Incident in Mahony’s Life

During a portion of the last summer, Mahony, through his Herald, so exasperated the loyal sentiment of the patriotic portion of the people of Dubuque, that he began to fear for the consequences.  The employees of the Herald went armed to the teeth, and on the passage of squads of volunteers along the street, pistols and guns were sometimes displayed at the Herald office windows.  Mahony at length took it into his head that he was no longer safe at night in his own house, and like other consummate villains before him, he had recourse to the Sanctuary.  He besought the Bishop to allow him to sleep in his own house.  The man of peace of course would not turn out the trembling wretch, and so Mahony found what he believed to be a secure asylum at the Rev. Father’s house.  Thither he repaired every evening at dark and as his mind was full of fears he regaled the man of peace with tales of horror about the threats and intentions of the “cowardly and bloody Abolitionists,” until even the good man feared for Mahony’s life. – Every sound on the street was eagerly listened to and every dog barks was a source of alarm.

Thus things went on for several nights until, one among the rest, when the fears of the rebel editor became unusually excited.  He had met with several sharp reprovals during the day, and he retired to the Bishop’s in a very dubious state of mind at night.  He regaled the good many with his usual tales of horror and fear, and in this state of mind retired to bed.

Some time about midnight, or a little after, a knock was heard at the front door.  Mahony who had been half asleep heard it instantly and started up in bed.  His burly form shook in terror from head to foot, and the bed trembled as if its occupant had a fit of ague, while he peered into the darkness and his ears stuck out from his head like a wolf’s.  Another knock and the Bishop heard it, and starting up in bed, said “Mahony, do you here that?”

“Oh, Lord!” groaned Mahony, “I’m gone.  They’ve come! they’ve come!” and springing out of bed, fell down on his marrow bones by the bedside, and began a most agonizing pray to the Madonna and all the Saints to pray for him, and the Savior of the world to have mercy on him.  Another knock louder than before and Mahony fairly jumped from his knees and shrieked in terror.  The good Bishop pitied the wretch in his agony, and tried to console him, even if his end had come, but he would not be reconciled to his fate, and made a bound for one of the windows, to get out headlong, which if he had accomplished, he would have been killed by the fall.  The good man held him back, and partly by force and partly by persuasion, got him to go down stairs with him, and examine whence the knocking proceeded.  Upon going to the door it was found that a poor harmless crazy person was the cause of all the knocking, and consequent fright.

Could we relate the above “incident in the life of Mahony,” as it was related to us, it would excite the broadest merriment, as well as show most conclusively the groundless fears of Mahony’s “guilty conscience.” – {Dubuque Times.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Theodore Pallet, Private, Co. G, 11th Iowa Infantry

Shiloh National Cemetery

Who are the Loyal, and Who are the Disloyal

From the Nashville Union, 29th

It is a source of honorable pride to contemplate the elements which constitute the loyal portion of our people, and contrast them with the faction of treason.  Loyalty can truly boast of possessing the material and substance which constitute a State, – the “high minded men,” who are the glory of all nations.  Treason on the contrary, has gathered in its retinue the frivolous, the ignorant, the conceited, the apes of foreign aristocracy, the dissolute and the profligate.  In ninety nine cases out of a hundred, men of experience, cultivation, correct morals and elevated principles, are hearty supporters of the Union.  In nine hundred and ninety nine cases out of a thousand the debauched, the reckless, the giddy voltaires of fashion, the bankrupts in political and pecunial fortune, the would be aristocrat and the snobs who follow at their heels are, the violent and malignant enemies of the union.  A man who makes his living by honest labor is in the great majority of cases loyal, while one who looks on labor as degrading, is equally apt to be disloyal.  Who originated and planned this rebellion?  Floyd, Cobb and Jeff Davis, men of wealth and the repudiators of public and private debts, Judah Benjamin, who was compelled to leave college in boyhood for base thefts from his school mates, and other political schemers whose large fortunes enabled them to dance attendance on the Courts of London and Paris.  The vigorous and manly and classic literature of the nation is loyal to the core.  The men who are honored abroad in the learned circles of Europe as poets, historians, jurists, and inventors, are without exception, as far as we recollect at present, firm and zealous loyalists.  The literature of the rebellion is confined to the few ranting stump speakers, of large gabble and little brains, and a few editors who write atrocious falsehoods in English that would disgrace a kitchen wench’s first attempt at a love letter.  On the side of loyalty, we have Bancroft, Everett, Prentice, Bryant, Longfellow, Mitchell, Dr. Breckenridge, Motley the historian, and a grand editorial corps of great power and brilliancy.  On the side of treason we find Armageddon and the Confederate Almanac and Primer, the last two works being plagiarisms from Yankee works!  The parallel or rather the contrast is one which will fill the patriotic heart with an honorable pride.  The rebels with more truth than they are aware of, often call this a rival of the war between the Puritans and the Cavaliers of England.  The two wars are indeed alike.  The same issues appear in both, the great issues of free Government and monarchy.  The leaders of the two parties are similar in their origin and character.  The voluptuous and profligate King Charles is no bad prototype of King Jeff while Oliver Cromwell, bluff, rugged and straight forward, is not unlike blunt and honest Abraham Lincoln, who possesses more true manliness and chivalry in his soul than all the officers in the rebel army from Beauregard to Isham G. Harris.  When we look at the rebel army we find it only the reflection of that of King Charles, both armies being made up of aristocratic leaders, followed by an idle vicious, demoralized mob.  The Union army, like that of Cromwell’s is made up of industrious, sober, substantial, God-fearing citizens.  The loyal forces will as surely destroy the rebel armies as the sturdy Puritans destroyed the mob of King Charles.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, August 4, 1862

I slipped out today between two guards and going up the river about a mile to a bakery near a mill, I bought a dozen apple pies. I returned safely to camp and sold the pies to some of the boys for double what I paid for them. Orders are very strict against absence from camp, for it is reported that a large force of the rebels is in this locality, and they may charge upon our camp any time.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 61

Henry C. Ady, Private, Co. H, 11th Iowa Infantry

Shiloh National Cemetery

Late and Important from Western Maryland -- The Union Spirit Overwhelming

At Cumberland, Md., as we learn from the Wheeling Intelligencer, the excitement on Monday was not less than it was in Baltimore.  A large crowd assembled in front of the residence of Col. Tom McKaig, a prominent Secessionist, when a pistol was fired from a window of the house.  They then commenced throwing stones at the window which they completely demolished.  The stable of McKaig was set on fire and destroyed.  All the prominent Secessionists were compelled to leave town upon short notice.  The mob was started by the exultant manner of the Secessionists, on the reception of the news of Banks’ rout.

