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...
On August 22, 1862, J.E.B. Stuart and 2,000 of his fellow Confederate cavalrymen laid a swift and destructive raid upon the Union encampment known as Catlett’s Station. Stuart’s inspiration for the raid can be traced back to his own near capture by Union cavalry in the town of Verdiersville, Virginia, several days prior to this attack. The loss of valuable information to the Union forces included,...
The Civil War cost the United States over 620,000 men's lives; many of these men were officers in major divisions who fought in ten or more engagements. One of the veterans of the war was a man by the name of James Wren from Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Wren was a Captain for Company B in the 48th Pennsylvania Regiment. His diary excerpts show that being an officer was not as glorious as it could...
On August 24, 1862, a soldier from the 125th Pennsylvania regiment wrote home from Camp Welles, Virginia, where the regiment had recently arrived. His letter was published in the Huntingdon Globe on Wednesday, September 3, 1862. He described his trip from Pennsylvania, before providing an updated list of promotions within the regiment, along with his thoughts...
Devastation and upheaval occurred in areas throughout the South where the Union army had gained control. The Union's control meant the freeing of slaves. This led to a shortage of agricultural labor and a scarcity of resources. This situation was further heightened by slaves who fled from nearby areas to the sanctity of Union borders. <br />New Orleans was a particular example of this...
On August 11, 1862, one month before Southern women were officially accepted as nurses, J. Bachman announced the importance women held in the medical effort in coastal South Carolina. She explained, in a local newspaper, a proposed arrangement concerning the delivery of imperative medical supplies to Florence, South Carolina. The Northeastern Railroad had been sending donated supplies free of charge,...
On March 14, 1862 in Shenandoah County, Virginia three Union soldiers marched to the door of Sigismunda S. Kimball, the wife of a southern planter, and demanded supplies. The soldiers threatened Mrs. Kimball saying they had plenty of ladies prisoners and continued to torment her. On July 6, 1862 two Yankee soldiers came up to the house and demanded for the key to the corn house, saying they had...
On Saturday September 6th 1862 an entertaining article was published in The New South paper in Port Royal regarding the antics of guerrilla warfare. This intriguing article describes the operations of guerrilla fighters during the Civil War. Guerrillas during this period fall into several different categories. Partisan, raiding, and bushwhacking are just several of the main focuses of...
Under the orders of General McClellan, the Army of the Potomac was the first section of the Union Army to derive benefits from an organized ambulance system. On August 2, 1862 General McClellan issued General Order No. 147 near Harrison Landing, Virginia. This order set up regulations within the Army of the Potomac for the creation, organization, and management of an ambulance train...
Dr. Theodore S. Christ completed his medical training in 1860, and he joined the Union army the following as a surgeon. In September of 1862, he served as the surgeon for the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry in the Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. On the fourteenth of that month, General McClellan tasked Christ’s regiment with taking Turner’s Gap during the Battle of South Mountain....