The Civil War According to the Press
 

My daughter got me two large volumes of "The Civil War According to the Press" for Christmas. The whole book is press clippings of the Civil War. Going back a 20 years before the war and showing the attitudes of the South vs the North. Very interesting! Then the clippings throughout the war before and after various battles in both Northern and Southern papers. Plus clippings from Black Newspapers in the North. Should be interesting reading. About a 600 pages in two volumes. I'm going to be in Civil War heaven.

Do any of you guys have this book?

Keith

Keith

A quote from the past is never wasted on the present and much to the disgust of the now generation will never be wasted on the future generations. I will look forward to some quotable quotes from your readings. c/f the Holy Bible.

enough..........

I know you will most enjoy your readings. Recently, I had the pleasure of reading a few stories regarding Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a great man. Before he became president, Lincoln spent twenty years as an unsuccessful Illinois lawyer-- at least he was unsuccessful in financial terms. But when you measure the good he did, he was very rich indeed.

Honesty makes you feel good about yourself and creates trust in others. It improves your relationship with yourself and with others. It's not much in fashion these days to talk about the benefits of honesty and decency, but the benefits are there and they are valuable and worth the trouble.

I too welcome any quotes or wisdom you would like to share.

The English Language . . . .
 

One thing I am finding is that the English language has certainly gone through a lot of change. The language during the Civil War period was so descriptive. Often (disgustly flowerly), ie "our glorious Army of the Republic" and other somewhat over done statement. I also found out that there were several Newspapers in the South that supported the Union during the war, now that really surprised me! Another thing I found out that there were some small Black newspapers operating in the North long before the Civil War. I knew the seeds for the War had been sown many years before the war but reading these newspapers makes it all more vivid. Interesting reading.

Keith

"Another thing I found out that there were some small Black newspapers operating in the North long before the Civil War. I knew the seeds for the War had been sown many years before the war but reading these newspapers makes it all more vivid. Interesting reading. "

Keith, did the black newspapers operate underground or were they allowed to operate legally on the surface? If above ground, in the North, were they under scrutiny or were they left alone? This brings to mind the Cherokee Nation. I have read extensively on the Cherokee Nation. I found them to be fascinating people. They too owned their own newspaper pre Civil War and post Civil War.

You mentioned the seed for War had been sown many years before the war. Were the writers direct in discussing war was imminent or were they creative and wove their messages within articles?

I'm also surprised the Confederates had not destroyed the newspaper businesses that were sympathetic supporters of the Union.

Lots of Questions
 

The small Southern Papers supporting Federal Action. They felt it was a Federal Government action and not the North vs the South. The were supporting their country. They believed in National loyality vs states loyality. There were small pockets of Federal Support in the South. Some counties were almost totally National loyality counties. I was surprised to learn this. Though by far and away the vast majority were States Rights and Separatists.

Black (Negro was the PC term back then) papers evidently operated freely in the North. The reading is slow and overly descriptive (flowerly). So its going to take a couple of months to digest all of this.

The five to ten years before the war writers knew that war was going to come, someday. They hoped it wouldn't but felt that a violent resolution would eventually come. I don't think the war took anyone by surprise.

Keith

By the way, if you have any other WWII personal stories to share, I would love to read them.

Thank you

Keith, I have those books as well.

I remember singing this song as a kid. My mom taught me it.


This is generally credited to the Union Army bandmaster, Patrick S. Gilmore, who wrote it in 1863.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we'll all feel gay,
When Johnny comes marching home.

The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Jane
 

Jane,
It will probably be months before I really read much of these newspapers. The language is so different in many ways from our language. The lithographs are amazing. It will be interesting to see how the press presented the war.

Have you enjoyed the books?

Keith