Harper’s Weekly – May 23, 1863

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | May 23, 1863

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[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/4153534/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

General Stoneman – 1-2
To General Hooker: The Battle of the Rappahannock – 2
Why Immigration Increases – 2
The Lounger – 2-3
Humors of the Day – 3-4
Domestic Intelligence – 4
Foreign News – 4
The Music of Mozart – 4
The Army of the Potomac – 5-6, 9, 11-18
Map of the Seat of War in Virginia – 7
Map of the Mississippi, from Haines’s Bluff to Below Grand Gulf – 8
“Very Hard Cash,” by Charles Reade, Ch. VIII – 10-11
Catching the Dragon – 14-15

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 20 (reply #33).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4153534/posts#33

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 22 (reply #46).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4153534/posts#46

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Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume One

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, Edited, with an introduction, by William C. Davis

[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]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, May 23, 1863 (“Met the President, Stanton, and Halleck at the War Department. Fox was with me.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-gideon-welles-saturday-may-23.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Rear-Admiral David D. Porter, May 23, 1863 (“I intend to lose no more men, but to force the enemy from one position to another without exposing my troops.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-ulysses-s-grant-to-rear.html

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 23, 1863 (“The story of Hooker losing his head, and my saving the army, is a canard, founded on some plausible basis.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-george-g-meade-to_20.html

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, May 23, 1863 (“I am alive and unscathed, though since Thursday last, this being Saturday at one, I have been in a slaughter pen.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/06/colonel-thomas-kilby-smith-to-eliza_29.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, May 23, 1863 (“I feel like telling you now, old fellow (as an officer and outsider, and not as your friend and brother), how very manly I thought it of you then to undertake the experiment.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/captain-charles-russell-lowell-to.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Lieutenant-Colonel Henry S. Russell, May 23, 1863 (“You may rely upon it, Harry, that Lee will not remain idle if we do; he will send a column into Maryland again when the crops are ready: I look for a repetition of what occurred last summer.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/captain-charles-russell-lowell-to_10.html

Diary of Sergeant George G. Smith: May 23, 1863 (“an orderly came back and reported that Vicksburg had fallen and Port Hudson was on fire and about ready to surrender.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-sergeant-george-g-smith-may-23.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd: May 23, 1863 (“If this siege is to last a month there will be a whole army of trained sharpshooters, for the practice we are getting is making us skilled marksmen.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/07/diary-of-5th-sergeant-osborn-h-oldroyd_4.html

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Saturday, May 23, 1863 (An eventful trip east from Vicksburg heading for Meridian MS.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/06/diary-of-sir-arthur-james-lyon_14.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 23, 1863 (Jones reproduces Hooker’s congratulatory General Order to the AoP, for laughs.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-23.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 23, 1863 (“On our to-day’s march we saw any amount of dead horses, which did not smell altogether like cologne.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2022/08/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-23-1863.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: May 23, 1863 (“We tremble for Vicksburg; an immense army has been sent against it; we await its fate with breathless anxiety.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_70.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

“Lee,” reply #3
Grant memoirs, #4
John Jackman, #5
John Hay, #6
Links to 12 items at Civil War Notebook, #7

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade: The Journal of a Confederate Soldier, Edited by A.D. Kirwan

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, Edited, with an introduction, by William C. Davis

[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]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Sunday, May 24, 1863 (“There is a rumor that the stars and stripes wave over Vicksburg, but the telegraph-wires are broken and communication interrupted.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-gideon-welles-sunday-may-24.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, May 24, 1863 (“General McClernand’s dispatches misled me as to the real state of facts, and caused much of this loss. He is entirely unfit for the position of corps commander”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-ulysses-s-grant-to-major.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw, Sunday, May 24, 1863 – 6:30 p.m. (Col. Lowell’s meeting with Sec. Stanton, at which the 54th Mass. was discussed.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/captain-charles-russell-lowell-to_11.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John C. Bancroft, May 24, 1863 (“The Army of the Potomac is commonly reported to be going into summer quarters.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/captain-charles-russell-lowell-to-john.html

Diary of Sergeant Major Luman Harris Tenney: May 24, 1863 (“In the morning early issued potatoes and beef. Thede felt a little better. After breakfast got water and helped him bathe.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-sergeant-major-luman-harris_26.html

