Category Archives: Military Matters

boy martyr

Posted on January 8, 2014 by SUMPTER

On January 8, 1864 “Seventeen-year-old David O. Dodd is hanged as a Confederate spy in Little Rock, Arkansas.” David Owen Dodd was caught with sensitive documents on his trip from Union-occupied Little Rock back to his family in Camden, Arkansas. … Continue reading →

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cold snap

Posted on January 3, 2014 by SUMPTER

I thought 3 °F seemed kind of cold this morning – and I sure wasn’t outside for a whole guard shift From a Seneca County, New York in January 1864: During the recent cold snap, eighty soldiers on guard at … Continue reading →

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“billowed with their graves”

Posted on December 31, 2013 by SUMPTER

America in 1863. Democrat newspapers in central New York state thought that General-in-Chief Halleck underestimated the Union loss during 1863 in his year-end report. A couple articles from Seneca County, New York newspapers in December 1863: Our Losses for the … Continue reading →

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actions speak louder

Posted on December 30, 2013 by SUMPTER

The following editorial might very well have been published nearer the time in May 1863 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony organized the Woman’s National Loyal League (or the Women’s Loyal National League) in New York City. Nevertheless, … Continue reading →

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death by cracked skull

Posted on December 26, 2013 by SUMPTER

You could get killed in battle; you could die a slow, lingering death from your battle wounds or from disease; or a horse could fall on you and crack your skull. That’s what happened to General Michael Corcoran on December … Continue reading →

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credit the ranks

Posted on December 21, 2013 by SUMPTER

It had been quite a twelve months for Ambrose Burnside – getting whipped at Fredericksburg, the Mud March, Clement Vallandigham, Knoxville. General Burnside and his troops managed to hang on to Knoxville for the Union. After John Foster replaced him … Continue reading →

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Hoosier press

Posted on December 19, 2013 by SUMPTER

death and taxes … and politics? From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Seven: TELEGRAM TO GENERAL U.S. GRANT. WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, December 19, 1863. GENERAL GRANT, Chattanooga, Tennessee: The Indiana delegation in Congress, or at least a … Continue reading →

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hitting home

Posted on December 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

I know the feeling. When I read current events, I’m aware I don’t have the energy to feel compassion for all the constant death and destruction around our world. Also, for the most part, I’m very analytic reading about that … Continue reading →

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Bonds, Town Bonds

Posted on December 12, 2013 by SUMPTER

Men in Seneca Falls, New York might have been voting mostly Democratic in the early 1860’s, but citizens apparently didn’t mind issuing bonds to help pay bounties to encourage recruits for the military. People still wanted to save the Union … Continue reading →

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pickets to prisoners

Posted on December 9, 2013 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1863: Taken Prisoners. Capt. Meade, of the 111th Regiment, with twenty-nine of his men, were taken prisoners during the recent retreat of Gen. Meade. They were sent out as pickets, and … Continue reading →

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