'E.H.W.' Reviews the 'Wild Goose Hunt' to Alabama

Echoing J. R. Sypher's description of Negley's Alabama expedition is a letter by the 79th Pennsylvania's regular correspondent, Corp. Elias H. Witmer (bio). He has a stinging review of the Alabama town of Rogersville, which displays full Lancaster County snobbery on the two matters of which a 19th-century Lancasterian would be most proud: public education and farm management:

Rogersville is a small post village, and one of the smallest kind, in Limstone county. It is one of those towns which we find at almost every cross road in the northern states, containing a smith shop, dwelling, and school house; but the town, however, is minus the latter. It is black as "Tow Hill" [in Columbia, PA]; occupied almost entirely by the same race of people; was built by the first settlers, who, from appearance, had great antipathy to white-wash, paint, and elbow grease. The country is as barren as Patagonia; their cattle &c., as poor as Job's famous turkey, and the citizens very ready to take the oath of allegiance,and then--cut your throat. Land sells from a dime to five dollars an acre, and produces excellent crops of mullin and thistles. Their plows are self-sharpening land pike, and their swine such as require knots tied in their tails to prevent them from getting into the potato patch. Each family supports a score of cats, and a dozen dogs, which receive more care and attention than their children, and their continual barking makes the nights hideous. The people, in general, live and die in ignorance. Other people think for them, and thus they become and remain the dupes of another's will.

Witmer had kinder words about Florence, which gave him an opportunity to talk about the prevalence of Pennsylvania families who had immigrated to the region. It seems to have been a common theme for the regiment at this time, as a couple soldiers mention these types of connections. For example, back at Columbia, Tennessee, William Clark recorded in his diary that "This morning I took a walk through the cemetary in the northern part of the town and saw the graves of several from Pennsylvania & New Jersey." [5/25/1862]

Statue of Tennessee's Military
Governor Andrew Johnson
(Source)

Witmer connected Southern Unionists' experiences to anti-war Northerners, writing:

Wherever we find Pennsylvanians, there we find a love for the whole country; and it is a remarkable and deplorable fact, that while they in the south have remained true to the country, when persecutions were hurled at them thick and fast, and stood like martyrs when threats of the stake, the gallows and the knife were daily occurrences, that there are sympathisers in the north with their hellish deeds. Sympathy in the north for men who are in league with hell! We can scarcely believe it, yet in comes to us in glowing language upon the wings of the press every day. Oh, ye northern rebels, make peace with your God, the hour of retribution is fast approaching.

He also makes an interesting prediction that the war will end in guerrilla warfare based on what he was seeing happening to Unionist citizens, and endorsed Military Governor Andrew Johnson's efforts to protect Unionists and punish those who harmed them.    

From the June 2, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Sypher Dispatches: Florence, a Truce Party, and back to Columbia

Florence, Alabama (Wikipedia)

This post contains the sixth, seventh, and eighth letters of Lancaster journalist and adventurer J. R. Sypher.  Read an introduction here. 

After chasing away Confederates from the opposite side of the Tennessee River and a somewhat daring raid in which some boats were burned and captured, the 79th Pennsylvania's next mission was a march to the town of Florence, Alabama, about twenty miles downriver from Rogersville.  Advance elements took the city on May 16, and the main body arrived the next day. 

Occupying Florence--in which the Lancaster County boys under acting Provost Marshall Capt. Morris D. Wickersham represented themselves well--seemed to appeal to 79th Pennsylvania.  As a sidenote, Wickersham actually spent much of the rest of his life in Mobile, Alabama, as a lawyer and minor politician there.  Sypher noted, teasing Wickersham (whom he likely knew well through education causes in Lancaster):

This morning Captain Wickersham was sent in with two companies to picket and guard the town, and when it was seen how good looking and well-behaved the Lancaster soldiers were, to say nothing personal of the officers, the ladies of Florence really put on their nice things, not rough home-spun, and appeared in the streets and at the door-ways, it is feared to a damaging extent, for many of the boys say they would "like to remain awhile."

Otherwise, the most noteworthy news item was the exchange of the notorious Confederate Cavalryman John Hunt Morgan's son for the son of Union Gen. Ormsby Mitchel.  Gen. Negley graciously allowed J. R. Sypher to accompany the truce party, and his letter describes what he saw within Confederate lines. 

Monument in Lawrenceburg, TN
(Wikipedia)

The week-long expedition ended on a very sour note, though, as the regiment received orders to march hurriedly northward.  They stopped at one o'clock in the morning to bivouac on the Tennessee-Alabama line.  The next day took them on a wilderness road to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, and another day's march in the rain got them to Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, and a camp they called Camp Duchman after the regiment's aged (and mostly irrelevant) lieutenant colonel.  The command finally reached their old camping grounds at Camp Morehead in Columbia on May 21 or 22. 

Sypher, who had probably been spending time with his brother's artillery section, returned to the Lancaster County Regiment and was outraged to see men of the 79th Pennsylvania without shoes, which launched him into a tirade about a Army quartermaster and feelings about Jewish speculators similar to that what Gen. Grant had when he expelled Jews from the Western Theater later that year. 

Other topics in Sypher's letters include:

• Unkind words for Negley's staff officers' handling of the march.
• Outrage at the 5th Kentucky Cavalry (Col. Haggard), which was "especially notorious and obnoxious as slave catchers".
• Comical indignation at being mistaken for a chaplain.
• Policies by Tennessee's Governor Andrew Johnson to punish those who destroy Unionists' property
• A review of Capt. Standart's Ohio battery
• The forced opening of Columbia's churches so that Union soldiers could attend

Since there are three letters, I won't embed them here but instead will provide the links:

1. May 17, 1862, Florence, Ala., in the May 24, 1862, Daily Evening Express
2. May 22, 1862, Columbia, Tenn., in the May 31, 1862, Daily Evening Express
3. May 28, 1862, Nashville, Tenn., in the June 5, 1862, Daily Evening Express

Sypher Dispatches: The Rogersville Expedition

Area of operations near Rogersville, Alabama
(Source: Library of Congress, U.S. Coast Survey, A. D. Bache, Supdt., 1865)
(View magnifiable extract of map here)

Fourth and fifth letters in the grand tour of Lancaster journalist J. R. Sypher.  Read an introduction here.

I'm not sure if any of the Lancaster County Regiment soldiers would have believed in when they left home in October 1861, but over seven months later they were entering Alabama without taking a single casualty in battle.  While the main elements of the Union and Confederate forces were maneuvering to the west in what would develop as the Siege of Corinth (Mississippi), General Negley's division under command of General Ormsby Mitchell was pushing forward into Alabama from camp at Pulaski, Tennessee.

