Harper’s Weekly – October 5, 1861

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | October 5, 1861

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1861-1865: Seminar and Discussion Forum
The American Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.

Posting history, in reverse order

https://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:homerjsimpson/index?tab=articles

To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to previous Harper’s Weekly thread

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3998719/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Last Summer Boarder – 1
The Progress of the Week – 1, 3
The New Hampshire Sharp-Shooters – 2
The Lounger – 3-4
Humors of the Day – 4
Domestic Intelligence – 4-5
Our New Major-General – 5
Foreign News – 5
The Men-of-War in Our Harbor – 6, 9
Munson’s Hill and Bailey’s Cross Roads – 7-8
Gun-Boats on the Mississippi – 9
The Rebel Steamer “Page” – 9-10
The Fortifications at Baltimore – 9, 11
Departure of the First Ohio Zouave Regiment from Cincinnati for western Virginia – 12
Recruiting for the Confederate Army at Woodstock, Virginia – 13
The Bivouac Fire at the Outposts of Our Army of the Potomac – 14
The War in Missouri – 15-16
Love in Kentucky – 16-18, 20
Map of North Carolina, Showing Fort Hatteras and the Sounds it Commands – 19
Picking Hops – 20
The Rebel General Joseph E. Johnston – 20
The War in Western Virginia – 20-21
General McClellan’s Body-Guard – 22
A Strange Story, by sir E. Bulwer Lytton, Ch. XXIV – 22-25
Presentation of a Flag to Kentucky Volunteers at Camp Bruce, near Cynthiana, Kentucky – 23
Fairfax Court House, the Rebel Gen. Bonham’s Head-Quarters – 24
Infamous Persecution – 25
A Run for Life: A Rail-Road Adventure – 25-26

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued September 29 (reply #10).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3998719/posts#10

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Simon Cameron to William H. Seward, October 5, 1861 (Secretary Cameron respects Gen. Tyler as a man.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/09/simon-cameron-to-william-h-seward.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: October 5, 1861 (“Weigh anchor at daylight, and soon after proceeding on our way, we run on to a sandbar, where we remain three and a-half hours. Extricating ourselves, we move on and arrive at Fort Holt at 3 P. M.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/02/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose_44.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 5, 1861 (“To-day several Southern-born gentlemen, who have lived long in the North, and have their fortunes and families there, applied for passports.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october-5.html

Diary of Judith W. McGuire: October 5, 1861 (“M. P. and myself drove to Millwood yesterday, and heard various rumours of victories in Western Virginia, and in Missouri; but we are afraid to believe them. At home we go on as usual.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/diary-of-judith-w-mcguire-october-5-1861.html

[Rebelbase]

Richmond needs to replace this Granny Lee. He won’t fight.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued, after skipping a section, from September 14 (reply #3).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3994737/posts#3

1

2

3

Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence 1860-1865, edited by Stephen W. Spears

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I forgot to ping the list to the previous post - a letter from George B. McClellan.

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, October 6, 1861 (“1 guess they will find after awhile that our movements are not to be governed by theirs, and that McClellan is not going to move until he is ready, and then not in the direction they want him.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2013/10/brigadier-general-george-g-meade-to.html

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, October 6, 1861 (“I have reason to believe that I am popular with the command, that for the most part my men all like me; which is a great point gained in the army.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/02/lieutenant-colonel-thomas-kilby-smith_25.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: October 6, 1861 (A live round is fired from what was supposed to be a ceremonial cannon shot. No damage done.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/02/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose_15.html

[PAR35]

Catton is flat wrong.

"People usually got in ... from due east or due west"

No, the mountains, valleys, rivers railroads and roads ran southwest to northeast. There were a few routes north into Kentucky (notably at the Cumberland Gap) and it was possible to get from Nashville to Knoxville more directly than following the river. But the east was still largely cut off from North Carolina.

This map is a little early (1839) but gives a general picture of the routes. https://www.loc.gov/item/98688485/

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher

[Homer_J_Simpson]

All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, edited by Robert Hunt Rhodes

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, October 7, 1861 (“Don’t worry about the war. We are doing our part, and if all does not go well, it is not our fault.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb_24.html

Major Wilder Dwight: October 7, 1861 (“Bull Run has given McClellan the liberty to wait as long as he pleases without interference, but he cannot mean to lose October.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/major-wilder-dwight-october-7-1861.html

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: October 7, 1861 (“We were today mustered into the service of the United States, by Captain John M. Goodhue, U. S. A. The company is designated as Company B, and the regiment as the 25th Massachusetts volunteers.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/05/diary-of-corporal-david-l-day-october-7.html

George William Curtis to Charles Eliot Norton, October 7, 1861 (“Mrs. Shaw had a few lines from Mrs. Fremont the other day. It is fine to see her faith in her husband.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/george-william-curtis-to-charles-eliot_12.html

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, October 7, 1861 (“I am sorry, as you say, that the movements of the armies cannot keep pace with the expectations of the editors of papers.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2013/10/general-robert-e-lee-to-mary-custis-lee_19.html

[Tax-chick]

“Tents leaked and we got wet.”

Sounds like most of the campouts in my life.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Tax-chick! Good to hear from you. It’s been a while. I hope everything is well with you.

[Tax-chick]

I’m doing fine, thanks, and hope you are the same. I hope the war is over soon, though. I need my sons to get to work clearing more acreage.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Commandant Samuel F. Dupont to Gustavus V. Fox, October 8, 1861 (Report and requests from U.S.S. Wabash to Navy Department.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/10/commandant-samuel-f-dupont-to-gustavus_23.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, October 8, 1861 (False alarm of an enemy attack.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb_30.html

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: October 8, 1861 (Officers in the 25th Massachusetts Volunteers)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/05/diary-of-corporal-david-l-day-october-8.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 8, 1861 (Secretary Benjamin overrules Jones on his decisions regarding the sequestration act.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october-8.html

Diary of Judith W. McGuire: October 8, 1861 (“Another rumour of a fight on Cheat Mountain, in which General Jackson, with some regiments of Georgians, repulsed the Federal General Reynolds.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/diary-of-judith-w-mcguire-october-8-1861.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to Abraham Lincoln, October 9, 1861 (“I am well satisfied that the removal of Gen Fremont at this time would be as disastrous to our cause in this state as another lost battle in Missouri,”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/09/governor-samuel-j-kirkwood-to-abraham_15.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, October 9, 1861 (“We are now in easy two days’ ride of Cincinnati by steamboat. We are building an entrenched camp for permanently holding this gateway of the Kanawha Valley.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb_31.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to William A. Platt, October 9, 1861

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/02/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-william.html

Major Wilder Dwight to William Dwight Sr., October 9, 1861 (“I think one thousand pairs of stockings are enough for the present.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/major-wilder-dwight-to-william-dwight.html

Major Wilder Dwight to Elizabeth White Dwight, October 9, 1861 (“The roadside taverns had sold them whiskey. The whole regiment was drunk. A perfect Pandemonium was the scene they presented.”

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/major-wilder-dwight-to-elizabeth-white.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 9, 1861 (“Never was there such a patriotic people as ours! Their blood and their wealth are laid upon the altar of their country with enthusiasm.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october-9.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Inside Lincoln’s White House: The Complete War Diary of John Hay, edited by Michael Burlingame and John R. Turner Ettlinger

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence 1860-1865, edited by Stephen W. Spears