Category Archives: Northern Society

“needlessly, wickedly sacrificed”

Posted on December 21, 2012 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in December 1862: Again Defeated. What is to be said in this week of the nation’s agony? What word is sufficient in these days red with battle and hot with the flush of … Continue reading →

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Purdy Promoted

Posted on November 29, 2012 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in November 1862: Promoted. William B. Purdy, eldest son of A.S. Purdy, of this village, who enlisted in the Navy, as a marine, from the city of Hartford, Conn., where he has been … Continue reading →

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the greenbacks are in the mail

Posted on November 28, 2012 by SUMPTER

What do you tell the “butcher and baker, and kerosene seller”? It is said that pay in the Union army was usually behind schedule. Here a soldier’s wife explains the issue on the home-front and shows that the army would … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving near Portsmouth

Posted on November 27, 2012 by SUMPTER

Last week The Civil War 150th Blog compared the official Union and Confederate Thanksgivings in 1862. Presidents Lincoln and Davis were thankful for military victories and proclaimed days of Thanksgiving in April and September respectively. Thanksgiving days were pretty fluid … Continue reading →

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Wrap it up!

Posted on November 23, 2012 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 22, 1862: Archbishop Hughes Fears a foreign War. Under date of November 1st,Archbishop Hughes has written a letter to Secretary Seward. He reiterates the stern views he has always held of the necessities of … Continue reading →

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Keystone Cops

Posted on November 16, 2012 by SUMPTER

Provost Guard has its work cut out for it at Camp Curtin. Richmond’s Daily Dispatch says the removal of native Pennsylvanian George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac has caused an increase in the turbulence at Camp … Continue reading →

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Snowed

Posted on November 8, 2012 by SUMPTER

The New-York Times was published on this date 150 years ago before word got back North that General McClellan had been relieved of command. It seems ironic that for all the general’s dilly-dallying (from President Lincoln’s perspective), the lead headline … Continue reading →

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Orator declines with just a paragraph

Posted on November 1, 2012 by SUMPTER

A laconic Edward Everett? From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 1, 1862: Edward Everett. –Edward Everett having been requested to accept the Republican nomination in the Third Congressional District of Massachusetts, has replied in the following letter: “Summer Street, Oct. … Continue reading →

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On the Waterfront and Elsewhere

Posted on October 20, 2012 by SUMPTER

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch October 20, 1862: Scarcity of laborers at the North. –In some portions of the State workmen are scarce, in consequence of the drain for the war. The laborers upon the wharves of this city have … Continue reading →

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How suspenders worked

Posted on October 19, 2012 by SUMPTER

In August 1862 Secretary of War Stanton ordered arrests for disloyal practices and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in those cases. Here’s how that worked out in practice at least in this case (and to the extent … Continue reading →

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