On the morning of May 13, four regiments of infantry, several companies of cavalry, and four pieces of artillery under command of General Negley left camp, and after a day's worth of marching arrived in Rogersville, Alabama, a town just north of the Tennessee River.  Shortly after their arrival and just as the Lancasterians had started bathing in a stream that fed into the Tennessee River, an alarm came in and the regiment double-quicked it to Lamb's Ferry four miles away.  The cavalry and artillery arrived just in time to fire parting shots at a couple rebels retreating across the river, and a couple daring men of the 79th Pennsylvania succeeding in burning a ferry boat.  [WTC Diary]
 
On May 14, detachments scouted up and down the river.  On May 15, the regiment had a little more excitement with another trip to Lamb's Ferry (downstream?).  Corp. William T. Clark of Company B, 79th Pennsylvania, recorded:

When we arrived at the shore, 20 or more Rebels were seen on the opposite side. A few shot, and shell scattered them in every direction. We drew lots to see who would go over with the boat, when John Cramer, Fred Offlebach were drawn from our squad. They burned one large ferryboat, brought 2 flats, 2 dugouts and one large boat across with them.

Read more details in two letters by J. R. Sypher dated May 14 and May 15, 1862.

From the May 21, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)


From the May 24, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Rebel Atrocities at Bull Run: A Letter from the Pa Reserves

"Soldiers' remains unburied on the battle-field of Bull Run" by Andrew J. Russell
(Source: Colgate Library)

Over at Bull Runnings, Harry Smeltzer has started a conversation with Ron Baumgarten of All Quiet Along the Potomac about accounts of rebels' desecrating the remains of Union dead at the Battle of Bull Run.  Specifically, they are wondering about the accounts of the Pennsylvania Reserves who passed through the area in April 1862.  I thought I recalled something about this in my Lancaster correspondence, and it turns out my hunch was right...so here's a quick post with that letter.  A simple Google search of "unburied Bull Run" turns up many results, as well.     

The main soldier-correspondent for the Lancaster Daily Evening Express in the Pennsylvania Reserves was a private in Capt. Easton battery of Pennsylvania Reserves artillery named George McElroy.  His letter dated April 16, 1862, describes a walk over the battlefield and the appalling sights he took in.  The horror he expressed fits in with a pattern of indignation McElroy directed towards Southerners in early 1862 for various reasons such as the vandalized state of one of the Washington family graves (I think Martha Washington at Mount Vernon, but I might be wrong) and especially the lightened skin tones of slaves.

From the April 19, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Lancaster NOT at Shiloh: Letters from 'E.H.W.'

General Buell's army crossing the Duck River near Columbia, Tennessee, where the 79th Pennsylvania was left on detached duty during the Battle of Shiloh (HW 5/3/1862)

Checking in with the 79th Pennsylvania's regular soldier-correspondent, Corp. Elias H. Witmer, we find that missing the Battle of Shiloh due to being on detached duty outside of Nashville caused much angst among the soldiers of the Lancaster County Regiment.  It's hard to separate hyperbolic indignation from fact, but Witmer certainly took umbrage at silly insinuations of cowardice by "ye shallow-pated demagogues of Lancaster" that the 79th Pennsylvania had been intentionally excluded from battle. 

After that excitement calmed, we have a second letter from the Mountville storekeeper written a week later on April 21.  Its main topic was fugitive slaves--a naturally complicated situation that would demand policy attention by Union forces in that part of Tennessee.  Acknowledged the polarized nature of discussions about slavery, Witmer--who apparently went to war with a negative opinion of slavery--declined to judge what he saw saying, "If I would write favorable about the slaves, my friends would say, he has changed his opinion on slavery, and if I would write unfavorable some would say he is prejudiced." 

He continued to complain about the restraint Union forces showed to hostile civilians and express little hope of reconciliation within a generation.  Of Southern women, he wrote:

The women are evidently the worst enemies to the government; they display a prejudice and hatred unequaled by the men in arms; they believe that our mission is the emancipation of slaves, which would doom them to labor.  They despise the sunburnt brow of honest industry; they look in scorn upon the dignity of labor, and consider the subjects of that great lever of our national greatness as the rubbage of society.

Witmer concludes with comments about pay problems in the 79th Pennsylvania and the allotment roles designed to transfer money to soldiers' families.  I have other information about this, including a letter from the wife of a soldier, which warrants its own post (time permitting).  

From the April 19, 1862, Daily Evening Express (alternate link):


From the April 30, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

From the Mississippi Flotilla: 'The Rebels to be Bagged'

Back to the Sypher brothers, A. J. Sypher (previous letter)--an officer about the ironclad gunboat USS St. Louis--was quickly gaining on his brother James Hale Sypher in terms of battle count, as the Mississippi Flotilla looked forward to their next fight after forcing the surrender of Island No. 10.  His letter exudes confidence in the ability of the gunboats as they took on Fort Wright and Fort Pillow between April and June 1862.  

Other content includes the story of an escaped slave and his rejection and subsequent acceptance by the fleet and the correspondence of a Virginia soldier and his mother.

In another month, look for more letters from the USS St. Louis, this time penned by Daily Evening Express correspondent and gentleman adventurer J. R. Sypher, who was on a grand officially-sanctioned tour of the Western Theater to visit with the 79th Pennsylvania and his brothers.

Also, be sure to read my post about the letters written by another Lancasterian, Francis Kilburn, from a mortar boat and Craig Swain's interesting post about the operation of a mortar boat. 

From the April 23, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

Elias Witmer's 'Interesting, Instructive, and Amusing" Incidents in Nashville

Tennessee State House in Nashville (National Archives #528850)

After a hiatus of over two months, the 79th Pennsylvania's "regular correspondent," Corp. Elias H. Witmer, resumed his journalistic responsibilities with a letter penned on March 27, 1862, that was worth the wait.  Recall that Witmer was a shopkeeper in the Lancaster County village of Mountville before the war, and see <this post> for a brief biography.