At Hagerstown, Md., the Union men were terribly exasperated and destroyed the office of the Mail, a secession paper, and the Secessionists were fleeing the place.  The Union men of Virginia were crossing over into Maryland with their families, at Hancock and other points, and the hills were swarming with men, women and children.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Imposition Upon Soldiers

The Davenport Gazette of the 27th, calls attention to certain gross outrages inflicted upon soldiers by some of the steamboats on the river and particularly by the St. Louis and Keokuk line.  The Gazette relates the following facts:  A private of the 14th regiment named William Harvey, from Jones county arrived in town on the Kate Cassell Sunday, from Keokuk.  Mr. Harvey when at St. Louis, was directed to the Die Vernon as a through boat to Dubuque, and did not discover his mistake till too late for the Canada, which was just leaving.  He accordingly came up to Keokuk on the Vernon, and in payment for his passage handed his through pass onto the Clerk, who returned him a ticket entitling him to a passage on the Kate Cassell. – This ticket, brought him only to Davenport, leaving him to make his way to Dubuque the best way he could.  The officers of the Bill Henderson kindly took him to Dubuque yesterday, running the risk of getting their pay.  The Die Vernon will charge Government for passage to Dubuque, of course, and thus make the price of the trip from Davenport to Dubuque clear.  This would be a mere trifle if it were the first occasion of the kind, but the Gazette is assured that the St. Louis and Keokuk boats frequently serve soldiers in that way and in some cases give them no pass beyond Keokuk.  Whether this be true or not soldiers complain very much of the treatment they received from that line of boats when coming home wounded.  If the owners of these or other boats cannot afford to treat soldiers decently, disabled in the cause of their country, they should be made to do it.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, August 3, 1862

When the sick call was made this morning, I went to see the doctor for the first time. I was threatened with fever and the doctor gave me three “Blue Mass” pills and marked me off duty for three days.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 61

Emancipation of Slaves in the Dutch Colonies

By our last arrivals we have learned the final action of the Dutch Government in respect to the abolition of Slavery in its colonies.  No further importation of slaves is to be allowed at Japan and the neighboring islands. – Those already there are being nearly freed under progressive emancipation.  In the West Indies similar steps have been taken.  A Surinam paper says that all the slaves in the Dutch American possessions are to be free on the 1st of July 1863, on the following conditions:

1st.  An indemnity to be paid to the proprietors of each slave man, woman or child, of three hundred guilders, or about one hundred and twenty dollars United States money.

2d.  The slaves are to be subjected to a system of apprenticeship on the plantations for three years, and received for their labor a certain amount of wages; one-half of which is to be paid to the Government.

The Dutch possessions in America are Guinea, St. Eustatius, Curacoa, St. Martin and Saba.

Guinea contains a free population of fifteen thousand souls and thirty seven thousand five hundred blacks.  St. Eustatius, a Leeward island, has five thousand whites and twenty thousand blacks, and has been in the undisturbed possession of the Dutch since 1814.

Of the number of the slaves in the other colonies we have no account.  It is well know however, Curacua once carried on every extensive slave trade from the port of St. Barbara.

Thus steadily does the work of emancipation proceed throughout the world, to be followed up, beyond all question in some philanthropic and satisfactory form, by a similar movement in this country. – {N. Y. Post.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

A New Weapon In The Army – "Coffee Mills"

The correspondent of the Philadelphia Press with Gen. McClellan’s army says:

“In one of the brigades of the Union army they have six guns of a new construction, and terribly effective.  We have not yet learned their names.  The men designate them ‘coffee mills.’  It is a heavy rifle barrel mounted on wheels.  At the breach is a kind of clock-work machinery, surrounded by a hopper similar to the hopper of a coffee mill, at the side is a crank.

One man turns the crank, while another supplies the cartridges, and a third sights the gun.  By means of a leaver he moves it laterally, or raises or depresses it at pleasure.  Its effective range is 1¼ miles.  It throws 240 balls per minute, the size of an ordinary minié ball.  When operated with, the rebels were utterly amazed, not knowing what to make of them.  One of these guns properly worked, and well supplied with cartridges, is estimated to equal about 300 men.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, August 2, 1862

I was detailed on brigade guard this morning, but was taken sick while at my post and was relieved at 11 a. m.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 61

The Charleston Mercury, in anticipation of . . .

. . . an attack there, puts the query – “Is not Charleston to be defended?” and a correspondent, speaking of a contemplated surrender of the city says – “If, indeed this decree is written in the book of fate then let us know it at once, that patriots may have the chance to die before so terrible a doom shall overtake them.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

A gentleman who has just returned from Mexico . . .

. . . where he had excellent opportunity of acquiring information, expresses the opinion that the French and rebels have an understanding with regard to operations in that country.  He confirms the report that the rebels are attempting to get a footing in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, with the design of annexing them and Lower California to the dominions of Jeff. Davis, and of thus having a Pacific coast and one excellent harbor there at least, Gauymas.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Northern troops in hot climates are . . .

