In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...
June 15, 1864, the USA Quartermaster Capt. Greene Durbin sent a "steam ferry boat" with supplies to Fort Gibson; Messrs. McDonald and Fuller, contractors of the Cherokee Nation included "Indian goods" to be distributed amongst those Indians there. They furnished it with military protection of one sergeant and twenty-four privates "under the command of Second Lieut. Horace A. B. Cook," Comp. K,...
On February 6, 1864, the Congress of the Confederate States prohibited its constituents from importing “articles not necessaries or of common use.” Such may be justified of a legislative body during wartime, but what is a foreign concept to the modern reader is the list of contraband: “vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry, and game, sealed or enclosed in cans or otherwise, and brooms and brushes...
Noone doubted the existence of unlawful impressment of African-American soliders into the Confederate Army during the Civil War. On March 26, 1863, the Confederate Congress passed the Impressment Act, which allowed it "to impress, or seize, food, fuel, slaves, and other commodities to support armies in the field." A 1793 law prohibited African Americans from bearing arms in the U.S. Army,...
On January 7, 1863, the Lynchburg Daily Virginian posted an article that called President Lincoln a monster. Their opinion stated that President Lincoln was instigator of servile insurrection, including amongst his victims helpless women and children. Lincoln should be considered an outlaw and a reward offered for his head. Also, the paper said that a fitting response must be made in response to...
Leituenant Colonel Casper W. Tyler begins his historical account on a report of operations on the morning of May 4, until the morning of the 30which he provided us with four epochs. Lieut. Col. Tyler has a much more personal perspective on his record, other than relaying field and marching positions.
The record begins when the one hundred and forty-first regiment which was under the Second...
Emma Mordecai was enjoying the pleasantly cool weather when a very disagreeable affair concerning the servants disturbed her afternoon. The conflict began when the henwife, Georgiana, asked her mother, Sarah, to help her manage the chickens. Sarah then complained of being overworked and provoked the ire of her mistress and the master. In addition, Emma mentioned that Cyrus, Sarah's husband,...
Great battles, and even wars ultimately rest on the actions of just a few men. More often, than not, these men are not the ones who make the history books. Small unit combat is not something that we often associate with the Civil War. Often our images are of masses of men moving at each other with flags waving and horns blowing. But this was not always the case. Often it was a few men scattered...
Filling a pressing need for medical services, Sally Tompkins established a hospital after the First Battle of Bull Run that became the best hospital during the Civil War. Running the hospital was not always easy; Tompkins faced pressure from many people to close down the hospital. In June of 1864, Dr. Carrington, an inspector of hospitals for the South, filed an order to have the Robertson Hospital...
The stories about women and the unlikely role they played, in both the north and the south, during the Civil War are some of the most interesting stories of the Civil War. One such story, about Union spy Pauline Cushman appeared in the Valley Spirit on June 8, 1864. Ms. Cushman was arrested by the Confederates, freed by the Northern troops and rewarded with the honorary title of Major in...