The first half of the letter describes the state of affairs in Nashville.  Skip to Page 3, though, for Witmer's account of a nice spring day spent touring the city in company of a few friends.  The highlight was a productive mock legislative session held in the Tennessee State Capitol worthy of Lancaster County's Congressman, Thaddeus Stevens.  Witmer recounted the incident:

While on a visit to this place, in company with several of my friends of the "bloody 79th;" we forgot that we were soldiers, and imagined ourselves legislators and acted accordingly.  After electing a speaker by acclamation, we proceeded to business, during which able speeches were made, and animation burned upon the brow of every senator.  The following was the result of the session: Adopted the erring sister, Tennessee, as a member of the United States family, provided she hangs her traitors, re-builds her destroyed properties, swears allegiance to her former faith, clothes herself in sackcloth and sits in ashes, and prays for forgiveness until the last rebel shall have given up the ghost; sold South Carolina to Africa, with a promise that we will not interfere if England desires to extend her conquest to her shores; defied the allied powers to "break" our blockade; sympathized with Mexico in her present difficulties; sent Mason and Slidell exiles to the dreary shores of Botany Bay; sentenced Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet to be hung on John Brown's gallows, and the rest of the traitors in the City of Washington, and the English Parliament witness and House of Commons, be invited to the spectacle; voted that the "C.S.A." exists only in worthless bonds, scrip, shinplasters, and fresh-made graves, after which we adjourned to meet again on or before October next, in Lancaster, Penna., when the 79th shall be mustered out of service.

Having finished our National business, we paid our compliments to Gov. Johnson, who by the way, is a noble-hearted and brave man, worthy the position assigned him.  

Witmer continues to describe visiting the graves of President Polk and Confederate General Zollicoffer.  He ends by noting that Gen. Negley's brigade was detached from the division of Alexander McCook, who apparently had fallen out of favor with the men in the ranks of the Lancaster County Regiment.  While the rest of the division was marching toward their first engagement, the Battle of Shiloh, the 79th Pennsylvania spent late March and early April encamped among flowering trees by a beautiful spring south of Nashville on the turnpike to Franklin, Tennessee. 

From the April 3, 1862, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)

'God save the American people from a government such as they would establish.'

Unidentified Lancaster Soldier
Supposedly in 79th PA
Photo by Wm. Gill
(Richard Abel Collection)

Over the past couple days, a couple Civil War blogs (e.g., Civil War Memory) have lit up with discussions about the typically incendiary questions about motivations and causes of the Civil War.  Exchanges of ideas--some more illuminating than others--have, for instance, focused on Florida's reasons for secession and highlight the need to really to do good historical research if we want to have a basic grasp of people's incentives, motivations, and worldviews.  Although the question of why the North fought the Civil War does not get as much attention as why the South seceded, it's still a very difficult question to answer in a single soundbite, and I find myself still learning more and more as I dig into the primary sources.

So, coincidentally, 150 years ago this week, our 79th Pennsylvania soldier-correspondent, Corp. Elias H. Witmer (biography) of Company E, penned a lengthy letter to Lancaster's Daily Evening Express that exhibited some significant thoughts about the war, slavery, and the American political system.  It's colored by Witmer's background as a staunch Republican, a merchant who left a dry goods store in Mountville when he went to war, and a someone of old Mennonite heritage whose family over the generations had migrated to a more modern denomination.  Although Witmer was uniquely articulate in his views, I suspect his views represent a large number of enterprising and upwardly mobile Lancaster County farmers and merchants.

Looking at Paragraphs 7-10 as I've numbered them, we can infer a couple specific hopes and fears that can be connected to historians' more general assessments of the Civil War North.  In particular, it's fascinating how he views the Confederacy and its leaders as committed to forming an aristocracy that would destroy both the political freedoms and the economic opportunities of the upper-middle class with which Witmer personally identified.  His fears were heightened as the middle class seemed to be losing political and economic power across Europe, and he saw the Confederacy as part of a global trend against American values of capitalism, free labor, and social mobility and which sought to replace democracy with oligarchy.  Throw in some interest in the sufferings of Union sympathizers in the South and some apparently original poetry, and we get a much better sense of why Witmer left his Mountville dry goods store to join the Lancaster County Regiment. (Also, reference Gary Gallagher's The Union War for a generalization to the broader North, with some similar comments about Europe on pages 72-73.)

There's a lot more to this issue and others in the letter, such as views on alcohol and temperance, but that's enough for me tonight.  Enjoy another excellent 'E.H.W.' letter. 

From the January 11, 1862, Daily Evening Express (paragraph numbers are my addition):

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FROM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENCE.
CAMP WOOD, Ky., Jan. 7, 1862.

(1) The rainy weather which we have at present gives us leisure time, and I shall take advantage of the opportunity and write you a letter. Christmas is over and new year day has gone by; and we yet find ourselves in the State of Kentucky. Many in this army had expected to celebrate Christmas in Tennessee, but this expectation has not been realized. While our friends at home have enjoyed gay holidays, surrounded with luxuries incident to the occasion, there were over half a million of soldiers surrounding the camp fires, or some marching over frozen ground to the “gory field,” and some standing sentinel in some dreary spot, with a pilot biscuit to call to mind the days one year ago. But this was not the case with the “Lancaster County Regiment,” as almost every member was kindly remembered by his generous friends at home. The boxes sent as Christmas gifts to the volunteers in the army, were among the most welcome things in camp.

(2) An order has been issued by Gen. Buell to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors to all soldiers, which is among the most important orders of the army. Liquor had been sold in some regiments by the sutlers as freely as it is dealt out over the bar of a Lancaster groggery or lager from the swill tub of a Dutch brewery. No character is so disgusting as a drunken soldier, and while no army has ever gone to battle as the American army of 1861—characterized by so much morality, it would be injustice to them to allow a set of unprincipled sutlers to morally ruin the noble men who have sacrificed the comforts of home to fight the great battle of constitutional liberty. This great evil had, however, been confined to certain regiments, and bloated faces, greasy clothing, rusty muskets and a large sick list, were its fruits. Sutlers in general, rob the soldiers by exorbitant prices—which is bad enough, without robbing them of their manhood and ruining them forever. It is, however, a pleasant task to say that this is not the case with the “Lancaster County Regiment,” as the sound judgment of our commanding officer would, with his determined nature, drive the devils from his camp.

(3) The stupendous iron railroad bridge which spans Green river, and which had been partially destroyed through Buckner’s vandalism, is now under reconstruction and will be completed in about a week. A pontoon has been built for the crossing of the troops, which will do away with all fears of fording the stream.