. . . said to enjoy more robust health and perform more work, under certain precautions as to health, than natives.  Actual experience in Jamaica under the direction of Capt. Marryatt, and in Africa under Dr. Livingston, the great explorer, has proved the ability of northern men to withstand the most deadly of the tropical miasmata.  Capt. Marryatt, demonstrated the utility of wearing flannel next the skin.  Dr. Livingston proved the value of quinine as a prophylactic.  At Port Royal our troops use quinine with whisky, in the proportion of two grains of powdered quinine dissolved in half a gill of whisky, diluted with half a gill of water.  This is taken in the morning before eating, and again at night, by troops exposed to malaria, and it is said that so far from promoting intemperance it really gives a distaste for intoxicating drinks.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

General Butler has . . .

. . . the faculty of using the right language at the right time.  During a recent interview with Mayor Monroe, the latter remarked that “he (Gen. Butler) had always been a friend of the South.”  The General here interrupted him with the following remarks: “Stop, sir, let me set you right on that point at once.  I was always a friend to Southern rights, and an enemy to Southern wrongs.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, August 1, 1862

All hands are at work cleaning up our camp. We have a very pretty camping ground right on the bank of the river. The entire Crocker Brigade is in this camp and is in command of General Crocker.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 61

A young lady named McConn . . .

. . . was saved from falling out of a second story window at Cohoes, N. Y., being caught hold of by the feet.  Her modesty was so much shocked by the liberty that a young man took in rescuing her in this style, that she left Cohoes the next morning and has not been seen since.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Coolness On The Field

A lad of fifteen years of age belonging to the 5th Wisconsin, whose name is Douglas, and resides at Beaver Dam, was in the battle of Williamsburg, and got his gun wet so that he could not fire.  During the hottest of the fight, and whilst the regiment was falling back, he deliberately sat down, took out his screw driver, unscrewed the tube from his gun, dried it out, put it back, capped it, got up and put into the field as if nothing unusual was going on.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

A Tennesseean Released From Fort Warren

Parson Brownlow returned from Fort Warren Saturday afternoon, with Lieutenant Colonel White of the Tennessee cavalry, whose release was ordered upon the representations of Mr. Brownlow and other Union men of Tennessee, that White had joined the rebels only to save his life and had never fought for them.  The battalion which garrisons the Fort was reviewed by Gov. Andrew and Staff, and a salute was fired in his honor. – {Boston Jour.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

An Armistice With Rebel Guerrillas

We learn from the Wheeling Intelligencer that Col. Rathbone, of the 11th, Virginia regiment, has granted an armistice with the guerrillas in Calhoun, Roan and adjoining counties.  The armistice was granted last Sunday week.  It was arranged between Col. Rathbone and Captains Dounes, Hays and Silcott that hostilities should cease for eight days, and in the meantime the rebels should withdraw from without our lines, and in case the city of Richmond was captured, they (the rebels) should surrender themselves as prisoners of war.  The last heard of the rebels, they were up on the on the west fork of the Little Kanawha River, going southward.  The Federal forces at Spencer were being supplied from Ravenswood.  A few days ago a wagon load of provisions was attacked by guerillas, about eight miles from the former place, and the guards (eleven in number) fled for their lives. – The rebels killed two of the horses and burned the wagons in the road.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

The appraisers of the late Mr. Colt’s estate . . .

. . . have finished their labors, and they make the whole amount of his property foot up over three millions of dollars.  This is exclusive of his landed property in the Western States and Texas, his gold and lead mines in South American and his property in England, which it is believed, cannot be fairly estimated.  Probably it is worth another million.  The number of men now employed at the armory at Hartford is about 1,100, and the pay-roll amounts to nearly $50,000 a month.  The value of the machinery and tools in the old army is not less than half a million dollars.  The new improvement or addition will just double the size and capacity of this immense establishment making it the largest armory in the world.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, July 31, 1862

We started at 8 o’clock this morning and arrived at Bolivar at 12 o’clock noon. We went into camp two miles east of town on the banks of the Hatchie river. Our camp is in a fine piece of timber, well shaded. I was almost played out when we arrived in camp; the weather being so hot, it was hard work to carry knapsack and accouterments and keep up with the company. Our officers are expecting to be attacked at this place and have put three or four hundred negroes to work throwing up breastworks. There is some very pretty land in this part of old Tennessee and there are some very nice farms. The timber here is chiefly of white oak, but there is some poplar and beech. Bolivar is a fine town and has one railroad.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 60

The Loss Of The Rebels At New Orleans

We are not aware that any authentic report has been published of the number of rebels killed during the siege at Forts Jackson and St. Philip.  The officers of Fort Jackson informed our correspondent that they had fifteen killed and thirty five wounded.  From the officers of Fort St. Philip he learned that only one man was killed and three wounded by our shot.  The loss on the Confederate gunboats is set down as follow[s]: Louisiana, one killed and two wounded, including McIntosh, her commander, severely; Manassas, none; McRae, eight killed and three wounded, including Huger, her commander; Gov. Moore, fifty killed and fourteen wounded.  The Captain of the Resolute, Hooper, was mortally wounded.  The other steamers lost about twenty each.  Making the total in killed and wounded of nearly four hundred, according to the rebel accounts. – {Boston Journal.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

The Way To Treat Guerrilla Outrages

Last Monday, Col. [Warner], of the Kentucky 10th, received information that a band of guerrillas from Bracken and Pendleton counties, Kentucky, had entered the town of West Liberty, Bath county, and arrested John B. Hazelrigg and two other prominent Union men, and carried them off.  A reliable report shortly after reached Col. Warner that the three men had been hung.  He immediately sent a force to arrest three times the number of secessionists in Bath county, to hold them as hostages for the release of Mr. Hazlerigg and his companions.

