to bring us wood in pay for the Tribune will have to bring it in soon, or we will be obliged to pay out money for wood, and of course will require pay in money. Now is a good time for those who have not yet taken our paper, to fetch us a load of good wood,and we will send them the Tribune for one year. We are entirely out of wood-- the last stick is in the stove-- so don't let us freeze.[4]

 

The Richmond (Virginia) Daily Dispatch of January 16 tells of an Illinois soldier, a deserter, foiled in his flight toward home: via The Louisville Journal

Nicely Caught

An Illinois soldier deserted from his regiment in Kentucky, and, forging a pass,succeeded in passing the guards at this city, and arrived in New Albany on Wednesday as a paroled prisoner. There, however, as we learn from the Ledger, he was overhauled by the Provost Guard and asked for his pass. “I've got a parole sir,” he replied to the guard, “here it is” showing him the forged document, which was signed “ Curby Smith”.The guard carefully examined it, then turning upon the sucker he said: “No you don't, old fellow; that parole is humbug. Kirby Smith has pretty much quit spelling his name Curby.” Illinois [acknowledged] the corn and said he had paid ten dollars for the parole, but thought the man who wrote it knew how to spell Kirby Smith's name.-- He was sent to the barracks in this city.

The Dispatch also gives a bit of good news in the city:

Lucky Escape

On Wednesday, about 2 o'clock, as a small lad named George Burgess, aged five years, was playing hide-and-seek on the premises of Mr. Geo. L. Earnest, on 25^th Street,Union Hill, the boards covering an old well on which he happened to be standing, gave way, and precipitated him to the bottom, a distance of thirty feet. In his descent he fell against and broke a stout scantling placed across the middle of the well. The water was five feet deep,but by some means he managed to secure a foot hold and just keep his head above water. The occurrence caused a large and excited crowd to assemble, none of whom volunteered to rescue the lad,till a small boy named Jimmy Wright appeared, and generously offered to undertake it. A rope being secured to a bucket he was let down and he soon appeared [at the] top with Burgess, a fellow passenger. He was not only thanked, but rewarded by the overjoyed parents of the imperiled lad.[5]

The January 8 edition of the Fayetteville Observer (Tennessee) reported a smallpox outbreak at Chattanooga and some east Tennessee counties. The paper urges the city officials of Fayetteville to implement vaccination, to “render it comparatively harmless” should the disease reach their city.

 

And from across the waves, Punch gives this conversation from “Spirit- Land” in the January 10 issue. This accompanied a short sketch of a longer conversation between the ghosts of George Washington and King George III discussing the“revolution in America”.

 

And as always...

Partial list of 2nd Corps soldiers who died in hospital near Falmouth, Virginia. Dateline January 4, 1863

From Washington, Dateline January 6, 1863

The Picket

 

Sources

1- The Highland Weekly News, January 22, 1862, page 1 column 2 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

2- Ibid, page 2 column 3

3- The New York Daily Tribune, January 2, 1863, page 1, column 2. Library of Congress, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

4- The Tiffin Weekly Tribune, January 2, 1863, page 3 column 2, Library of Congress,http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87076793/1863-01-02/ed-1/seq-1/

5-The Richmond Daily Dispatch,January 16, 1863, http://dlxs.richmond.edu/d/ddr/browse.html

6- The Fayetteville Observer, January 8, 1863, page 2, column 1. Library of Congress, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033395/1863-01-08/ed-1/seq-2/

7- Punch, January 10, 1863, volume 44, page 15 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015055217163;page=root;seq=25;view=2up;size=100;orient=0;num=3#page/14/mode/2up

**From West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Archives and History at http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehoo.html

Flag of the First Regiment West Virginia Veteran Volunteer Infantry, from http://www.wvculture.org/agency/press/battleflags.html

Casualty Lists from Library of Congress, Chronicling America Collection

New York Daily Tribune, January 7, page 3, column 2, Second Army Corps, near Falmouth, Virginia http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1863-01-07/ed-1/seq-3/

New York Daily Tribune, January 8, 1863, page 3, column 6, from Washington,

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1863-01-08/ed-1/seq-3/

Other News for December 1862

Vast amounts of ink, paper, and talent were devoted to the coverage of the American Civil War. Column after column and page after page the bloody toll of the war was recited. Headlines trumpeted “signal victory” or passed judgment, sometimes both. Maps of the far off theaters of battle lay within the folds of the newspapers, and portraits of generals graced the front page or covers of journals.