(4) It is amusing to read the different reports published relative to the movements and position of Buell’s army, and charge him with inefficiency because he has not taken Bowling Green before this. Let such learn the vast labor to be performed before a battle at that point can be fought and a victory there won. The destruction of the bridge was the great and the only cause of our encampment at this point. This is now nearly finished, and when completed we are inclined to believe that we will advance. But we cannot sling our knapsacks and go at Bowling Green, as the railroad five miles in advance is torn up, the sills burnt, and rails destroyed, and every obstruction placed in our way which possibly could be done. The tunnel, three hundred feet in length, on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, about twenty miles south of this, is also blown up. Can any person expect that this division of the American army can be expected to march in advance of the railroad communication? The army must be fed and everything must be transported in the army wagons, and the present supplies of teams would fail to transport sufficient to keep it from starvation.

(5) Sudden marches upon Bowling Green are all a myth, and time is required before we can reach it. No army is more eager for an engagement whenever prudence shall dictate, but their friends shall not mourn their defeat through reckless bravery. I doubt whether you could find another division in the grand American army that is managed with so much judgment and forethought as this under Gen. Buell.

(6) Rebel scouts come within three miles of our picket line, in troops of two and three hundred. Their nearest encampment is ten miles south, near Cave City, under command of General Hindman, whose army numbers six or eight thousand and are called the advance of the rebels; but they might be more properly called the rear guard of their retreating forces. A Lieutenant who had been a prisoner at Bowling Green for several months, has been released and arrived at camp a few days ago, who reports their forces at 30,000 and they in a very unhealthy condition. Twenty-five hundred have died and five thousand have been sent to the Nashville Hospitals. Rebel deserters arrive daily, while scores of slaves arrive at camp with requests from their masters to give them protection. They are accepted and employed as private citizens, but no encouragement is given them by General McCook. On last week fifteen were stolen from the immediate neighborhood, and it is alleged by their masters that they are taken to Bowling Green, and there put into the rebel army, or sold for its benefit.

(7) It is a useless task to attempt to portray the treatment which the Union men received from the hands of the rebel army, as such an attempt would fail to chronicle the vile and atrocious conduct of men who seek to destroy the principles which governed their manhood, before the misguided leaders precipitated them in an unholy rebellion. A glance over the face of this community is the best description of their depraved, nature; houses are ransacked and deserted, lands uncultivated, business houses closed, and enterprise of every class stagnated.

(8) It is equally true of the rebel forces in Kentucky, as on the Potomac that they have sunk in morality to an extent unprecedented in American Society. Bowling Green is a heinous stage of corruption. Drunken brawls, brutal prize fights, assassinations, and riotous destruction—reigns supreme; vice has become honorable, rascality a virtue, and the men themselves very devils incarnate. Every rebel deserter brings the disgusting details of their depravity, loaded with crime, dyed in a brother’s blood, and their midnight hours, “when honest men repose,” are spent in orgies more frantic than Bachanalian revelry. Drunken with the fumes of plunder and the excitement of the gambling table, the boasted chivalry spend their days in serving their country. While their leader boasts that he has not come to destroy and make war upon the government, but only to protect the soil of Kentucky from the hordes of Northern invaders, he is piling up with one hand and puling down with the other. He speaks words of friendship, but practices deeds which a respectable demon would blush to own. A leopard cannot hide his spots, or a camel his hump, neither can Buckner his misguided career. The destruction of the bridge and railroad cannot be covered up by pretended innocence, but must be accounted for by a suspension in the air. Zollicoffer too, who has outraged the people and endeavored to subjugate Kentucky into the Southern Confederacy, in his late proclamation says that, “he does not come to wage war, but to protect the people.” He protects the people with his proclamation, but with fire-brand in the one hand and the dagger in the other, draws the life blood from the Union loving men, and scatters devastation wherever he goes.

(9) It becomes more apparent every day, that the leaders of this rebellion are striving to establish a government upon aristocratic principles.  Mason, Cobb, Davis, Floyd and Yancey would like to have an aristocracy. Would you? oh thoughtless millionaires who like to extract each day a few additional sweat drops from the brows of your industrious mechanics and ill paid laborers, whose daily bread is too often purchased with the very life-drops of anguish. They would dye the annals of their country with paupers’ tears, and blot out her glory with the blood stain of famished merchants. They boast loud of the workings of the government they aim to establish. “Oh ye traitors, turn to the tax ridden masses of England, whose hard earned mites are at most but half enough to satisfy the wants of nature. Oh! Ye howling herd of aristocratic wolves and noble vultures, extracting half of the poor man’s loaf, and for aught you care leave his family starve. Their aristocratic avarice must be satisfied, through human hearts bleed and immortal, souls are wrong to satiate their lust. God save the American people from a government such as they would establish.

(10) Turn to the laboring classes of Europe, bowed down by the shackles of an imbecile nobility, and read its fruits in the sunken eye, the haggard look, the emaciated frame and the half-clad form. Ask the “hewers of wood and drawers of water” of Britain, Russia, France and Austria. Ask the oppressed sentiments of the freedom loving men of the South, whether such a government is preferable to the domain over which the ensign of American liberty floats? Their hopes of establishing such a government is preferable to the domain over which the ensign of the American liberty floats? Their hopes of establishing such a government must eventually prove a dream of empty speculation. Truth and justice must ultimately triumph over error and wrong. Tyranny will be crushed and rebellion suppressed. Though our domestic strifes are not limited to wordy wars and our social leg is terribly fractured, our national neck never has been nor ever will be broken.

(11) The same patriotic impulses which beat around the camp-fires in the dark days of our national birth, and the sacred blood which stained many a battle-field in the “times which tried men’s souls,” will not be dishonored by the noble posterity who have gone forth in the present campaign. The South may foam, and England may bark, yet the United States will vindicate their honor in every emergence. Fear not, ye faltering sages who look out into the broad future and contemplate the result of the present issues-the cannons of peace will again boom in all the States freighted with the grand burthen of liberty, and the flash of exultant camp-fires will make the new world lurid—

Stand by the sacred flag of stars
Amid the cannon’s loudest rattle,
And pluck the hero’s honored name
Out of the smoke and flame of battle.

Fear never clouds the soldier’s brow
When whistling bullets sing of glory,
When clashing swords and waving plumes
Tell of the deeds that live in story.

Strike, fellow-soldiers, for the right,
Strike for the insulted land that bore you,
And falter not, while high in air,
The glorious stars and stripes wave o’er you.

March, brave men, march and never falter
Till traitors bow the willing knee,
Upon your country’s sacred altar
Rest every hope of liberty.

The “Constitution and the Union,”
Let this be made our battle-cry—
With rebel hosts hold no communion
Till, conquered, they for “quarter” cry.