The Maysville Eagle of Thursday last states that the day previous the county judge, county attorney and eighteen other prominent citizens of Bracken county, were committed on the charge of aiding ad encouraging marauding parties through that part of the State, and they will all be held as hostages for the safety of any Union man who may be carried off by the guerrillas. – The Unionist of Bracken county have heretofore suffered much from these marauders.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Review: Rebel

“Rebel”

Airing Friday, May 24, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS

When The Woman In Battle was published in 1876 it caused a sensation.  Its author, Loreta Janeta Velazquez, was one of an estimated 1,000 women who secretly served as soldiers during the American Civil War.  Many, including former Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early, worked to prove it and its author a hoax and a fraud.  How could a Latina woman, an immigrant from New Orleans, and the daughter of a wealthy Cuban planter, masquerade herself as Harry T. Buford, a Confederate soldier, and later become a Union spy?  To many in the 19th century it was simply a tale too fantastic to be believed.

Dismissed as a fraud, Loreta and her service to both the Confederate Army and the Union cause, have nearly been erased from the history of the greatest conflict to ever take place on American soil; that is until now.  “Rebel,” a new episode of the Latino Public Broadcasting documentary series Voces, premiers Friday May 24, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET, on PBS.

Based largely on Loreta’s 600-page memoir, “Rebel” was written and directed by Maria Augui Carter and produced by herself and Calvin Lindsay, Jr.  It uses dramatic reenactment (most notably featuring Romi Dias as Loreta), archival material and historical commentary by such noted historians and scholars as Catherine Clinton, Renee Sentilles, Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Christina Vella, Jesse Aleman, Vicki L. Ruiz, DeAnne Blanton, Elizabeth D. Leonard, Richard Hall, Carman Cumming and Gary W. Gallagher, to weave together a captivating hour long documentary that successfully lifts the veil of mystery that has shrouded its subject for nearly 150 years and rightfully restores her place in history alongside her sisters in uniform.

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, July 30, 1862

We camped on a large “secesh” plantation last night. The owner of it being a general in the rebel army, we made ourselves at home, killing all the cattle that we wanted and taking all the honey that we could carry away with us. We started at 8 o’clock this morning and marched fourteen miles, when we bivouacked for the night.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 60

In The Review Queue: The Politics of Faith During the Civil War

The Politics of Faith During the Civil War

By Timothy L. Wesley

In The Politics of Faith during the Civil War, Timothy L. Wesley examines the engagement of both northern and southern preachers in politics during the American Civil War, revealing an era of denominational, governmental, and public scrutiny of religious leaders. Controversial ministers risked ostracism within the local community, censure from church leaders, and arrests by provost marshals or local police. In contested areas of the Upper Confederacy and border Union, ministers occasionally faced deadly violence for what they said or would not say from their pulpits. Even silence on political issues did not guarantee a preacher s security, as both sides arrested clergymen who defied the dictates of civil and military authorities by refusing to declare their loyalty in sermons or to pray for the designated nation, army, or president.

The generation that fought the Civil War lived in arguably the most sacralized culture in the history of the United States. The participation of church members in the public arena meant that ministers wielded great authority. Wesley outlines the scope of that influence and considers, conversely, the feared outcomes of its abuse. By treating ministers as both individual men of conscience and leaders of religious communities, Wesley reveals that the reticence of otherwise loyal ministers to bring politics into the pulpit often grew not out of partisan concerns but out of doctrinal, historical, and local factors.

The Politics of Faith during the Civil War sheds new light on the political motivations of homefront clergymen during wartime, revealing how and why the Civil War stands as the nation s first concerted campaign to check the ministry s freedom of religious expression.

About the Author

Timothy L. Wesley teaches history at Pennsylvania State University, where he is a fellow with the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center. He and his wife Linda live in State College, Pennsylvania.

ISBN 978-0807150009, Louisiana State University Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 320 pages, End Notes & Index. $45.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

One of our Weekly exchanges in . . .

. . . the Northern part of the State, of Democratic antecedents, is hesitating whether to join the Mohoney resurrectionists or go in for a Union party movement.  This reminds of an early Ohio acquaintance who hesitated sometime, when starting out in life whether to open a Saloon or study for the Ministry.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

A Liberal Discount

The Vallandighammers have been very earnestly laboring to make the people believe that a debt of twelve hundred millions of dollars has already been contracted in the prosecution of the war.  It is unnecessary to say that there is a liberal discount upon this as well as a good many other statements of these disinterested and pure minded patriots.  The total expenses of the Government on account of the war amount to $441,000,000.  The total debt of the Nation, including $70,000,000 inherited from Buchanan’s Administration, amounted on the 22d day of May to $481,796,145 – more than seven hundred millions of dollars reduction from their statement.  Knowing how concerned they were and are about the debt and how much they fear the people will not stand up to it, were are certain they will be greatly rejoiced to hear it is so small.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Bad For The Vallandighammers

The Resurrectionists are terrible cast down by the recent news from Dixie.  The rebellion will be squelched and the thieves and cut throats of the C. S. A. get their deserts, the way things are going, before their reactionary, conservative, Constitution as it was collaborators got half ready to help them out of the mire.  If the bottom has fallen out of the rebellion, as we incline to think it has, the Vallandighammers are in a fix and will soon be very glad to occupy a very small space – creep into any place or thro’ any opening however small, so they can get out of sight.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, July 29, 1862

We got on the right road and started at 8 o'clock this morning. We marched twelve miles and bivouacked for the night. The weather is extremely hot and the roads are very dusty. Orlando Stout of Company E fell out of the ranks today, and getting too far behind, was taken prisoner.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 60

Review: Here Is Where

Here Is Where:

Discovering America's Great Forgotten History

By Andrew Carroll

Part history book, part travel log, Andrew Carroll’s “Here is Where: Discovering America’s Great Forgotten History” crisscrosses the country from Florida to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii, and spans four centuries of American history.  All but forgotten the incidents and places featured in Mr. Carroll’s delightful tome are little known and all are unmarked.

For instance, SS Sultana could legally carry 376 passengers and crew.  When it left Vicksburg Mississippi it carried an estimated 2,400 passengers, a large number of which had recently been released from the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.  When it exploded and sank near Mound City, Arkansas on April 27, 1865 the official death toll was 1,547, and it is still the greatest maritime disaster in American history, surpassing even the sinking of RMS Titanic, which had 33 fewer deaths.  Overshadowed by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth, it remains today largely forgotten.  Though there are monuments dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Sultana, no monument or plaque marks the spot where remains of the ship were found in 1982.