Hidden amongst the riot of war news, one could find the items of less import, yet of no less interest. Some were humorous, some tragic, but all made up life in the years 1861-1865. None had a profound impact on the war, but assuredly all were impacted to some degree by it. What follows are examples of Other News for December 1862. All of the items are given in their entirety, illustrating how little space things of this nature occupied in print.

The New York Daily Tribune reports the following short items on December 2:

A New Journal in South Carolina-

The Rev. Mansfield French, who returned to this city a few weeks ago, from Port Royal, has, since his arrival, purchased a printing press, type, and a large stock of paper, for the furnishing of the printing office of The Southern Cross, a newspaper about to be published in South Carolina. It is expected that The Southern Cross will be raised in Charleston early in January.

It also reported :

Attempt to set Fire to the Jersey City Prison

On Saturday forenoon, a soldier named Wm. Griffith, committed to the city prison, and held as a deserter, attempted to burn the building by setting fire to the straw mattress in his cell. The cell being fireproof the attempt of course failed, but Griffith was considerably burned about the hands and face, which caused him to call out for help. It was supposed he was laboring under an attack of delirium tremors. [1]

The Memphis Daily Appeal reports on December 13:

Great Breadth of Land Sown in Wheat

The Macon Journal and Messenger learns that an unusual breadth of land has been sown in wheat in Georgia, and the present prospect is encouraging for a large crop next year.

It was not uncommon for newspapers to trade stories, and it did not matter if it was a Northern or Southern paper. The Daily Appeal also reports of their move from Grenada, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi in the two weeks prior to this issue. They report that they feel as if “among friends and brothers.”[2]

Minnesotans are duly proud of the health of the people of the state. On December 18, the Saint Cloud Democrat reports the following:

 Healthfulness of Minnesota

The census shows the following number of deaths in Minnesota for the year ending June 1, 1860:

Males; 584, Females; 515; Total, 1100 or 1 to every 157 of the population.

The following is the mortality and health of each section:

States: Population Deaths Proportion

New England: 3,132,283 45,859 1 to every 68

Middle States: 7,458,885 84,620 1 to every 88

Western States: 8,563,377 89,602 1 to every 95

Southern States: 12,315,374 174,095 1 to every 71

The proportion of deaths in Minnesota was thus about half the average of the United States in general. In other words, it is twice as healthy as the rest of the country. It will be seen by the above table that the Western States are much healthier than any other potion of the Union, while Minnesota is a great deal healthier than other Western States. (from the St. Paul Press) [3]

In the national newspapers and magazines, other things made news.

From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of December 27 we find the following noteworthy nuggets listed under the heading Epitome of the week:

The snow in Washington county N.Y. Was 18 inches deep a few days ago. Many of the farmers had not dug their potatoes or gathered their corn.

The shock of an earthquake was felt on the 7^th of December at Evansville, Ind.; it rang all the doorbells and shook the houses.

And it seems gentlemen were still looking for wives as the following indicates:

An advertisement in a Western paper thus reads: The advertiser, being a widower, is open to proposals from ladies, either widows or maids, of more than average respectability, tolerably sane in disposition and with hair of any color except red. [4]

Harper’s Weekly of December 6 reports the forthcoming marriage of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

The Prince of Wales and His Intended Bride

We publish on page 781 portraits of the Price of Wales and the Lady whom he is to marry, the Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The Prince is just twenty-one years of age. It will be seen by our portrait that he looks rather older than when he danced here at the famous Prince's ball. He wears incipient whiskers; and the crafty engraver has contrived a shade over the upper lip which may perhaps pass as a mustache. He is understood to have been kept busy since he left here, in study and travel, and has no doubt a well stored mind.