Friends watch your actions, watch and love you,
Their prayers at night to God ascend,
That He’ll protect the flag above you,
And strength and wisdom to you lend.

Minstrels shall praise the glowing deeds,
In songs of grand heroics’ reason,
That vindicated God and Right
And crushed the myrmidons of treason.

Draw swords and bayonets in bravery
And march with hope and valor on,
Till treason’s perfidy and knavery,
Are with the evils past and gone.

E. H. W.

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Christmas in Camp Wood

"Christmas Boxes in Camp" (HW 1/4/1862)

While far from the dinner tables and firesides of home, the Pennsylvanians encamped at Camp Wood, Munfordville, Kentucky, succeeded in celebrating some semblance of a Lancaster County Christmas in 1861. Pvt. Lewis Jones, who served as cook for Company H, erected one of the handful of Christmas trees to be found in Camp Wood and decorated it with hardtack and “speck,” which I believe is a Pennsylvania Dutch word for some sort of fatty meat (maybe army slab bacon?). Through December, the regiment had been receiving a steady stream of boxes from Lancaster via the Adams Express, and the pace picked up closer to Christmas with boxes full of food items such as fruit cakes, jellies, butter, wine, and cranberries, as well as clothing and other dry goods.

Earlier in December, Capt. William G. Kendrick remarked to his wife, “Boxes are coming every day for Captains in the Regiment.” Just after Christmas he added, “I got a large Box from the County with sausage Pudding pies, a Turkey, some chestnuts and other little knickknacks. There was a lot of things sent for me to distribute and all that had no name on it I kept for myself.” Unfortunately, the barrel of sauerkraut sent by the citizens of Lancaster, which I’ll post about soon, had not yet arrived, but it would be enjoyed a couple days later.

Another line officer, Lieut. John H. Druckenmiller of Company B, recorded the day’s events in his diary:

Morning fine and clear. Boys all in good humor on account of it being Christmas. Had Company Inspection at 9 o’clock. Colonel gave the men the privilege of going out of camp until 4 p.m. Had a regular Christmas dinner. Eat with Maj. Miles, Benedict, McCaskey, Blickensderfer, Lebkicker, Derby, & Rote. Had turkey pies which were sent by Mr. Blickensderfer. Had a Dress Parade at 4 1/2 p.m. Men all conducted themselves well today. Gen. Negley sent the Command Officers of the Regt. an invitation to spend the evening with him.

The best account, though, of Christmas in camp is a letter by the newly arrived Lieut. Ben Ober of Company K, 77th Pennsylvania, who spent some of his Christmas in the tents of his Lancaster friends with the 79th Pennsylvania. His description of the festivities, including a menu, begins in the letter’s fourth paragraph. From the January 1, 1862, Daily Evening Express:

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FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
BANKS OF GREEN RIVER, KY. DEC. 26, 1861.

In my last letter I was in error in stating that the Green River Railroad bridge had been so far repaired as to allow the cars to pass over. I made the statement upon hearsay. The bridge is about half a mile from our camp, but hid from view by the high bluffs which rise along the banks of the stream. I discovered the error after I had mailed my letter, and then it was too late to rectify it. Yesterday afternoon I paid a visit to the bridge, and found that there is much work yet to be done before it can be of any use. There is one span of about 70 feet yet to be put up, an it will require several weeks to do the work. And until that is done I think there will be no advance of the Union army to the South side of the river. In the destruction of this bridge—which by the way is one of the finest iron bridges west of Pittsburg, and which cost nearly two hundred thousand dollars—the rebel managers have exhibited consummate strategic ability. When Buckner discovered that he could not advance on Louisville without being whipped, he retreated across this bridge and blew it up. His allegation that the bridge was destroyed “by mistake” is all fudge, and was made no doubt to satisfy the more impetuous sons of chivalry rather than acknowledge his weakness. He knew, too, that it would be no easy matter for the Union army to advance in force without first repairing the bridge, by which time he could strongly entrench himself at Bowling Green, and call to his aid reinforcements. He has had time to do both, and is now doubtless well prepared to give us a pretty warm reception.

Since the skirmish of the 17th, the rebels have not made their appearance in the vicinity of the river. Our pickets now extend some five or six miles south of the river, though the main body is encamped on the North side. Several times within the last week flags of truce have reached our lines with communications for Gen. Johnson. A few days since the bearer of one of these, an officer in the rebel army, was conducted to Gen. Johnson, when they recognized each other as old classmates. After a cordial shaking of hands the Sesher addressed Gen. Johnson with : “Why, Johnson, what the h—l are you fellows coming down here to fight us for!” Gen J. replied, “We are fighting to maintain the government.” “Well, if that is all,” said Sesesh, “and our people could be made to believe it, there would be no more trouble, our soldiers would lay down their arms. It is the general belief that you are fighting to free the slaves.”

That’s just it. All the trouble is owing to the persistence of the rebel leaders and rebel newspapers in deluding the mass of Southern people into this absurd belief. I could relate some of the most incredible stories prevalent among the lower classes of South, in reference to the objects of the war and of the character of Northern institutions. The tales of Baron Munchausen would pale before them. But the leaders see the desperate condition of their cause, and hence resort to the most unscrupulous falsehoods to prolong the struggle and save their own necks a little longer. The remark of the Governor of Arkansas, in a recent message, that “if the cause of the South fails, we who hold big offices will be ruined,” is a fair illustration of the logic of the whole crew, from Jeff Davis down to Buckner.

Yesterday (Christmas) was very generally observed in the different camps, no duty being performed except the usual guard duty and a dress parade in the evening. The boys from the Old Keystone State kept the holiday, after the traditions of their fathers and mothers—in truly royal style. For several days before the advent of the festival day, the country for miles around was scoured in search of the patriarchal gobbler. If unsuccessful in securing such a prize, anything that wore feathers was made to answer. Some, however, of the 79th, more fortunate than the rest of us, were supplied from Lancaster County barn-yards, and of course enjoyed the feast with additional zest. The subscriber had the pleasure of dining, in company with a number of the officers of the 79th, at the invitation of Lieut. Frank Kurtz, of Company I, in the marquee thereof. If I held the pen of the “gay and incomparable” Jenkins between my fingers, I would undertake to describe the “spread” in detail; but being a plain narrator of fact, I must content myself with a simple repetition of the

BILL OF FARE

Roast Turkey, with dressing and sauce.

Westphalia Ham, cold, sliced.

Lancaster County Butter.

Lancaster County Bread.

Cranberry Sauce.

Lancaster County Pickles.

Lancaster County Smoked Sausage.

