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News of 150 Years Ago–October 1862

NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO

October 1862

On September 29,1862, publicly insulted and slapped by his commanding officer, Union General Jefferson C. Davis shot General William “Bull” Nelson in the lobby of the Galt House hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 1, 1862.

FROM LOUISVILLE.

General Davis Under Military Arrest.

Funeral of General Nelson.

RUMORS OF BUELL’S REMOVAL.

CAPTURE OF THE 3rd GEORGIA REGIMENT.

LOUISVILLE, Sept. 30.—General Jeff. C. Davis is under arrest and will be tried by court-martial.

The funeral of General Nelson took place to-day. The corpse was enclosed in an elegant metalic [sic] casket. The following officers acted as pall bearers: Major Generals McCook, Crittenden and Granger; Brigadier Generals Jackson and Johnson; Captain Jenkins, Chief of Staff, and other officers…

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From The Missouri Democrat, Thursday, October 2, 1862.

THE DAVIS AND NELSON TRAGEDY.

Maj. Gen. Nelson Insults Brig. Gen. Davis.

Gen. Nelson Insults Gov. Morton.

DAVIS SHOOTS AND KILLS NELSON.

FULL PARTICULARS OF THE AFFRAY.

[From the Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 30.]

The city was yesterday morning startled at the telegraphic announcement that Major General Wm. Nelson had been shot and killed by Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis, of Indiana. The brief dispatches of the affray gave rise to much speculation as to the origin and cause of the affray, and as the day wore away the anxiety increased to learn of the particulars. In order that the reader may be fully acquainted with all the facts, we will give them from the very first acquaintance of Gen. Davis with Gen. Nelson.

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From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 22, 1862.

THE WAR IN KENTUCKY.

GENERAL JEFF. C. DAVIS RELEASED.

Morgan’s Big Foraging Expedition Continued.

LOUISVILLE, Oct. 21.–Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, who killed Gen. Nelson, has been released from arrest and ordered to report for duty at Cincinnati, and left here this evening.

Gen. Dumont passed through here this evening, en route for Indianapolis….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, while hailed by the DEMOCRAT and many others in the North, was denounced by the South, as this article describes.

From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 1, 1862.

THE HOWL OF THE REBELS.

The Emancipation Proclamation Denounced as Fiendish.

DREAD OF NEGRO INSURRECTION.

They Retaliate by Raising the Black Flag.

FORT MONROE, Oct. 3, 9 P. M.—The flag of truce boat, Metamora, arrived to-day from Akin’s Landing. She brought down about a dozen passengers, who report that the rebel Congress have resolved in all future actions to hoist the black flag, and exterminate the Federals without granting quarter.

The Richmond Whig of October 1st, says, information from Lee’s army indicates that important movements are impending and will take place at the end of the week. McClellan’s army is on this side of the Potomac and is advancing. The rebel army is in excellent condition and eager for the fray.

The Whig speaks of President Lincoln’s proclamation as endangering a servile insurrection in the Confederate States, and says it is not misunderstood North or South. It is a dash to destroy four thousand millions of our property, and is a bid for the slaves to rise in insurrection with the assurance of aid from the whole military and naval power of the United States. It speaks of the cruelty of the administration, and says Butler is a saint compared with his master….

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B. Gratz Brown was one of the founding members of the Republican Party in Missouri and was instrumental in recruiting German-American St. Louisans into the Union army early in the war.  In a letter published in the October 17 issue of the DEMOCRAT, Brown proposed that Missouri be included in the states covered by the Emancipation Proclamation, arguing that there were sufficient areas of the state supporting rebellion to meet the stated qualifications. The next day, the DEMOCRAT editorialized in favor of Brown’’s proposal.

From The Missouri Democrat, Friday, October 17, 1862.

SHALL MISSOURI BE INCLUDED IN THE PROCLAMATION!

