Indexing the Gallipolis Journal

I was thinking of just calling this blog post "Oh, the joys of indexing," but I figured that would probably elicit a collective yawn from much of my usual visitors although in all honesty, the blog post will share a bit of the joys I find from the slow painstaking work of constructing an index to the Civil War era correspondence in a newspaper. From the number of posts on this blog, you've already enjoyed the fruits of the indexing work- incredible accounts of the Civil War written by Ohioans. Now you can see a bit of how I discover these gems...

Today, I finished going through the wartime issues of the Gallipolis Journal, a Republican newspaper in Gallia County that was a consistent supporter of the Union war effort. Located along the bustling Ohio River, Gallipolis was on the front lines of the war in the early days as western Virginia lay just across the river.
Gallipolis on the Ohio River is circled in red on the map above. The Confederacy lay just across the river in the spring and summer of 1861- the first Union offensives were launched into western Virginia from river towns like Gallipolis.


One of the things that I most enjoy about putting an index together is that when you look at a series of newspapers, you really don't know what surprises reside within; it's the pure unalloyed joy of discovery when you come across something that fills a void in your knowledge, or answers that long-held question, or just makes you say wow. Its essentially a gift box waiting for you to open it- every once in a while, that gift box becomes a bit of a dud, other times, you are left shaking your head at how much great material you uncover as you sift through issue after issue. Last weekend, I shared the story of Lieutenant William H. Raynor of the 1st O.V.M., his experiences at First Bull Run, then subsequent imprisonment and escape from the Confederates. (see http://dan-masters-civil-war.blogspot.com/2018/06/at-first-bull-run-with-first-ovm.html) which I uncovered while putting this index together.

The process for doing these indexes is straightforward- start reading the issues closest to the firing upon Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861), and then document each letter (or really interesting article) that you uncover as you work your way towards Appomattox. The letters will often have the author's name at the top or bottom of the piece, and it may take some investigative work to figure out who that author was- perhaps scanning through a regimental roster, etc. I have run into instances where I can figure out the author (signed their name as just an "H." or an "N."), but figure it out later in when a subsequent letter that has their name references their previous letter. I try to note the soldiers name, company and regiment- once you have these three pieces of data, you can start putting the letter into context within a broader narrative.

You'll see some standard patterns which really mirror the story of the war for that community- the early war time enthusiasm which manifests itself in a flood of letters describing all the exciting action (or lack thereof) on the periphery of Virginia. The frustration of the defeat at First Bull Run gives way to a heady determination to get serious about winning the war- the flush of Union victories in the spring of 1862 which gives way to the horrors of lengthy casualty lists and a series of Union setbacks in the fall and winter of 1862. In the spring of 1863, war weariness gripped the North and you'll see a dichotomy- Republican papers loaded with letters from soldiers at the front encouraging the home folks to stand behind them and not give into "Copperheadism," while Democratic papers will gleefully publish soldiers' letters giving voice to the poor morale of the men, and lampooning some of the generals who lead them.

The summer of 1863 is marked by the dual excitements of Gettysburg and John Morgan's raid through Ohio, and gives way to the Ohio gubernatorial campaign of 1863 in which John Brough handily defeated the icon of the Copperheads, Clement L. Vallandigham. Union victories at Chattanooga in November 1863 presage a quiet winter in which hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers re-enlist for three more years, determined to "see the thing through." The spring of 1864 dawns with hope that under new leadership (Grant in the East, Sherman in the West), the war can be successfully brought to a conclusion. It was a tough summer that saw the calling up of the Ohio National Guards, another Confederate invasion of the North (Early's campaign), lengthy casualty lists from the Army of the Potomac and Sherman's force, and the nomination of "Little Mac" to run against Lincoln in the presidential election.

The Gallipolis Journal was delighted at the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1864 and the above broadside spread across much of page 2. "The Rail Splitter Triumphant!"

Fall dawns with Union victories at Atlanta, then a series of triumphs by Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley which helps Lincoln secure victory at the ballot box. In many papers, the volume of soldiers' letters drops off significantly after Lincoln's victory, but you can usually find (in Ohio papers anyway) some nice accounts of Franklin and Nashville, or the March to the Sea, but the winter of 1865 will be fairly quiet, and the campaign season barely gets underway in April 1865 before Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and then Johnston's surrender at the end of April which virtually ends all combat.

Recruiting advertisement for the 4th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry from January 1864.
Along the way, you hear from dozens of men from a multitude of units- the Gallipolis Journal had quite a collection of letters from soldiers in the 18th OVI, 33rd OVI, 36th OVI, 56th OVI, 91st OVI, 7th OVC, 18th Ohio Battery, as well as scattered letters from soldiers serving in out of state regiments such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Along the way we read about the battles of First Bull Run, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Lewisburg, Fair Oaks, Cross Keys, the Seven Days, Antietam, Stones River, Champion's Hill, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Sabine Crossroads, Snicker's Gap, Cedar Creek, and more. Their stories of the combat that engulfed the country, the triumphs and defeats, and their sacrifices make for scintillating reading- I never tire of reading of letters. It is a fascinating window into the Civil War experience and the learning never stops...

Gallipolis was home to an army depot and hospital, and had a small garrison throughout the war which sometimes caused problems with the local townsfolk as drunkenness and fighting became common occurrences. (The town had over 100 drinking holes by the summer of 1863). Some units that served here gained the townspeople's general acclimation (the 37th Iowa for instance) while others (the 192nd Pennsylvania in particular), the citizens could hardly wait for them to leave.

The index is now posted online on my Columbian Arsenal Press website- please feel free to download the Excel file and then visit Chronicling America (link below) to read for yourself some of the incredible accounts documented in the index. Enjoy!

Columbian Arsenal Press: https://columbianarsenal.com/newspaper-indexes
Chronicling America: Gallipolis Journal:  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038121/


Recruiting advertisement for the 56th Ohio Volunteer Infantry- the recruits soon saw hard service in Banks' disastrous Red River campaign. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more