Lancaster County Pound Cake, iced.

Coffee. (U. S.)

Lancaster County Loaf Cake.

Mince Pie.

English Cheese.

WINE LIST.

(The key of the wine cellar having been mislaid, the crystal water of the Green River was substitute.)

Now, no doubt, the perusal of this bill of fare will excite a smile on the face of more than one of your readers. But I must affirm that I never enjoyed a Christmas dinner with more zest than that of yesterday. All the substantials were present, if the et ceteras which usually grace the table at home on this festival were absent. The turkey was done to a turn, the ham was exquisite, and the mince pie would have tickled the palate of the most dainty epicure. The interior was prepared in Lancaster by the lady of one of the officers of Company I, and the frame-work constructed by the cook of the same company. I don’t exactly know whether these are the technical terms employed when making pies, but I think they are sufficiently comprehensive to be understood by the masculine reader: A lady of domestic habits would probably state the thing in a different way.

I spent an hour in the camp of the 79th, and found all hands enjoying themselves in the happiest manner possible under the circumstances. Some of the “boys,” with the traditions of “ye olden times” still fresh in their memories, put up Christmas trees in front of their quarters, and in lieu of the usual ornaments, profusely decorated them with army crackers and pieces of flitch. The trees bore a very distant resemblance to those which gladdened our hearts on Christmas morn, “when you and I were boys, dear Tom.”

In the 77th, the day was also happily spent. The usual rigid discipline was somewhat relaxed, and the men allowed more latitude than would be altogether prudent at all times. Many took occasion to call on their friends in the several encampments, and to visit the different points of interest in the neighborhood. But I am glad to say that none of them abused the privilege thus extended them. I passed through a number of encampments myself, but saw very little dissipation or disorder. In the evening our band serenaded a number of the officers, and made the night vocal with patriotic airs. The day throughout was pleasantly spent in the Division of the Cumberland. May all the brave hearts now here live to see many returns of the same festival!

The 77th is rapidly improving in discipline and drill, and will soon rank as one of the best regiments in the service. We have clothing in abundance, and the rations are both good and plentiful. There are over a hundred Lancasterians now in the regiment, the names of whom I will forward you shortly. To-morrow our regiment will cross to the South side of Green river on outpost duty.

The Rev. Chas. Steck, chaplain of the 79th, arrived a few days since and has assumed the discharge of his duties. He expresses himself much pleased with camp life.

BEN.

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'Mudsills Indeed': Judge Caines' Letter from Camp Negley

Temporary bridge over the Nolin River built and used by Negley's Brigade to move south.
(Frank Leslie's Illustrated February 15, 1863)

Rain and snow for a few days straight meant that the 79th Pennsylvania's new home, Camp Negley, would be nowhere near as comfortable as Camp Nevin.  On December 2, both of the correspondents of the Inquirer wrote back to Lancaster. While "Ipse Dixit" simply added a quick note to go along with his letter of November 24, "Judge" O.C.M. Caines of the regimental band gave a lengthy account of the 79th Pennsylvania and the muck and mud in which it camped.

Caines' letter touches on many of the topics that have made the blog over the last couple weeks, but I was particularly struck by one rich sentence about the regiment's giving up the cozy comforts of Camp Nevin for another camp only a mile or two away: 

Now what could be the object of going through so much to arrive at so little, as the school boy said when flogged into the learning of his A B C, I cannot say, unless it was to verify the soubriquet of the Southern Chivalry, that we are Mudsills, for this is the dirtiest spot of any we have yet occupied or ever will, I hope.  

Besides the self-deprecating humor about his ability to judge the wisdom of military matters, there's actually some important historical context that I didn't know about initially regarding the reference to "mudsills," which is the board sitting directly on top of a house's foundation as the lowest sill of the house.  Stemming from the famous 1858 "Cotton is King" speech by Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina, "Mudsill theory"--a sort of reverse Marxism--justifies the exploitation of African Americans as slaves and immigrant laborers, saying that it is necessary and good for society to set aside a group of people to do menial work:

In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill. Its requisites are vigor, docility, fidelity. Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society and of political government; and you might as well attempt to build a house in the air, as to build either the one or the other, except on this mud-sill. Fortunately for the South, she found a race adapted to that purpose to her hand. A race inferior to her own, but eminently qualified in temper, in vigor, in docility, in capacity to stand the climate, to answer all her purposes. We use them for our purpose, and call them slaves. We found them slaves by the common "consent of mankind," which, according to Cicero, "lex naturae est." The highest proof of what is Nature's law. We are old-fashioned at the South yet; slave is a word discarded now by "ears polite;" I will not characterize that class at the North by that term; but you have it; it is there; it is everywhere; it is eternal. 

Showing their literacy in antebellum politics and antipathy for "the South" as they understand it, many mud-encrusted Northern soldiers in the Western Theater adopted the derogatory term and called themselves mudsills with pride.  One soldier of the 21st Wisconsin who fought alongside the 79th Pennsylvania at the Battle of Perryville even entitled his memoir Memoirs of a Dutch Mudsill. 

From the December 7, 1861, Inquirer:

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Camp Nevin, Dec. 2.

Since my last letter we have moved about one and a half miles forward from our old camp.  The surgeon has "appropriated" an empty house, formerly occupied by a secesher, for the use of the sick.

At last our long looked for sutlers have arrived.  They are the most welcome visitors we have sen for many a day.  They appear to be anxious to deal fairly with the men, and will not charge six or ten prices for any article.  The surgeon general says that our is the most healthy regiment that has yet reported to him.  All letters should be directed as formerly--care of Col. Hambright, Neagley's Brigade, Camp Nevin, Nolin P.O., Hardin county, Ky.  Yours,

Ipse Dixit

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Camp Negley, Nolin, Hardin co., Ky.
December 2, 1861

Mr. Editor: I received your very acceptable Inquirer of the 23rd ult., with much pleasure, except the orders, but as I am among the soldiers, I must obey.  As the old sailor remarked to a passenger, on board ship, in a calm, when he called on old Boreas to blow.  Yes, yes it is easy to say blow, but where is the wind to come from; so it is with me, what am I to write about.

We have no news, except what we receive from our friends at home, and it seems as if you all know more about the movements of the rebels in Kentucky and Tennessee, than we do here.  We were very comfortably fixed at camp Nevin, many of the boys having their tents floored over, some with old boards, others with fence rails; but mostly with young saplings, and some were warmed with underground flues, constructed in the most primitive style, with short cuts of saplings, plastered with mud.  We had also constructed a bake oven, equal in size to any in Lancaster, with bricks obtained by tearing down the chimney of a new house, in the village of Nolin, that belonged to Captain in the rebel army.  The regimental bakers, are Herman Gercke, Adam Ripple and George Fordney, the fruit of their labor was most excellent.  Another advantage of the oven was, that to those who could afford it, and watched the chances, a roast pig, turkey, or rabbit pot pit, &c, would grace their tables, and tickle the palates of their invited friends--of course I got my full share.  But alas, a change came o'er the spirit of our dram of future comfort, for on last Tuesday morning, the orders were given to strike tents and march, which feat we accomplished about noon.

After crossing Bacon creek [I think he might mean Nolin River], on a bridge of felled trees, covered with fence rails, straw and dirt, gotten up for this special occasion at very little expense to management, and for that day only, as they say on the theatre bills, (a freshet washed it away that night) we arrived our present location, a distance of about 2 1/2 miles south west of our old camp.  Now what could be the object of going through so much to arrive at so little, as the school boy said when flogged into the learning of his A B C, I cannot say, unless it was to verify the soubriquet of the Southern Chivalry, that we are Mudsills, for this is the dirtiest spot of any we have yet occupied or ever will, I hope.  Mudsills indeed had you seen me yesterday trying to navigate the various posts between the islands of tough clay, you would have thought I was a mud sprout, wading through one and sticking fast in the other.  How long we are to remain here I know not, for as the contraband preacher said to his congregation, "while man [out of focus]."

On Tuesday night it rained with a perfect disregard to our comfort, and has either rained or snowed every day since.  We have now, about three inches of snow on the ground, and that upon a soft bottom makes regimental drills, guard mounts, &c., rather a more [out of focus], than pleasant exercise.  The health of the men continues to be very good, there being but eleven on the sick list to day, which you must admit is a very small per centage of 984 men.  My quarters are located in a piece of open woodland, about two acres of which were cut down, for the formation of the camp.  The three companies on the right of the regiment are equally fortunate, but after that the old corn field commences, and the left is on the verge of the swamp I alluded to.

Messrs. Taylor and Hartman, our Sutlers, arrived in camp on Friday last, both looking well.  The distributed a number of letters and packages that had been entrusted to their care.  All of their goods have not yet come to hand, owing to various delays, among others the loss of a long bridge between this and Louisville, destroyed by the late freshet.

To day they pitched their tent, and will commence business to-morrow, with the stock on hand; their arrival has been anxiously looked for, and they were cordially welcomed.

In regard to the numerous inquiries about the camp regulations, and the changes reported to have been made in our regiment, I pronounce the whole of them false.  The men of the regiment are not opposed to the Colonel, but on the contrary they pride them selves, not only on having the Colonel not only of the Brigade, but of the Division--That he is a martinet and strict disciplinarian, we all knew before we left home, or joined his command; and his being so has made us (what is conceded by General Negley and others of his rank,) the best drilled and most reliable regiment in the camp, taking in account the very short time we have been in the field.  And I believe the men would and will follow him to the battle field with the confidence of victory.
As a proof of it you read in the Express that an exchange of companies was to be made, by turning over Capt. McBride's Alegheny company to Col. Stambaugh, so as to make room for Cap. Pyfer's company, fifty of whom have arrived in camp with the captain.  McBride's company to a man swear they will not be exchanged, as they went to serve under Hambright, as they have confidence in his ability and courage.  What disposition will be made of Pyfer's men is not yet settled.  The General and his officers speak of making twelve companies in our regiment, giving us the artillery and Capt. Pyfer.  It looks something like it, as they moved their stables to the field in our rear.

There was a slight misunderstanding as to the colors.  The Colonel was right--the governor making the mistake at the presentation; but there was no ill feeling--on the contrary, General Negley presented the Regiment with a most splendid blue silk flag,--with the national coat of arms, and again our Regiment retains the right of the Brigade on all general parades.  To show still farther the good feeling existing, when Gen. Negley left camp for Louisville, Hambright had full command as acting Brigadier General until his return.  As to the reports of Captains Gumpf's and Whitesides's removal, they are equally as false.  The truth is some men may make good school teachers and scribblers, but poor soldiers--more fond of seeing themselves and morbid ideas in print, than showing their dainty bodies on the field learning their duty as soldiers and not to meddle with the affairs of their superiors.

Our regiment is rapidly improving and the men are contented and happy--very proud of their officers, and all stand fair to accomplish their desire to be the best drilled regiment in the division.  Captain Pyfer is here with a part of his company, and Lieut. Ober is daily expected with the balance.  "Ipse Dixit" joins me in the desire to be remembered to all our fiends of the 'Big U.'

As it is near the hour of Tatoo, after which all lights are forbidden, I must close.  As ever,

Yours Truly,
The Judge

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160th Anniversary of the Christiana Riot

An artist's recreation of the Christiana incident from Still Under Ground Railroad Records, 1886.

On September 11, 1851, wealthy and well-respected Maryland farmer Edward Gorsuch, a small armed posse of his supporters, and a deputy federal marshal arrived in Christiana, a small town in Lancaster County near the Chester County border.  Gorsuch and company were acting on intelligence that three of his slaves who had escaped two years ago were hiding out near Christiana, and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave them pretty broad authority to kidnap blacks they claimed were fugitive slaves.

They proceeded to the farm of William Parker, a mulatto man who had been leading efforts of free blacks in the area to defend themselves from kidnappers and white thugs and who was harboring the fugitive slaves Gorsuch sought.  Alerted to Gorsuch's plans, perhaps in advance or perhaps as they unfolded, blacks converged on Parker's farmer to prevent Gorsuch from carrying out those plans.  The confrontation ended violently, with Gorsuch killed and others in his party wounded.

The nation was shocked.  Southerners and seemingly most Northerners were outraged at that a prominent citizen like Gorsuch could be killed, and demanded their killers be brought to justice.  Parker and the other blacks fled, and county and federal authorities responded rather severely, arresting several white men for their alleged involvement in the incident.  Those men were tried and found not-guilty in a well-publicized trial later that year. 

Looking at the immediate reaction in Lancaster, both Democrats and Whig newspapers condemned the killing, but their response is interesting for how far they missed their mark on who was responsible.  They identified white abolitionists as the culprits, presumably because their worldview prevented them from giving any agency--any credit--to blacks.  Plus, the more they talked about blacks' roles, the more they would actually have to think about the horror of being taken from freedom to slavery.

It's also worth thinking about the Christiana Riot from the perspective of the generation that would enlist in the Union army ten years later, especially because Company C, 79th Pennsylvania, was largely recruited in Sadsbury Township, where the incident took place.  Looking back, many scholars see the Christiana Riot as a key event in the sequence of events that put the nation on a collision course with civil war, as it suggested the compromise the produced the Fugitive Slave Act was untenable.  It's hard to tell how the incident   affected the feelings and opinions of boys who would become soldiers ten years later--whether it produced sympathy or antipathy towards Southern slaveholders--but either way it became much easier to envision a future of violence.

Here are some primary and secondary sources related to the Christiana Riot, listed from oldest to newest.  Both the incident and the trial were dramatic events and make for interesting history.

Local Newspaper Reaction
Democrat: Intelligencer (browse issues here)
Whig: Examiner and Herald 9/17/1851, 9/24/1851

Sympthetic to blacks and Quakers:
William Parker, "The Freedman's Story: In Two Parts." The Atlantic Monthly, vol. XVII, Feb. 1866, pp. 152-166; Mar. 1866, pp. 276-295.
Still's underground rail road records by William Still (1886)
A true story of the Christiana riot by David R. Forbes (1898)

Sympathetic to Gorsuch:
A review of the political conflict in America by Alexander Harris (1876).   Harris was a Lancaster lawyer and outspoken critic of the war. 

Other Histories
The Christiana riot and the treason trials of 1851: an historical sketch by William Uhler Hensel (1911)
Bloody Dawn: The Christiana Riot and Racial Violence in the Antebellum North by Thomas P. Slaughter (1991)

An Introduction to Civil War Newspaper Quarrelling

For better or for worse, much of what we know about wartime beliefs and attitudes comes from bickering, mostly of a partisan political nature, between the various editors of Lancaster's newspapers.  We infer that sometimes people would just roll their eyes when Editor X got his feathers ruffled over something Editor Y said, and I even recently read a soldier's letter published in the Lancaster Daily Inquirer that said to one of the editors not to take the controversies so seriously as Lancaster's reading population basically didn't.

However, sometimes these squabbles really did have significance as they outline the topography of opinions on questions such as: How does one oppose the war without being a traitor?  What was the real purpose of the war?  How does slavery tie into that purpose?  Who was and wasn't pulling their weight when it came to fighting the war?

Vigilance Committee of Memphis accosts Harper's Weekly sketch artist (Harper's Weekly June 22, 1861)

So, as a case study, let's look at a row from August 1861 centered around the unique and interesting character of Josiah Rhinehart Sypher (b. 1832), a man whose wartime occupation could (honestly) best be described as a "gentleman adventurer."  Though independently wealthy, Sypher was trained as a lawyer under Thaddeus Stevens and spent the war mostly traveling with the armies, primarily with the Army of the Potomac, but also occasionally in the West where his brother commanded a section of an artillery battery that actually once went on an expedition with the 79th Pennsylvania.

During occasional stops to Lancaster, Sypher agitated for certain political and social causes, like education reform, the temperance movement, and a pro-Republican agenda for prosecuting the Civil War.  As the war drew to a close in 1865, Sypher published one of the first Civil War unit histories ever written, History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps--a division of Pennsylvanians that fought with the Army of the Potomac--and later wrote other history and education books.  Sypher's correspondence while following the Army of the Potomac also found their way to the pages of the New York Tribune, qualifying him as some sort of war journalist. 

At the war's outbreak, Sypher apparently was either visiting or living in Memphis, Tennessee.  He returned to Lancaster in late June or early July, and published an account in the July 5, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)



In mid-August 1861 (maybe 8/11 or 8/12), Democrats held a rally at Drumore Centre, a crossroads in southern Lancaster County.  The Democratic press portrayed them as hardworking laborers now prepared to fight the war that abolitionists had started but were too afraid to fight, and the Republicans portrayed them as traitors who hailed the Confederate victory at First Bull Run.

Anyway, J. R. Sypher showed up and caused a commotion, and later wrote to the Lancaster Union (newspaper did not survive, as far as I know) accusing the whole convention as being orchestrated by the Intelligencer.  The Intelligencer retorted on August 20: (alternate link)



On August 20, the Daily Evening Express jumped in the fray, coming to the defense of J.R. Sypher and attacking Mayor Sanderson (who also published the Intelligencer): (alternate link)



Four days later, on August 24, Sypher replied in his own words: (alternate link)



Mayor Sanderson's next issue on August 27 did not address the issue specifically, so I'll stop here.  There is plenty of good material though from the August 1861 Intelligencer editions (available to browse here) in which the Democratic Party claims an identity as a party of "Peace, Law, and Order" (8/27) and the party that would actually be supplying the soldiers who comprised the Union army. 

As the 79th Pennsylvania goes to war, expect the newspapers editors in Lancaster to find many more trivial and substantial issues over which to quarrel, many of which related directly to the regiment. Soldiers' diaries and letters show that they definitely paid attention to what was going on in Lancaster, and we also know that there was a constant flow of newspapers from printing presses on S. Queen St. to camps in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Patriotism in Lancaster: S. H. Zahm Patriotic Covers(Part 2 of 2)

(Parts 1 2)

One of the more interesting questions needed for a comprehensive understanding of the Civil War North is, What drove the North's hostility toward the South?  Was it the attack on Fort Sumter?  Slavery politics of the 1850s that even extended to events in Lancaster County with the Christiana Riot?  Deeply held beliefs about the threat of secession to democracy and the Constitution?

Anyway, those are complex questions that require more scouring of decades' worth of primary sources with special attention to the election of 1860, secession winter, and April 1861.  It looks like Gary Gallagher's The Union War answers some of those questions, but I haven't read it yet.  I'll probably come back to it, though, in the context of 79th Pennsylvania soldiers.

So, for now, let's just have some fun with anti-Confederate sentiment through the S. H. Zahm patriotic covers.

"Black Drop" (vws)

I don't really know why Zahm would have cared so much about Confederate Gen. Gideon Pillow.  Perhaps he just liked the name.  Note the accompanying security blanket. 

"Gen. Pillow, C.S.A." (vws)

In case the following reference goes over your head, many Northerners suspected President Buchanan's cabinet, including Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb of Georgia, of using their time in Washington to preparing the South to fight the Civil War long before April 1861.    

"Where the Money went. With (Cobb) of Georgia." (Ebay)

"Jeff. Davis' Countenance, As it appeared before the war." (vws)

Rotating 180 degrees...

"As it will appear after the war." (vws)