Diary of Sergeant George G. Smith: May 24, 1863 (“3 a. m. we were in Bayou Sara, and at 7 o’clock the First Louisiana and the 91st New York forded the Bayou and marched to the rear of Port Hudson.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-sergeant-george-g-smith-may-24.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd: May 24, 1863 (Life in the trenches, with musket pics.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/07/diary-of-5th-sergeant-osborn-h-oldroyd.html

Mrs. Mary Duncan to Abraham Lincoln, May 24, 1863 (A Mississippi Unionist suffering from army red tape appeals to the Commander-in-Chief.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/10/mrs-mary-duncan-to-abraham-lincoln-may.html

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Sunday, May 24, 1863 (Fremantle reaches Meridian MS and then Mobile AL. A discussion of open carry.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/06/diary-of-sir-arthur-james-lyon_15.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: Sunday, May 24, 1863 (“Alas! this cruel war! But independence will be ample compensation. Our posterity will thank us for our sacrifices and sufferings.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-sunday.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 24, 1863 (“Laid here all day, it being Sunday.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2022/08/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-24-1863.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

Johnny Green, reply #9
John Jackman, #10
John Hay, #11
Links to 11 items at Civil War Notebook, #12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Home Letters of General Sherman, edited by M.A. DeWolfe Howe, 1909

[Homer_J_Simpson]

With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860-1865, edited by Michael Burlingame

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, Edited, with an introduction, by William C. Davis

[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]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Sunday, May 25, 1863 (Adm. Du Pont is more interested in fighting the Navy Dept. than the rebels.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/04/diary-of-gideon-welles-sunday-may-25.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks, May 25, 1863 (“Colonel Grierson would be of immense value to me now. If he has not already started, will you be kind enough to order him here immediately?”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-ulysses-s-grant-to-major_5.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant’s Special Orders, No. 140 (“It is desirable that no more loss of life shall be sustained in the reduction of Vicksburg and the capture of the garrison.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-ulysses-s-grants-special.html

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, May 25, 1863 (“There is evidence of a force collecting near Big Black River, northeast of here about 30 miles.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-ulysses-s-grant-to-major_6.html

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 25, 1863 (“We have to-day the glorious news from Grant.1 It is in sad contrast with our miserable fiasco here”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/05/major-general-george-g-meade-to_21.html

Major-General John Sedgwick to his Sister, May 25, 1863 (“My old division is getting up a testimonial for me. They have raised seventeen hundred dollars, and I hear the testimonial is to consist of a horse and equipments complete, sword, etc.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/major-general-john-sedgwick-to-his_21.html

Colonel Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, May 25, 1863 (“Ladies in Vicksburg are now living in caves and holes in the ground to protect them from the unceasing fall of shot and shell from our guns.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/06/colonel-thomas-kilby-smith-to-eliza_30.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, May 25, 1863 (“If Vicksburg is taken it will perhaps take us to some other field. At least, important changes in our military policy may be looked for.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/03/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb_22.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, May 25, 1863 (“I have sent to Lucy to come up as soon as Vicksburg is taken, thinking it probable that such an event may soon send us further out.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/03/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sardis_23.html

Diary of Sergeant George G. Smith: May 25, 1863 (Fighting at Port Hudson.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-sergeant-george-g-smith-may-25.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd: May 25, 1863 (Under flag of truce the two armies bury the dead and fraternize.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/07/diary-of-5th-sergeant-osborn-h-oldroyd_63.html

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: May 25, 1863 (Second battle of Gum Swamp, NC)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/05/diary-of-corporal-david-l-day-may-25.html

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Monday, May 25, 1863 (“I called on General [Dabney] Maury, for whom I brought a letter of introduction from General Johnston.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/06/diary-of-sir-arthur-james-lyon_17.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 25, 1863 (“Johnston is on the enemy’s flank and rear, engendering a new army with rapidity, and if the garrison can hold out a little while, the city may be safe.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-25.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 25, 1863 (“We pitched our camp here on a hill two miles from Fredericksburg.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2022/08/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-25-1863.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: May 25, 1863 (“Alas! alas! how many now fill the graves of heroes — their young lives crushed out by the unscrupulous hand of an invading foe!”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_28.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

Sherman letter home, reply #14
John G. Nicolay, #15
John Jackman, #16
John Hay, #17
Links to 16 items at Civil War Notebook, #18

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals