harbor fire

During The American Civil War Fort Lafayette in New York harbor was used to lock up political prisoners. 150 years ago today a fire burned a good deal of the fort – an estimated $100,000 worth. The December 19, 1868 issue of Harper’s Weekly reported:

quaint structure originally called Fort Diamond

“the American Bastile”

patriotism had to be “like the virtue of Caesar’s wife”

counterpoint

You can read the December 29th issue (along with the rest of the 1868 Harper’s Weekly) at the Internet Archive. Francis P. Blair’s quote supporting freedom of speech and freedom of the press no matter what appears on the title page of Lawrence Sangston’s 1863 The Bastiles of the North (at Hathi Trust)