Before going to bed on October 10, 1862, Chambersburg resident William Heyser noted in his diary that he had “secreted some of my most valuable papers.” Confederate cavalry under the command of General J. E. B. Stuart had arrived several hours earlier and forced the town to surrender. Union forces had been caught by surprise […]
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Jul
10
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28
Jul
10
Election of 1860 – Southerners Unionists
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic PeriodicalsWhile some southern editors argued before election day in November 1860 that a Republican victory would justify secession, the Fayetteville (NC) Observer was prepared to accept Abraham Lincoln as President. The Observer, which supported Constitutional Union candidates John Bell and Edward Everett, believed that there was no choice but to accept the results of an […]
28
Jul
10
Partisan Fear-mongering in 1860
Posted by Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic Periodicals, ImagesAfter what could only be mildly described as a tumultuous decade of failed compromises, the rise of a new political party, and a disgruntled citizenry, the 1860 Election season met with the pronounced fears over the future course of the United States. Partisan newspapers relished the opportunity to hack away at their opponents by castigating […]
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Jul
10
Election of 1860 – John Breckinridge
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic PeriodicalsAfter southern Democratic delegates in Baltimore, Maryland refused to accept Senator Stephen Douglas as a candidate for the election of 1860, they nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge on June 23, 1860. Soon after Breckinridge’s campaign biography was published, which one can read online at archive.org. Some editors saw Breckinridge’s campaign and, in particular his […]
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Jul
10
An Angry Father At Gettysburg
Posted by Matthew Pinsker Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Historic Periodicals, ImagesSam Wilkeson was a war correspondent for the New York Times who had sons in the Union army, including Lt. Bayard Wilkeson, an artillery officer who was mortally wounded on the first day at Gettysburg. The story of Bayard’s death became a northern sensation since he was one of the youngest artillery officers in the […]
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Jul
10
The Courtship of James Garfield
Posted by hardyr Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Letters & DiariesIn 1847, Zeb and Arabella Rudolph decided that their daughter Lucretia needed more of an academic challenge than the local Garrettsville, Ohio, schools could offer. The fifteen-year old was sent twenty miles away to board at the Geauga Seminary, where she would have the benefit of a classical curriculum. The Geauga Seminary was coeducational, and […]
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Jul
10
Election Day in Springfield, Illinois
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic Periodicals, Maps“The Cannon Salvo that thundered over Springfield, Illinois, to greet the sunrise on November 6, 1860, signaled not the start of a battle, but the end of one…Election Day was finally dawning.” – Historian Harold Holzer Abraham Lincoln, however, was not one to rush and vote right after the polling places opened in the morning. […]
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Jul
10
Harrisburg Grand Review: November 14, 1865
Posted by rainwatj Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Historic PeriodicalsOn May 23 and 24, 1865, Union soldiers paraded through Washington D.C. for a grand review of the troops, a celebration from the grateful citizens to the Union soldiers for their efforts and service in winning the Civil War. Noticeably missing from the celebration were the over 180,000 United States Colored Troops who fought along […]
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Jul
10
Southern Reaction to the Republican National Convention
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic PeriodicalsAfter the Republican National Convention selected Abraham Lincoln in May 1860 as their candidate for the 1860 election, some Republican newspaper editors noted that Lincoln was a moderate politician. Lincoln opposed the further extension of slave territory, but he did not call for the end of slavery in the South. Yet some southern editors were […]
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Jul
10
Cumberland County History, a historical journal compiled annually by the Cumberland County Historical Society, has provided nearly three decades of research into the county’s long history. The journal has published several articles on Civil War soldiers from the surrounding community. They utilize several primary documents and effectively offer insight into the emotional departure from loved […]