Would you be surprised to learn Al Capone had a brother that changed his name to Richard James Hart who lived in the tiny town of Homer, Nebraska and became a Federal Prohibition Agent?

Or how about this?  Madison Grant, one of a trio of what we could call today, conservationists, responsible for founding the “Save the Redwoods League” would also write a book on eugenics that Adolph Hitler praised as his new “bible.”

Or that a fourteen year old Philo T. Farnsworth had brainstorm while plowing a field on his father’s Idaho farm that would eventually lead him to develop the first fully functional television system.

These are but a few of the stories found in Andrew Carroll’s book.  Though I would love to see a breakdown of his itinerary and budget for his cross-country journey into forgotten history, Mr. Carroll did not organize his book in the chronological sequence of his travels, but rather he has divided his book into themes:

• Where To Begin: Starting Points
• The World Before Us: Coming to, Exploring and Conserving America
• This Land Is My Land: The Dark Side of Expansion and Growth
• Landmark Cases: Crimes and Lawsuits that Changed the Nation
• Sparks: Invention and Technological Advancements
• Bitter Pills And Miracle Cures: Medical Pioneers and Discoveries
• Burial Plots: Forgotten Graves, Cemeteries and Stories about the Dead
• All Is Not Lost: Finding and Preserving History

Each of Mr. Carroll’s themed chapters are subsequently divided into their individual stories, many of which interconnect in some way, shape or form.  Histories coincidences never cease to amaze.

“Here Is Where” is well written, in a conversational style, that is at once educational, entertaining and amusing to read.  It is easily one of the most enjoyable books I have read in quite some time, and would make a great addition to anyone’s home library whether they are a self-proclaimed “history nut” or not.

ISBN 978-0307463975, Crown Archetype, © 2013, Hardcover, 512 pages, “Acknowledgements and Sources,” $25.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Knox has revived the Indianola Visitor . . .

. . . , and will, as usual, get up a readable paper. – Knox is one of the few men adapted by nature to conduct a newspaper.  He is a concise sharp and forcible writer – never writes without saying something, and to the pint and quits when he is done.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, July 28, 1862

We struck our tents and at sunup started on our march for Bolivar, Tennessee. Our guide took us on the wrong road and we countermarched about ten miles, thus not being far from our starting point. The guide was tied and taken back to Corinth.¹  It is very warm and the roads are dusty. Our road being on high ground, we found water very scarce, and what little we got was of poor quality. General Tuttle is in command of our division, the Sixth.

_________

¹ I never learned what became of him. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 60

Review: The Civil War, The Third Year Told By Those Who Lived it

The Civil War:

The Third Year Told By Those Who Lived It

Edited by Brooks D. Simpson

“The Civil War: The Third Year Told By Those Who Lived It,” is the third volume in The Library of America’s four volume series of first person accounts of the American Civil War.  Spanning from January 20, 1863 to March 10, 1864 this volume covers the third year of the war.  Like its preceding volumes, its multiple viewpoints cover the war’s third year from nearly every conceivable angle: Union and Confederate; from the home front to the front lines; soldiers, civilians and politicians.

Editor Brooks D. Simpson has culled from thousands of newspaper articles, diaries and journals, letters, memoirs and official documents, collected the richest of these historical documents and presented them chronologically.  One hundred and fifty years after the guns fell silent, readers of this book know how the it all will end.  But those who lived through it did not, and that gives an immediacy to these documents, the lives of their authors and the war itself, that one does not often get from reading biographies, histories of the war, or about the battles themselves.

Reading through its Table of Contents is like reading a “Who Was Who” of notable Civil War personalities from 1863, from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis to Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee.  Official documents as well as private correspondence help to illuminate the war’s most tumultuous year.  Also included in this collection are many unfamiliar names, who wrote letters and diaries.  These entries, the war at home as well as the news from the front lines, give this collection a deeper, more intimate and personal meaning.

One of the highlights of this collection are items dealing with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, featured in the movie Glory, from its formation to the burning of Darien, Georgia and its defeat at Battery Wagner.  Of cource,1863 being the watershed year of the war, the Battle of Chancellorsville and the death of Stonewall Jackson also receive treatment, as well as the Gettysburg Campaign, The Vicksburg Campaign, and the Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Mr. Simpson has prefaced each document with a short introductory paragraph, placing the document that follows in its proper historical context, and giving additional information wherever warranted.  The documents, however, speak for themselves, separately and collectively as a whole.

The Library of America’s “The Civil War: Told By Those Who Lived It” is an indispensible work not only for serious students of the Civil War, but also for those with a casual interest in the war as well.

ISBN 978-1598531978, Library of America, © 2013, Hardcover, 936 pages, Maps, Chronology, Biographical Notes, Note on the Texts, Notes & Index. $40.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Iowa's Civil War Newspapers

The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye

• Anamosa Eureka
• Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye­
• Burlington Daily Argus
• Cass County Gazette
• Cedar Falls Gazette
• Cedar Valley Times
• Charles City Intelligencer
• Clinton Herald
• Council Bluffs Bugle
• Davenport Daily Gazette
• Davenport Daily Leader
• Davenport Democrat & News
• Daily Des Moines Times
• Dubuque Daily Evening Union
• Dubuque Democratic Herald
• Dubuque Herald
• Dubuque Religious News Letter
• Dubuque Times
• Dubuque Weekly Times
• The Fort Dodge Republican
• Fort Madison Plaindealer
• The Glenwood Opinion
• Hardin Sentinel
• Independence Guardian
• Indianola Visitor
• Iowa City Republican
• Iowa Homestead
• Iowa State Register
• Iowa State Weekly Register
• Iowa Valley News
• Keokuk Constitution
• Keokuk Gate City
• Keosaqua Republican
• Linn County Patriot
• Linn County Register
• Maquoketa Excelsior
• Marion Herald
• Marshall County Times
• Marshall Times and News
• McGregor Times
• Monticello Express
• Muscatine Journal
• The Opinion
• Osceola Republican
• Osceola Union Sentinel
• Oskaloosa Herald
• Oskaloosa Times
• Ottumwa Courier
• Ottumwa Mercury
• Page County Herald
• Panora Ledger
• Sigourney News
• Sioux City Register
• Tipton Advertiser
• Vinton Eagle
• Wapello Democratic Mercury
• Washington Press
• Waterloo Courier
• West Union, Pioneer

A letter from a Union prisoner now at Richmond . . .