The following account of Princess Alexandra, the future Queen of England, will doubtless be read with interest:

“Princess Alexandra, born December 1, 1844, is the second child and eldest daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig- Holstein, heir expectant to the Danish throne, and of Princess Louisa of Hesse-Cassel. She is gifted, as will be seen in our portrait, with no inconsiderable share of beauty, and is described as being very accomplished, having received in her family, which is generally esteemed as a model of all domestic virtues, the most careful and complete education. Princess Alexandra is a Sous Lieutenant in the Danish Army. Many journals in France and Belgium, upon commenting on the account given of the Royal family of Denmark, stated that the Almanache de Gotha had committed an amusing mistake in describing Princess Alexandra as a Sous-Lieutenant in the Danish Army. It appears, however, that there was no mistake at all in the matter; for, however extraordinary it may appear to us, the illustrious intended bride of the Prince of Wales does actually hold the commission described in the Danish Army.” [5]

The Prince of Wales at the time was Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria and husband Prince Albert. He became King of England in 1901 and known as King Edward VII. It seems Americans have always been enamored with the British Royal Family.

The Scientific American reports of an interesting discovery abroad:

An Ancient Oven Containing Loaves

A correspondent of the London Atheneaum, writing from Naples, states that a bakers oven was lately discovered in Pompeii. He was present when the iron door of the oven was removed, and he says: “We were rewarded with the site of an entire batch of loaves which were deposited seventeen hundred and eighty three years ago! They are eighty-two in number, and are, as far as regards form, size, and and every characteristic except weight and color, precisely as they came from the bakers hand. They are circular, about 9 inches in diameter, rather flat and indented (evidently with the elbow) in the center; but they are slightly raised at the sides, and divided by deep lines, radiating from the center into fragments. They are of a deep brown color and hard, but exceedingly light.”

This of course is in reference to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and sudden destruction of the city of Pompeii in 79 AD.

They also offer a drawing of the following timely devise with attendant explanation of its workings. Patent for this was procured through The Scientific American Patent Agency, October 28, 1862 by Lewis Bunn.[6]

 

It amounted to nothing more than an icebox. Ice was placed in the box above the decedents head, which cooled the box and its contents. The bucket at left caught the water from the melting ice. The box was said to be airtight as possible, and the door on the right end could be opened to allow for viewing. It had a gasket made of either felt or India rubber and a strap was connected to it which passed over the chin of the dearly departed which helped keep the door closed.

 

And of course there was always:



 

News From The War.





This was the focal point of the Harper's Weekly centerpiece on June 14, 1862, although it is fitting for the entire war. As for December, the Battle of Fredericksburg was fought, and the true picture of it was beginning to become clearer as late December papers were going to press. The Battles of Stones River and Chickasaw Bayou occurred to late for them to be reported by any save the largest daily newspapers and then only sketchily at best.

It is good to remember other things were happening between 1861 and 1865.

The Picket

Sources

1- New York Daily Tribune, December 2, 1862 page 3 from Library of Congress, Chronicling America collection, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1862-12-02/ed-1/seq-1/%3Bwords%3D

2- Memphis Daily Appeal, December 13, 1862, pp. 1 and 2 from Library of Congress, Chronicling America collection,

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045160/1862-12-13/ed-1/seq-1/

3-Saint Cloud Democrat- December 18, 1862, page 1, from Library of Congress, Chronicling America collection, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016836/1862-12-18/

4-Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, December 27, 1862, page 215 from Internet Archives at http://archive.org/stream/franklesliesilluv1516lesl#page/214/mode/2up

5- Harper's Weekly, December 6, 1862, pages 779 and 781. from Internet Archives at http://archive.org/stream/harpersweeklyv6bonn#page/778/mode/2up and http://archive.org/stream/harpersweeklyv6bonn#page/780/mode/2up

6- The Scientific American, Volume VII, Number 23, December 6, 1862, pages 360 and 362. from Internet Archives at http://archive.org/stream/scientific-american-1862-12-06/scientific-american-v07-n23-1862-12-06#page/n0/mode/2up

News From The War, Harper’s Weekly, June 14, 1862, drawn by Winslow Homer. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs online catalog, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/99614177/