The House Divided project received permission from the Cumberland County Historical Society to post articles that explore topics related to the Civil War era in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. These essays originally appeared in the Cumberland County History Journal. Right click on the links below and select “save as” to download the article as a PDF […]
24
Aug
10
Union Soldiers – Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Posted by sailerd Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Letters & Diaries, Recent Scholarshipno comment
17
Aug
10
Battle of Sporting Hill – June 30, 1863
Posted by sailerd Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Letters & DiariesThe Battle of Sporting Hill, which was part of the Gettysburg Campaign, took place on June 30, 1863 in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania between elements of the 16th Virginia Calvary Regiment and two New York Militia Regiments. The Confederate forces at Sporting Hill served as a rearguard for General Albert G. Jenkins, whose brigade was stationed […]
16
Aug
10
Election of 1860 – Hinton Rowan Helper
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic Periodicals, Rare BooksEven though Hinton Rowan Helper published The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It in 1857, the book was still a factor in the election of 1860. While Helper was born in North Carolina to a family that owned more than 200 slaves, he used the Impending Crisis to call for the South […]
30
Jul
10
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 […]
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 […]
26
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 […]
23
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. […]
21
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 […]
19
Jul
10
Election of 1860 – “Read Your Ballot”
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic Periodicals“We must for the last time warn all republican voters to look to it that they have the real republican ticket.” – Boston (MA) Advertiser, November 6, 1860 Ballots for the election of 1860 were not printed or approved by any government office or nonpartisan group. Instead, political parties were responsible for producing and distributing […]
16
Jul
10
Election of 1860 – Republican National Convention
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic PeriodicalsRepublicans selected Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the 1860 at their convention in Chicago, Illinois, but few newspaper editors had predicted that outcome in the months before the convention. One of the other prominent Republican politicians, such as New York Senator William Seward, seemed to be the more likely choice. While the Republican Milwaukee […]