. . . dated the first days of May, describes with graphic force the terrible barbarities inflicted upon our men now in rebel hands.  A Fegee [sic] cannibal would blush to have such charges made of his behavior towards his human food.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, July 27, 1862

We had regimental inspection this morning by Colonel Hare. We received orders to march in the morning. The Eleventh Iowa lost two men by disease while here in this camp — such is the penalty of camp life.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 59

Review: United States Army, The Definitive Illustrated History

United States Army: The Definitive Illustrated History

By D. M. Giangreco

It’s nearly an impossible task to cover the entire history of the United States Army from its humble beginnings in 1607 to the present (2011) and call it a definitive history, but somehow D. M. Giangreco has managed to do it.  Of course it took a massive book of 11.4 x 9.8 x 1.4 inches and 528 pages do it in, and it’s fully illustrated too!

Each chapter of Mr. Giangreco’s “The Definitive Illustrated History” covers specific a period of the Army’s History:

• Creating a Continental Army, 1607-1782
• The Army and the Young Republic, 1794-1848
• Regulars, Volunteers and Civil War, 1861-1865
• War on the Plains and Domestic Strife, 1865-1878
• Beyond the Borders, The Far East, Caribbean and Mexico, 1877-1917
• Over There, 1917-1921
• Between Two Wars, 1919-1941
• Victory in the Pacific, 1941-1945
• Defeating Nazi Germany, 1942-1945
• The Cold War Turns Hot, 1945-1953
• Preparing for the “Next War” and Vietnam, 1953-1973
• The Volunteer Army, Panama, and the Persian Gulf, 1972-1991
• A “New” Enemy, 1991-2011

Of course even for a book of its size it would be impossible for it to be an in depth study spanning every phase of the United States Army’s four hundred year history.  That would take multiple volumes and span several feet of valuable shelf space.  Mr. Giangreco takes a “skirt-length” approach to each of his chapters: short enough to keep it interesting, but long enough to adequately cover the subject.

Also included are four Appendices:

• Appendix A: Medals and Decorations; Ribbon-Only Awards; Unit Commendations and Foreign Citations.
• Appendix B: Campaign Streamers; Chiefs of Staff of the U. S. Army
• Appendix C: Branches of the U. S. Army; Distinctive Unite Insignia (DUI) Pins
• Appendix D: Rank and Structure of the U. S. Army

Highlighting Mr. Giangreco’s 180,000+ word text are hundreds of photographs and illustrations; from the uniforms the soldiers carry and the weapons they used, to the mundane equipment they used daily; from generals to privates; from maps and historical paintings to battlefield photographs.  Taken as a whole they thoroughly illustrate and cover each of America’s conflicts from the French and Indian War to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and everything in between.

Mr. Giangreco’s “United States Army: The Definitive Illustrated History” is a beautifully produced book, thoroughly researched, well written and easily read.  Coming in at a hefty weight of 5.8 pounds it is not a book to be taken lightly, nor would a recommend reading it in a chair for long periods of time without wrist braces.  To call Mr. Giangreco’s book a “coffee table book” would do a great injustice to it, but I would recommend reading it while seated at a table.

ISBN 1402791046, Sterling, © 2011, Paperback, 11.4 x 9.8 x 1.4 inches, 528 pages, 5.8 pounds, Maps, Photographs, Illustrations, Appendices, Photo Credits & Index. $24.95.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Foster Updike, Private, Co. C, 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry

Stones River National Cemetery

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

NOTE: Originally interred at Athens, Alabama.

The other day we said . . .

. . . we did not know of a single loyal Democratic paper in Iowa.  Since we wrote that paragraph we have received a number of the Cass County Gazette from which we cut out the following article.  We are satisfied the writer is loyal and as long as he utters such sentiments we shall hail him as a loyal and true man.  If there are any others we shall rejoice to know it.

AUTHORS OF THE WAR. – The attempt to saddle the whole responsibility of the rebellion upon the Abolitionists of the North is destined to prove a complete failure   It can’t be done without obliterating the memory and records of stubborn facts.  Abolitionists it is undeniable, did much to create disaffection toward the Union in the Southern States and to excite jealousy and hostile feelings between the people of the North and South.  But they did not cause the War.  Secessionists, the extreme opposites of Abolitionists, conceived and matured the plan of disunion, and they deliberately went to work to execute that plan.  They took up arms and began the War for the destruction of the Union, hence, they are directly responsible for it.  Another fact – the secessionist can stop this War as suddenly as they began it.  The moment they lay down their arms and submit to the laws, they will have peace and enjoy all the rights which they possessed from the foundation of the Government to the time they seceded.  Then, what cause have they for fighting?  None at all.  They have been deprived of no right which the Constitution grants them.  Although they have shed the blood of thousands of our fellow citizens in their wicked efforts to overthrow the Government of the United States.  That very government is ready to extend its mercy and protection to them the moment they return to their allegiance.  Then who is to blame for the continuance of this War?  Not the Abolitionists for they have not the power to stop the war.  It is the Secessionists who are whole to blame for they alone have the power to stop fighting against the Union.  When they do this we shall at once have peace.  As long as they continue to fight in their unholy cause, so long will the war last.  If they will not submit they must be conquered, if necessary, subjugated, and all parties in the North as well as the South may as well settle their policy with a view to this great fact.  The Union, it must be preserved, said Jackson in 1832.  “AMEN!” say the people in 1862.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Three members of Co. C, 1st Iowa Cavalry Murdered in Missouri

