Who was Turner anyway?

Who was Turner anyway?

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A Turner Bugler, 2004

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News of 150 Years Ago—May/June 1864

NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO

May/June 1864

May and June 1864 were arguably the most momentous months of the war. In the East, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant began the Overland Campaign, advancing on Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and the rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia. In the West, Union Gen. William T. Sherman began his march south from Chattanooga, Tennessee, towards the vital rail and supply center of Atlanta, Georgia, contested all along the way by the Confederate Army of Tennessee, now under the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The DEMOCRAT had daily coverage of Grant’s movements, and such reports on Sherman as could be had. This editorial expresses the general Union feeling of optimism about the campaigns then currently in progress.

From The Missouri Democrat, Thursday, June 9, 1864.

MILITARY PROGRESS.

From their leisurely and elaborately prepared intrenchments on the north bank of the Chickahominy, the rebels have for more than a week past been expending themselves in a series of desperate endeavors to cut Grant’s communications, or failing in that, to drive his intrenching lines or break through them. In each effort they have failed. On Wednesday of last week they lost valuable ground in the vicinity of Coal Harbor [sic]. After several futile attempts to retrieve their loss, they concentrated in a grand assault on Friday evening, but were beaten back with fearful slaughter. That they fought most gallantly is to be inferred from the dispatch of General Grant, characterizing the battles as one of “great fury.” In half an hour the work was done, and next morning the enemy’s left wing was found to have been withdrawn during the night. Sunday night the assault was renewed and again terminated in a bloody repulse, and on the night following was repeated with much worse results. On this occasion the Confederate troops several times returned to the onset, but as often had their lines cut to pieces and were mowed down in masses….

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Guerrilla depredations on Missouri towns outside St. Louis were constantly in the news. In May 1864, the generally pro-Union town of Hermann was the site of such an incident.

From The Missouri Democrat, Monday, May 16, 1864.

GUERRILLA RAID INTO HERMANN.

Captain Manwaring, of St. Louis, Murdered—The Citizens Fired Upon—Intense Excitement and Indignation—One of the Guerrillas Killed by Negroes—Further Details.

The usually tranquil town of Hermann, Mo., was thrown into a state of great excitement at about six o’clock last Saturday evening, by the sudden irruption of some twenty-five mounted guerrillas into the place. They were ununiformed, all armed with pistols and sabres, and a portion of them had muskets. They came from the Southwestward, entered by the upper part of the town, offered insolence to those of the inhabitants in their way, and rode rapidly to the ferry landing, as if intending to cross the river….

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The unusual always makes a good story in the press, and it was no different during the Civil War.  The story of Pauline Cushman, a successful female Union spy, was one such “thrilling narrative”.

From The Missouri Democrat, Monday, May 16, 1864.

A THRILLING NARRATIVE.

Miss Major Pauline Cushman, the Federal Scout and Spy.

[From the Detroit Tribune, May 24]

Among the women of America who have made themselves famous since the opening of the rebellion, few have suffered more or rendered more service to the Federal cause than Miss Major Pauline Cushman, the female scout and spy. At the commencement of hostilities she resided in Cleveland, Ohio, and was quite well known as a clever actress….

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While fighting raged in the field, politics continued. The Radical Republicans, fresh from a Senatorial victory in the legislature, nominated a volunteer Army officer, Thomas C. Fletcher, as their candidate for Governor of Missouri. This same Col. Fletcher would figure prominently in the September Battle of Pilot Knob.

From The Missouri Democrat, Monday, May 30, 1864.

MISSOURI
STATE RADICAL TICKET.

FOR GOVERNOR:
Col. THOS. C. FLETCHER.

OUR TICKET.

Some time in the year 1858 or 1859 the effort was first made to thoroughly organize a State freedom party in Missouri. There had existed previous to that time, in some localities, and chiefly in St. Louis, a party favorable to emancipation, but it had no organization, and but little sympathy, in by far the larger portion of the State. To introduce the freedom movement into such localities as it had not reached, and to raise the Free Soil party of Missouri into a State party, the effort to which we allude was made. To this end a committee of conference and correspondence was formed in St. Louis, which performed a large amount of labor. Of that committee, Colonel Thomas C. Fletcher, now the Radical candidate for Governor of Missouri, and then a resident of this city, was a member….

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President Lincoln had more than the Democrats opposed to his policies. Some Radical Republicans, dissatisfied with Lincoln’s policies on slavery and post-war reconciliation with the South, nominated John C. Fremont, the 1856 Republican nominee, for President.

From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, June 7, 1864.

BY TELEGRAPH.

REGULAR AFTERNOON DISPATCHES.

FROM NEW YORK.

JOHN C. FREMONT AND THE PRESIDENTIAL QUESTION.

His Letter Accepting the Nomination.

NEW YORK, June 6.– In a long letter accepting the nomination for the Presidency, General Fremont says if the Convention at Baltimore will nominate any man whose past life justifies well grounded confidence in his fidelity to our cardinal principles, there is no reason why there should be any division among the really patriotic men of the country….

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In June 1864, the Republicans, uniting with some War Democrats, met in Baltimore, Maryland, under the banner of the National Union party. After some maneuverings, the Radical Republican delegation from Missouri was seated instead of the Conservative Republican faction. Abraham Lincoln was renominated for President, and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, a War Democrat, replaced Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, as the Vice Presidential candidate.

From The Missouri Democrat, Thursday, June 9, 1864.

THE LATEST NEWS.

BY TELEGRAPH.

BALTIMORE CONVENTION.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CREDENTIALS.

THE MISSOURI RADICALS UNANIMOUSLY ADMITTED.

THE “CONSERVATIVE CHAPS’ KICKED OUT.

“How Are You, Claybanks?”

ENDORSEMENT OF THE TRUE UNIONISTS OF MISSOURI.

“Truth is Mighty and Will Prevail.”

THE RACE OF CONSERVATISM RUN.

Report of Committee of Platform.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN NOMINATED BY ACCLAMATION.

ANDREW JOHNSON NOMINATED FOR VICE PRESIDENT.

Full Report of the Proceedings.

Adjournment of the Convention.

[Special Dispatch to the Missouri Democrat.]

BALTIMORE, June 8,–The Committee on Credentials have unanimously agreed to report in favor of the Radical delegation from Missouri. The Claybanks are desperate, losing their temper and swearing that the Convention is Abolitionist.

Congratulations of the most enthusiastic kind are extended to the Radicals by their friends, and it is not one and one this time, but two to nothing. The general expression this morning is, “How are you, Claybanks?”…

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