Category Archives: Virginia

March 24, 1863: Runaway

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Allen Gathman

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Richmond Daily Dispatch runs ads for runaways every day. Somehow the misguided blacks imagine they’ll be better off free than enslaved. Five Hundred Dollars Reward. –I will pay $500 reward for the apprehension and delivery to … Continue reading →

Posted in Slavery, Virginia | Leave a comment

December 29, 1862: Electing a scalawag in Norfolk

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Caricature of Lincoln and his cabinet ************************************************************ This short item from Richmond Daily Dispatch manages to work in a smorgasbord of slurs against the Yankees. The election put a man in the “Lincoln Congress”, under the north’s dictator; the new … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Virginia | Leave a comment

December 19, 1862: West Virginia statehood

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Allen Gathman

My Great-grandfather, Sampson Greenbrier Sites, who was 19 when he became a West Virginian. The Richmond Daily Dispatch treats the celebration of West Virginia’s statehood a bit sourly. Rejoicing over the “New State of Western Virginia.” The Abolitionists in Wheeling, … Continue reading →

Posted in Virginia, West Virginia | 1 Comment

December 4, 1862: Watching out for transvestites in Virginia

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Cross-dressing could land you in jail in the old South, as we’ve seen before. This time it’s a false alarm — they sent a detective to check out someone who just turned out to be a man who seemed effeminate. … Continue reading →

Posted in Virginia, Women | Leave a comment

October 20, 1862: Battlefield photography

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Dead Confederates at Antietam, photo by Alexander Gardner (Brady studio) The editor of the New York Times reflects on way that battlefield photos make the horrors of war more real to the civilians at home. BRADY’S PHOTOGRAPHS.; Pictures of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexander Gardner, Battles, Matthew Brady, Photographers, Virginia | Leave a comment

September 26, 1862: The Yankee war on salt

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Allen Gathman

The Richmond Daily Dispatch reports a Union attack destroyed a Florida salt works. Necessary for preserving meats, salt was one of many crucial items denied the South by the blockade. Destruction of Salt Works. –The Yankees have broken up the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blockade, Florida, Virginia | Leave a comment

September 18, 1862: Rabbis should be exempt from the draft

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Allen Gathman

The Richmond Daily Dispatch notes that the Confederate conscription act exempted Christian ministers, but the wording would have excluded rabbis — they argue that this should be remedied. Oh, and while we’re at it, newspaper editors should be exempt too. … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscription, Draft, Virginia | Leave a comment

September 10, 1862: Where’s Bragg (redux)?

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Braxton Bragg As we saw earlier, Lincoln was quite concerned about the possibility that Bragg might have crossed the Cumberlands and be reinforcing Confederate forces in Virginia. After sending out a flurry of telegrams, he started getting some responses. Firstly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Braxton Bragg, Chattanooga, Don Carlos Buell, Horatio G. Wright, Kentucky, Lew Wallace, Murfreesboro, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia | 1 Comment

September 8, 1862: Seriously, where is Bragg?

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Allen Gathman

As we saw yesterday, Lincoln telegraphed Boyle wanting to know where Bragg was. Boyle doesn’t know. So next Lincoln telegraphs Buell. They’re worried on the other side of the Appalachians that Bragg might show up in Virginia. Official Record: HEADQUARTERS, … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Don Carlos Buell, Jeremiah T. Boyle, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia | Leave a comment

August 11, 1862: All quiet in Hardy County, (West) Virginia

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Samson Greenbrier Sites The Richmond Daily Dispatch reports in a brief item the status of Hardy County — they refer to it as a county in Virginia, but by now the Union would say it was in West Virginia, where … Continue reading →

Posted in Virginia, West Virginia | Leave a comment