We bespeak for the very able communication of Col. B. Gratz Brown, which appears in another column, a careful reading from every man who takes any interest in the great questions of the day. The question raised by Col. Brown is no abstract one. It is eminently and entirely practical. It is one upon which every public man in our midst, or who aspires to political position, will be expected to take a definite stand….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Saturday, October 18, 1862.

SHALL MISSOURI BE INCLUDED IN THE PROCLAMATION!

The able argument of B. Gratz Brown in favor of the affirmative of this proposition, which we published on yesterday, and which ought to be read by every man in Missouri, presents the subject in such lucid terms as to obviate the necessity of any lengthy discussion. To sever that Gordian knot, in the separation of which the hands of so many politicians are now feebly engaged, he proposes to invoke the same agency which was so successfully employed by the hero of olden time—the sword….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Saturday, October 25, 1862.

THE PROCLAMATION AND THE CONSTITUTION.

Civil war is something so entirely new to our people that they can scarcely realize its actual bearings upon national affairs. It is quite as much from the force of habit as from any course of reasoning that we hear so much said about the prosecution of the war according to the Constitution. Having been so long accustomed to do everything in pursuance of some fixed formula of law, we are scarcely yet able to conceive how anything can be done without the express warrant of some written statute. Hence, we are glibly told that the President’s proclamation is not legal, except so far as it rests immediately upon some express law of Congress which could sustain at least but the minor portion of it….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

From The Missouri Democrat,Tuesday, October 28, 1862.

A MONTH OF THE PROCLAMATION.

We invite the attention of every reader to an article in another column, under the above heading, from the New York Times. The subject is there so thoroughly and so well discussed, that we need not add a word to the argument. If the writer had been so disposed he might have given numerous additional illustrations of the successful workings of the new policy. If he had seen fit to come to Missouri, as he did to Kentucky, he might have found another instance of the acquiescence of a slaveholding people in a decree which might be expected to run counter to all their prejudices of association and education. Missouri has been more quiet, less infested with guerrilla bands, and generally has furnished fewer recruits to the rebel army, and been more loyally disposed, during the last month–the month under the proclamation–than any time within the last eight months. We have yet to hear of the first Union man in Missouri who has turned secessionist on account of it….

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Newspapers commonly printed rumors, usually identifying them as such. After the Battle of Antietam and McClellan’s failure to pursue the Confederate army aggressively, rumors about his future in command began to circulate.

From The Missouri Democrat,Thursday, October 9, 1862.

REPORTS FROM WASHINGTON.

Rumored Changes in High Places.

[Special Dispatch to the Evening Post.]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8.—A late edition of the Washington Star, of last evening, states that it is currently reported that Gen. Banks will succeed Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War; that Gen. Halleck returns to his old command in the West. The command of McClellan’s army will be given to Gen. Hooker, and that McClellan will succeed Gen. Halleck.

Brig. Gen. J. D. Cox, of Ohio, late commander of the Kanawha Division of the army, and successor to Gen. Reno in the command of the ninth army corps, has been promoted to the rank of Major General, and is assigned to the command of all the troops in a new department, the name of which is not yet announced.

 

From The Missouri Democrat,Tuesday, October 23, 1862.

Rumored Removal of McClellan.

NEW YORK, October 22.–The Express says there are rumors in Wall street this afternoon that at a Cabinet meeting held yesterday, it was unanimously resolved to remove McClellan and that Gen. Hooker should succeed him. The above is given for what it is worth.

 

From The Missouri Democrat,Friday, October 24, 1862.

Removal of McClellan Doubtful.

WASHINGTON, October 23.–Little if any importance is attached to the rumors which are occasionally revived here and elsewhere, that Gen. McClellan is to be superseded by Gen. Hooker in the command of the Army of the Potomac.  Inquiry has been made to-day in usually well informed circles, but nothing is known whatever to give any basis for such reports; besides, Gen. Hooker has not sufficiently recovered from the effects of his wound to take the field.