The sad news of the death of three members of Co. C, 1st Iowa Cavalry, murdered by guerillas in St. Clair county, Missouri, was received here yesterday, casting a shadow over our people.  The news came in a private letter from W. A. Clark, of the same company, and the only one of the foraging party who escaped unhurt.  Harbach and Cameron were from Burlington, young men of much promise, twenty one or two years of age.  Higgins about the same age we think was from the northern part of the county.  Stoddard, also about the same age, is from West Point, Lee county.  He is wounded in the arm and will probably recover.  Young Harbach and one brother who was a member of the 1st Iowa – is now in the 11th Regulars with Gen. McClellan.  His father is Captain of 1st Iowa Battery, now with General Curtis in Arkansas.  Below we print Clark’s letter, written to his brother in law, Mr. Fullerton.  Although not intended for print we see no impropriety in publishing it.

__________

OCEOLA, St. Clair Co., Mo., May 28

BRO. NICK: – It becomes my duty to notify through you the friends of some of the wounded and dead of our Company that were shot yesterday while out foraging.  Wm. G. Harbach, dead, M. Higgins, dead, Josiah Cameron and A. Stoddard wounded.  My horse was shot, and two or three balls penetrated my clothes, and a fine come caved me.  I had a comb in my watch pocket, the ball struck it and glanced off and just grazed the skin.

I will give you the particulars.  We started out in the morning after forage, 12 miles.  We got out all right, loaded the wagons and started back, and were eight miles from camp when we stopped at a creek to water our horses.  Harbach and Cameron were sitting in the wagon.  Higgins, Stoddard and myself were setting on our horses by the side of them talking when some twenty Jayhawkers, concealed in the brush, fired into us, killing Harbach, wounding Cameron, Higgins Stoddard and I supposed that I was wounded, but I am happy to say that I was not hurt.  My horse was shot from his head back to his tail.  Several shots went thro my coat, pants and hat.  I run my horse after he was shot some two miles before he fell, I then jumped over into a field where there was a man plowing; I jerked the harness of the horse and jumped on him bare back and rode about four or five miles as hard as he could run, when I overtook another foraging party.  I sent two of the men to camp for help.  It was but a little while before our men could be seen on a full gallop coming to our assistance.  I went back with them.  We found Harbach dead, Cameron wounded in the leg, it has since been amputated above the knee, Higgins wounded, has since died, Stoddard wounded in the arm.

I intended to start with the body of Harbach home this evening but could not get ice, and therefore could not start, but will bury here for the present.  The boys propose to send to St. Louis for a metallic coffin.  I will then fetch the body home.

We take no more prisoners.  We are going to shoot every man that we catch in the brush.

P. S. – Since I wrote the above Josiah Cameron has died.  We will be obliged to bury them here for the present, as the weather is so warm and there is no ice here.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, July 26, 1862

Nothing of importance. Much of our time in camp is taken up with the question of rations. During this hot weather the regular army rations are drawn, but the men use very little of the salt bacon. But the bacon being issued, the company cook takes care of it and now has a wagon load of it stacked up beside his tent, anyone being permitted to go and help himself to it. At noon the company cook prepares the bean soup and cooks the pickled beef, after which he calls out for every man to come and get his portion. All the other rations are issued every five days, each man carrying his portion in his haversack. We have had no Irish potatoes issued for eight months now, but fresh beef we draw, sometimes twice a week, and it is cooked for us by the company cook. The rations are all of good quality with the exception of crackers, which at times are a little worm-eaten.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58-9

Are Newspapers A Nuisance?

Major Gen. Ben Butler is reported to have very much astonished certain New Orleans editors , the other day, by assuring them that he would like to see anybody who would sustain the proposition that newspapers had not done more harm than good since their first establishment.

It is very doubtful whether the Major General ever said anything of the sort, but there are not wanting plenty of smaller military gentry, whose mouths are constantly filled with just such remarks.  Hear Henry Ward Beecher on the other side.  We copy from the New York Post –

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in the course of his sermon at the Plymouth Church last night, made an eloquent plea for newspapers, speaking of them as one of the most potent elements of our civilization.  “There is,” said he, “a common vulgar objection about newspapers that ‘they lie’ so; they don’t lie any more than you do.  Man is naturally a lying creature.  Truth is a gift from Heaven, and very few of us possess it before they get there.  The newspaper gives both facts and rumors, and they would be blamed if they did not do so.  It is for the reader to judge of these rumors.  The last economy should be in regard to newspapers.  It is better to deprive the body of some ribbon, or jewel, or garment, than to deprive the mind of its sustenance.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Republican State Convention

By the call to be found in our columns this morning it will be seen that a State Convention has been called to meet at the Capital Wednesday July 23d, to nominate candidates for Secretary and Auditor of State, Attorney General and Register of the Land Office.  It is desirable that this Convention should be well attended and every part of the State represented to the end that the best men may be nominated, and that at the coming important election Iowa may speak with no uncertain voice, her approval of the Administration of Abraham Lincoln and her condemnation of the treasonable party organization now attempted to be mustered for the canvass by men of known secession proclivities.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, June 7, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, July 25, 1862

The quartermaster drew some clothing today for our regiment. The regiment was out for drill today, with better success than the other day when it was so hot.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

The infamous Vallandigham of Ohio . . .

. . . is appreciated at Memphis where the Avalanche calls him:

The gallant high-minded and true-hearted member from the Buckeye State.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, February 3, 1862, p. 2

The Ohio State Journal affirms . . .

. . . that among the prisoners at Camp Chase were some seventy contrabands, the slaves of rebel officers, also prisoners.  They are the menials of their secesh owners, in Camp Chase as at home, and are claimed to be “sacred” as private property.  This mode of dealing with rebel prisoners, wicked and foolish in itself, becomes most provoking when we recollect that some of our bravest and best, like Corcoran and Wilcox, in violation of all faith and decency, are kept in felon’s cells or amid the stench, filth and vermin of Richmond tobacco factories.  Cannot somebody give us an exhortation on charity, loving kindness and courtesy towards the cut-throats who are prisoners in our camps?  “Respect the rights of these chivalrous gentlemen,” quotha.

– Published in the Iowa State Register, Weekly Edition, Des Moines Iowa, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Islands In The Mississippi

The Islands in the Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio are all named, and below the Ohio they are numbered.  Island No. 1 is below Cairo, and they continue in numerical order to No. 125 at or near Tunica Bend, in Louisiana, about 120 miles above New Orleans.  From that point to its mouth, the river is clear of islands.

– Published in the Iowa State Register, Weekly Edition, Des Moines Iowa, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, July 24, 1862

We were relieved from picket this morning by the Thirteenth. Wild fruit is becoming plentiful and while on picket we added quite a variety to our rations.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

War with England

Shall we have a war with England?  Nothing but a speedy settlement of the difficulties with the South will prevent it.  The rebels are now hemmed in on every side, and vigorous attacks from various points must result in their overwhelming defeat.  The longer the Southern Confederacy stands, the stronger is it becoming in the eyes of foreign nations.  There is no way in which hostilities with England can be prevented, but by the speedy subjugation of the South.  If this war continues six months longer, we shall have old England, with perhaps one or two allied powers, upon us.

The telegraph informs us that the governments of England, France and Spain are mediating an early recognition of the Confederate States.  Their plea is said to be that of “humanity” – a plea that our Government might have used with a thousand fold more plausibility toward either Ireland or the Indies.  Since the rendition of Mason and Slidell, England has been vigorously preparing for war.  Her North American colonies are especially the object of her solicitude.  They have been more strongly fortified, while one hundred thousand men have been raised to protect them from aggression.

Our Government is aware of the preparations that this power has been making for war.  It knows that they are not all intended for the conquering of Mexico, and it must know that there is no way left under heaven to prevent hostilities with England, but the speedy suppression of the rebellion now raging in our own country.  Knowing all this, why there has not been a general advance of the Federal troops ere this time, is more than we can fathom. – But we “possess our souls in patience,” hoping each day that the next will bring us news that the belligerents which have so long been threatening one another on the Potomac have at last concluded to measure strength.  We have the confidence in McClellan to believe that the news of an advance of the Federal troops under his Generalship would be akin to the heralding of a great victory and the postponing of the recognition by humane England of the rebel confederacy.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

The Legislature --- State Warrants

Several weeks ago we attempted to show the necessity of some action on the part of our Legislature to place state warrants (on War and Defence Fund), on a proper and honest footing.  These warrants being then hawked around the State at twenty-five per cent. discount.  We are glad to learn by a gentleman direct from Des Moines that the passage of a certain bill, this or next week, will have the effect to bring the price of the State warrants up to par or nearly so.  We expect to be able to quote our war fund State warrants next week at ninety-five cents.  They are now being bought at Des Moines for ninety cents.  There has been no good reason why they should not have brought this figure any time.

The legislature has passed a bill by which the State assumes the collection of the Government tax in Iowa.  It is now proposed to pass a bill by which the State Warrants will be taken for taxes, or for the Government tax – as the Government owes the State more than the amount of war fund State warrants issued.  By this means these warrants are at once given a practical value or  use, making them worth so much money for a specific purpose, and a purpose for which there must soon be some provision made by tax payers.

We do not know that there is any sale for these warrants in this city at the present time.  But we advise holders not to sacrifice them – the same advice we gave months ago.  The warrants of the state of Iowa, and bearing eight per cent. interest, ought never to be sacrificed for a figure much below par.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, July 23, 1862

Our regiment is out on picket today. It rained all day. We seldom see any of the rebel cavalry in this locality, yet we always maintain a strong picket line so as not to be taken by surprise. We are expecting them to make a raid upon Corinth any time.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

What we are Learning

The American people are just now learning a great lesson and if they do not profit by it they will lose all claim to Yankee shrewdness.  They are learning that it is not safe to the country to foster institutions that are in antagonism to its liberties, until they become powerful enough to assert their supremacy.  That if it warms into life a serpent within its bosom, they must expect it to turn and sting its benefactor.  They are learning that the boasted sympathy of foreign nations cannot be depended upon, but that we must rely upon our own strength for independence.  The fiery ordeal through which our country is passing will teach us self-reliance, a more entire dependence upon ourselves, a fostering of those institutions that give permanency to our Government and the lopping off of those that tend to impair its strength.  We shall learn to become more attentive to our national character, more jealous of our country’s honor and more embittered in our feelings toward old England.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

Latest from Memphis

We conversed yesterday with a gentleman who left Memphis only a week since.  He says that extensive preparations are being made to receive the Yankees.  The foundry at the Navy Yard is turning out cannon very rapidly, and has cast four 100-pounders which are mounted on the earthworks and Memphis.

Clothing is very scarce and high, and woolen goods have almost disappeared from the shelves of the dry goods stores.  Boots sell at $14@$25 a pair.  Coffee $1.50 per pound.  Salt is worth $20 a sack, and the army is obliged to do without it, eating their fresh beef unseasoned.

Of course the rebels are still of the opinion that they will secure their independence, though they confess that Memphis will be in danger if our forces ever ascend the Tennessee River, and cut off their supplies.  A great deal of sickness prevails in the rebel army, and the hospitals are crowded. – Evansville Journal 29th.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

The War News

Ft. Pulaski thoroughly Invested.

The Committee on Lake Defences Ready to Report.

SOUTHERN SECESSIONISTS IN CANADA.

Flag-Officer Goldsboro Supposed to be at Work.

Prospect of a Battle in Missouri.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, July 22, 1862

We removed our tents and had a general cleanup of the camp. We made brush brooms, took down all tents, swept the ground, then pitched our tents again.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58