Author Archives: SUMPTER

May Day Memorial Day

Posted on May 20, 2015 by SUMPTER

It’s been over four years now since JASPER, The New-York Times’ correspondent wrote from Charleston in the seceded South Carolina. After the United States’ surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861 JASPER was made to leave town. Now that Charleston … Continue reading →

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what’s next?

Posted on May 18, 2015 by SUMPTER

President Lincoln wasn’t afraid to swap horses midstream of the rebel invasion back in 1863. Thankfully for the Union cause, George Gordon Meade, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, sure knew how to play defense against the … Continue reading →

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quiet kanawha

Posted on May 15, 2015 by SUMPTER

It had been real quiet for the New York First Veteran Cavalry in the Kanawha Valley, but our SENECA correspondent was able to report the April surrender of a small rebel force at Lewisburg on Appomattox terms. The veterans in … Continue reading →

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it’s a wrap?

Posted on May 14, 2015 by SUMPTER
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just another rebel?

Posted on May 13, 2015 by SUMPTER

If it turned out that Jefferson Davis was not implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, why should he be punished any more severely than all the other rebels who fought the United States for over four long years? From … Continue reading →

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lashless society

Posted on May 12, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today: “President Andrew Johnson appoints General Oliver O. Howard to head the Freedman’s Bureau.” A May 12th editorial argued that, just as the conduct of black soldiers upset preconceived Southern notions of African-American competence, free black labor … Continue reading →

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Richmond rubble

Posted on May 11, 2015 by SUMPTER

According to the Library of Congress photographer Andrew J. Russell spent some time at the corner of Carey and Governor streets 150 years ago this month.

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mutual respect society

Posted on May 9, 2015 by SUMPTER

An editorial wasn’t too happy that William T. Sherman kept reporters away from General Johnston’s April 26, 1865 surrender; apparently General Sherman thought the Confederate officers would be embarrassed giving up in front of the gawking Yankee press. America would … Continue reading →

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brass wall

Posted on May 7, 2015 by SUMPTER

After waxing poetical about the horrors of May 1864, an editorial from 150 years ago seemed to be thankful for peace and quite certain that a positive result of the war was that foreign nations would never dare invade the … Continue reading →

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germ warfare?

Posted on May 6, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times May 7, 1865: THE YELLOW FEVER PLOT.; Judicial Investigation at St. George’s–The Evidence Against Blackburn Conclusive. HALIFAX, N.S., Saturday, May 6. The Bermuda papers contain long accounts of the judicial investigation, now being held at St. … Continue reading →

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