 The reports were only somewhat premature.  Frustrated with McClellan’s constant case of the “slows”, Lincoln removed McClellan from command on November 5, replacing him not with Hooker but with Ambrose E. Burnside.

 

Other rumors suggested that the Southern states were about to propose a settlement.

From The Missouri Democrat,Wednesday, October 1, 1862.

RUMORS OF PROPOSITIONS FOR PEACE.

What the Rebels Propose to Give us.

NEW YORK, September 30.—The Washington correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer says it is rumored the reason for the existing quietude of the armies on the Upper Potomac is that commissioners are on the way from the Confederate Congress to propose terms of peace, said to be something like the following:

The loyal States to take all the Territories of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland, and make them free or slave States, as may best please them….

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The DEMOCRAT was skeptical of these rumors.

From The Missouri Democrat, Saturday, October 4, 1862.

PEACE PROPOSITIONS.

Numerous rumors and statements have been circulating through the public journals for some days past, without any well known or recognized paternity, having reference to proposals for settlement, supposed to have been made by the rebels. Of course, as the proposals come from them, they must signify a willingness, upon certain conditions, to return to their original allegiance. We have considered this entire matter so utterly the work of imagination that we have not heretofore deemed it worthy of notice….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

Before the war, Benjamin Butler was a Democratic politician in Massachusetts. After leading Massachusetts troops through Baltimore to the relief of Washington and several other expeditions, Butler took a Union army to capture and occupy New Orleans. His administration of the city was controversial.

From The Missouri Democrat, Sunday, October 5, 1862.

BUTLER’S RULE IN NEW ORLEANS.

The Banks, Schools and Hospitals—Reverdy Johnson in the role of Mediator—Pierre Soule Hears the Truth.

To the Editor of the N. Y. Tribune:

SIR:–In this morning’s Tribune you publish some interesting particulars with regard to the occupation of New Orleans by Gen. Butler. Having just arrived from a five months’ sojourn in that city, after enjoying frequent intercourse with the Union officers there, I think I can add materially to the history.

I went to New Orleans with a very strong dislike to General Butler, politically and personally. I had known him for twenty years, but known him only as a lawyer advocating almost any cause for pay, and a politician seeking successes by intrigue….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

After his defeat at the Battle of Iuka, Gen. Sterling Price joined his Confederate forces with those under Gen. Earl Van Dorn, who led the combined army in an attack on the Union-held rail junction at Corinth, Mississippi, occupied by the Federals since the rebels had abandoned it on May 29. On October 3, Van Dorn began his assault on the Union positions there in an attempt to isolate the forces under Gen. William S. Rosecrans and defeat them before other units under Ulysses S. Grant could reinforce them.

From The Missouri Democrat, Sunday, October 5, 1862.

THE VERY LATEST.

OUR EXCLUSIVE DISPATCHES.

TERRIBLE BATTLE NEAR CORINTH.

Battle Opens Early on Friday Morning.

THE CONFLICT CONTINUES ALL DAY.

THE RESULT UNKNOWN.

TERRIBLE BATTLE NEAR CORINTH.

[Special Dispatch to the Missouri Democrat.]

CAIRO, Oct. 4.—News has just been received that a terrible battle is being fought in the vicinity of Corinth….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Monday, October 6, 1862.

THE VERY LATEST.

OUR EXCLUSIVE DISPATCHES.

Glorious Victory!

GEN. ROSECRANS OVERTHROWS THE REBELS AT CORINTH.

THE CONFLICT CONTINUES ALL DAY.

Price, Van Dorn and Lovell Overwhelmed!

THE ENEMY’S RETREAT CUT OFF.

[Special Dispatch to the Missouri Democrat.]

CAIRO, Oct. 5.—Darkness closed in last night leaving us in painful suspense as to the result of the struggle going on at Corinth. We knew that Rosecrans had been weakened by reinforcements sent to Buell and Wright, and we also knew his forces had been considerably scattered, and that Price, Van Dorn, Lovell and perhaps Breckinridge, had been concentrating their forces for several weeks near him, and the questions were, had Rosecrans concentrated his forces, and could he withstand this combined attack till Gen. Grant could march to his assistance….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

From The Missouri Democrat, Sunday, October 19, 1862.

THE BATTLE OF CORINTH.

Price Seeks to Avail Himself of the Dispersion of National Troops after the Battle of Iuka—Rosecrans Orders a Concentration of His Forces—Attack made upon McKean’s Division on the 3d Instant—Charge after the Rebels and Capture of Gun after Gun of the 1st Missouri Artillery—Guns Retaken by the 2d Iowa—Gloomy Appearance at Close of First Day’s Fighting—Terrible Artillery Assault made upon the Enemy on the Morning of Second Day—Effect of Rosecran’s Presence Among the Troops—Desperate Assault upon the Centre—Success of Rebels and Bankruptcy of Sutlers—11th Ohio Battery Gets to Work—Battle Decided by 2 P. M. of Second Day.

[Special Correspondence of the Missouri Democrat.]

CAMP NEAR CORINTH, Oct. 18, 1862.

We have been so busy of late chasing Price that I have found it impossible to send you a detailed account of the battle of Corinth sooner, but as I have seen as yet no article that gives a full description of the momentous scenes that transpired on the 3d and 4th of October, I will try in my poor way to supply it.

It was perhaps the most desperate battle that was ever fought in the Southwest, for the enemy strove like demons, and had they not been met in the same spirit by our troops a disgraceful defeat would have been the consequence. It became apparent that the enemy was not satisfied with the repulse that he had sustained at Iuka, but, having consolidated his forces, was preparing for a descent upon Corinth….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

Even during the war, books recounting war experiences were published. The DEMOCRAT reprinted an episode from one of them here.

From The Missouri Democrat, Sunday, October 5, 1862.

Running an Engine in Rebel Service.

[From “Thirteen Months in the Rebel Army.”]

The engineer, Charles Little, refused to run the train on during the night, as he was not well acquainted with the roads and thought it dangerous. In addition, the head-light of the locomotive being out of order and the oil frozen, he could not make it burn, and he could not possibly run without it. Colonel Williams grew angry, probably suspecting him of Union sentiments, and of wishing to delay the train, cursed him rather roundly, and at length told him he should run it under a guard; adding to the guard already on the engine, “if any accident occurs shoot the cursed Yankee.” Little was a Northern man. Upon the threat thus enforced, the engineer seemed to yield, and prepared to start the train….

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In far southwest Missouri, on September 30, a Federal force encountered Confederates in the vicinity of Newtonia, Missouri. Although the Union troops were driven off, the Confederates ultimately left Missouri for northwest Arkansas shortly after this engagement. Initial reports were overly optimistic.

From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, October 7, 1862.

THE VERY LATEST.

OUR EXCLUSIVE DISPATCHES.

VICTORY IN THE SOUTHWEST!

THE REBELS DRIVEN OUT OF NEWTONIA.

ANOTHER FIGHT EXPECTED ON SUNDAY.

[Special Dispatch to the Missouri Democrat.]

NEWTONIA, October 4, via SPRINGFIELD, October 6.—We drove the enemy from this town this morning, and are following him closely.

In addition to the above, we have some particulars from headquarters to the effect that on Saturday morning General Schofield advanced upon the rebels in Newtonia, a small town about 54 miles southwest of Springfield, and after a two hours engagement they fled the town and scattered in all directions. Our loss was trifling. The enemy, as is estimated, numbered about 15,000 men….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 8, 1862.

THE FIGHT AT NEWTONIA.

Colonel Salomon Charges into the Town, But Finds a Larger Force Than He Expected—Desperate Fighting.

[From the Springfield Missourian, Oct. 4.]

From a private in the 5th Kansas Cavalry, who participated in the fight at Newtonia last Tuesday, we learn the following particulars:

Colonel Salomon, on Monday last, learning that there was a rebel force, thought to be about 500 strong, at Newtonia, send about 600 Federal troops—about 175 infantry, the balance cavalry—under command of a Major of the 9th Wisconsin, whose name we did not learn—to drive them out. They charged into Newtonia on Tuesday morning and found the rebels had been heavily reinforced, having a force estimated at 7,000, with six pieces of artillery. Our men, of course, had to get out as best they could, the infantry fighting them hand to hand for three-fourths of an hour, as they fell back out or Newtonia….

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Before the war, Absalom C. Grimes had been a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. After joining the Confederate 1st Missouri Cavalry, he was captured near Springfield, MO, and imprisoned in St. Louis. He escaped and, before returning to his unit, decided to gather mail from pro-secessionist Missourians to take south with him. He thereafter became “Official Confederate Mail Carrier,” traveling between Missouri and the south with various communications. He was captured several times, escaping repeatedly. His escape in October 1962 from St. Louis’s Gratiot Street prison was particularly embarrassing to his Union captors.

From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 8, 1862.

ESCAPE OF THE REBEL MAIL CARRIER AND SPY ABSALOM C. GRIMES.—A few mornings ago we were surprised with the information—officially given—that during the night Absalom C. Grimes had succeeded in effecting his escape from the Gratiot street prison. The intelligence was accompanied by an injunction not then to publish the fact, in the hope that secrecy might contribute to the fugitive’s recapture….

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The Civil War was the first American conflict in which the government enacted compulsory military service, called conscription or the draft. The Confederate government established its first draft in April 1862. In the North, Federal conscription did not begin until mid-1863, but the Militia Act of 1862 gave the President authority to draft 300,000 militiamen for up to nine months, with implementation run by the state governments and enacted at the county level. The threat of the draft was often enough to increase voluntary enlistments, but it was not a popular measure.

From The Missouri Democrat, Friday, October 10, 1862.

RESISTING THE DRAFT.

The telegraph of this morning informs us of the outbreak of a small rebellion at Hartford, Blackford county, Indiana, by way of resistance to the draft. The account proceeds to state that the conspirators denounced the government and those attempting to sustain it. We are no way surprised at the fact that men who would be guilty of the high handed proceeding of resisting the laws should manifest their opposition to the government itself. We are not even surprised at the fact that there should be resistance to Federal authority in such localities as Blackford county….

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On October 8, 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg threw his Army of Mississippi against Union General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio near Perryville, Kentucky. The battle was one of the bloodiest of the Civil War, measured by the casualties compared to number engaged. Although Bragg achieved some success against one corps of Buell’s army, the Confederates ultimately withdrew to Tennessee after the fighting, securing Kentucky for the Union.

From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 15, 1862.

THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE.

Great Conflict Between McCook’s Division and Bragg’s Army.

THE REBELS TWO TO ONE.

THE ENEMY DEFEATED.

HEAVY LOSS ON BOTH SIDES.

[Special Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette.]

BATTLEFIELD OF PERRYVILLE, KENTUCKY,
October 9, 1862.

FIERCENESS OF THE BATTLE.

I wish to speak in terms of moderation, but I confidently believe, from the opinions of those who have been at Pittsburg Landing, Fort Donelson and Pea Ridge, that the severest action of the war (in proportion to the numbers engaged) has just taken place, and that, all things considered, our arms have achieved a victory—not a brilliant triumph; not even a complete success, but still a victory, and one, too, which, had it not been for our habitual failure to follow up our advantages, might have been final, so far as it concerned the rebel army under Bragg….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

With no shipbuilding capacity of its own to speak of, the Confederate government sought to acquire naval vessels from overseas sources, primarily Great Britain. One of the most famous was the English-built commerce raider C.S.S. Alabama, whose exploits were commonly reported in the Northern press.

From The Missouri Democrat, Friday, October 17, 1862.

THE REBEL CRUISER ALABAMA.

Terrible Destruction of Merchant Vessels.

NEW YORK, October 16.—The rebel propeller Alabama is 1,200 tons burthen; a wooden vessel 210 feet long; rather narrow; carries three long 32-pounders on a side, and is pierced for two more amidships; has a 100-pounder rifled pivot gun forward of the bridge, and a 68-pounder on the main deck. Has tracks laid forward for a pivot bow gun, and tracks aft for a pivot stern chaser. Her guns are of Blakesly [sic] pattern, and made by Wesley. She is reported to go 13 knots, and 15 under full steam. She can get steam up in 20 minutes. Her complement of men is 120, but she is anxious to ship more….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

While the British continued to build wooden ships for the Confederacy, they were developing iron ships for their own navy. Concurrently, their artillerists were devising the most effective methods for defeating iron warships. This continuing rivalry between offense and defense was often reported in the pages of the DEMOCRAT.

From The Missouri Democrat, Friday, October 17, 1862.

Iron Plates and New Projectiles.

The British Government is in a state of uncertainty and confusion. It cannot make up its mind whether the Warrior and her iron cased consorts are equal to a firm resistance against heavy projectiles, or whether Mr. Whitworth or Sir William Armstrong are able to batter the sides of any Warrior or other new fashioned vessel which mechanical ingenuity can invent. Two remarkable series of experiments at Shoeburyness have just been added to the history of this investigation. The last of these took place on the 25th of September, and the result, as reported in the London journals received by the Persia, shows that the equation is more hopelessly befogged than ever….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

Among the reports on military activities across the state of Missouri was one announcing the execution of ten rebel prisoners at Palmyra.

From The Missouri Democrat, Monday, October 20, 1862.

THE WAR IN MISSOURI.

Porter’s River Pirates Scattered.

More Guerrillas at Portland.

Boats Detained at Jefferson City and Hermann.

Gen. Schofield Telegraphs from Elkhorn Tavern.

THE ENEMY FLEEING TO BOSTON MOUNTAINS.

PROSPECT OF A FIGHT NEAR PILOT KNOB.

Federals Moving Upon the Rebels.

Admiral Porter Co-operating with Gen. Curtis.

Extension of Gen. Curtis’s Command.

Affairs of Colorado and Western Nebraska.

Intelligence from various sections and of an exceedingly interesting nature was last evening received by telegraph at Headquarters, to the following purport:

The rebels that crossed the Missouri river and seized the Emilie, at Portland, were under Porter, and were afterwards intercepted at the California House, near Waynesville, by Lieut. Col. Sigel, and scattered. No particulars of the affair are received….

 

ARRIVAL OF GEN. McNEIL.

Ten Guerrilla Prisoners Shot at Palmyra–The Circumstances of the Case.

Gen. John McNeil, who has so distinguished himself as commander of the military forces in Northeast Missouri, arrived in St. Louis yesterday from Palmyra. The General reports things very quiet in his district.

On Saturday last he caused ten of the rebel prisoners to be shot, a very extreme and harsh measure, and a very trying duty, yet one which he could not, under any circumstances, avoid….

Click here to read the complete article.

 

St. Louis had been devastated by the Great Fire of 1849, and, despite many steps taken to minimize the threat, fire remained a great danger, especially on the riverfront, crowded with wooden steamboats and their cargo.

From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, October 28, 1862.

DISASTROUS CONFLAGRATION AT THE LEVEE.

Five Steamboats Burned—Two of them Loaded and their Contents Destroyed.

HEMP AND COTTON BURNED ON THE LEVEE.

LOSS ABOUT $150,000.

One of the direst of disasters that has visited our river marine for many years occurred yesterday. At about twelve o’clock fire accidentally broke out in the hold of the steamer H. D. Bacon, unloading hemp near the foot of Locust street. The hemp is believed to have been ignited through the careless use of a candle in the hold….

Click here to read the complete article.