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Valley Spirit: May 25, 1861 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

From Washington
(Column 01)

Summary: The President and the Cabinet were present at a flag-raising ceremony at the General Post-office Building. The President's raising of the flag met with an enthusiastic cheer.

From the South
(Column 02)

Summary: A dispatch from Raleigh, N.C. states that the North Carolina convention agreed to an ordinance of secession.

From Baltimore
(Column 03)

Summary: "It is rumored that more arms are to be seized in the city."

Camp Located
(Column 03)

Summary: "Governor Curtin has located a camp at Farmers' and Merchants' Institute grounds at this place. Four regiments are to encamp there and ten or twelve companies are expected from Philadelphia during the week."

Supplies for Fortress Monroe
(Column 03)

Summary: "The steamer Bowman sailed today, for Old Point Comfort, with 10,000 feet of lumber and a large quantity of hay and small stores."

The Military Operations of the Government
(Column 03)

Summary: The rumors that the Union army will advance upon Virginia are not true. General Scott won't give the order to move until the army is fully organized, drilled, and equipped. The pro-Union voices in Tennessee continue to be heard, but the government cannot take any action yet. The federal government will soon gain control over Northern Missouri.

Secretary Seward's Soiree
(Column 03)

Summary: Secretary Seward held a successful soiree in honor of the officers of the volunteer regiments.

Reported Secession Outrages in Indiana
(Column 03)

Summary: Three hundred secessionists in Indiana, led by a man named Dromgale, were committing depredations against Unionists. However, a subsequent report indicates that the men were actually a "band of desperados who have been plundering and threatening the lives of the citizens."

Our Relations with Foreign Powers
(Column 04)

Summary: The federal government has decided that "Any act of intervention which affords direct advantage to the insurgent States, and which tends to hamper or obstruct the action of our government will lead to the most decisive measures on the part of the administration."

The Funeral Ceremonies of Colonel Vosburgh
(Column 05)

Summary: The funeral ceremonies of Colonel Vosburgh commenced at twelve o'clock at the Navy Yard in Washington. The President and members of the Cabinet were in attendance.

Affairs in the Neighborhood of Harper's Ferry
(Column 05)

Summary: Report from inside the Confederate lines at Harper's Ferry--"The main movement from Harper's Ferry on southern Pennsylvania will be made as soon as offensive operations begin from Washington on South, or at Norfolk, along the country road leading from Harper's Ferry along Pleasant Valley, through Rohreraville, Boonesboro, and Waynesboro."

Reports from Baltimore
(Column 06)

Summary: The government seized a large cache of arms in Baltimore.

Movement of Troops
(Column 06)

Summary: "Two reconnaissances pushed southward from this point [Chambersburg] yesterday. There is a report to-day that they penetrated the lines of the confederate army and went deliberately through their camps."

Secession of North Carolina
(Column 06)

Summary: North Carolina has passed the ordinance of secession.

Arrival of Another Prize at Philadelphia
(Column 06)

Summary: The Niagara was captured while attempting to run the blockade. The ship is believed to carry arms and munitions. The captain denied knowing anything about the blockade or about the display of secession flags.

The Firemen Zouaves--Acceptance of Com. Bartlett's Naval Brigade
(Column 06)

Summary: The Firemen Zouaves were sworn in for the war by Brigadier General McDowell. A deserter from Alexandria appeared in the Zouave camp and gave an unfavorable account of conditions in the rebel camps.

Large Speculation
(Column 06)

Summary: The Spirit notes that George Law has received a contract from the government to supply the army with "twenty thousand beeves at eight cents per pound, live weight." The contractors will realize a profit of $600,000. The paper complains that "A few individuals are making princely fortunes at the expense of the tax-payers of the country."

Military Visitor
(Column 01)

Summary: "Lieut. George Stitzel, of Company A, 2nd Regiment, is now on a visit to his friends at this place. He was received with hearty greetings by his many friends."

Law of Postage
(Column 01)

Summary: "The postage law is silent in reference to charging postage on semi-weekly paper circulated in the county. Post Masters will, therefore, be good enough to wait for the decision of the Postmaster General before taking any action on the matter."

Eighth Regiment
(Column 01)

Summary: The eighth regiment from Camp Slifer paraded through the streets of Chambersburg, which "highly gratified" the citizens.

Broken Up
(Column 01)

Summary: The companies stationed at the Western Camp were dissolved and the men returned to their homes. Some men have remained in camp in the hope that a regiment for three years service can be recruited.

The Other Side
(Column 01)

Summary: The New York Board of Aldermen has decided not to take the corporation printing from the Day Book and Daily News and give it to the Lincoln papers. The N.Y. Tribune, which "would monopolize all the pickings without doing any of the fighting," is upset about this decision.

Ignoring Party
(Column 01)

Summary: Criticizes the Republicans, who called for all Unionists to bury party, but who have appointed their own men to high positions in the volunteer regiments while ignoring more qualified Democrats.

Origin of Article: Holidaysburg Standard

Editorial Comment: The following is "rather a severe rebuke to those who are laboring to vanish the Democratic party into thin air."

Editorial Visit
(Column 02)

Summary: An editor from the Luzerne Union paid a visit to Camp Slifer and wrote that Chambersburg, while only 15 miles away from Maryland, is "as strongly attached to the Union as any people in the State. I must not omit to mention that Chambersburg has a history in connection with the later stages of the slavery excitement, that her citizens rarely allude to. It is said that here the notorious John Brown first saw the light, while it is certain that he made it the rendezvous of his conspirators previous to their attack upon Harper's Ferry."

Democratic Union Meeting
(Column 02)

Summary: A meeting of the Democratic Party of Luzerne county was held at Wilkes-Barre on May 18th. There they passed resolutions that "have the ring of the true metal and express in admirable terms, the sentiments of the Democracy all over the country." In the resolutions, they vow to oppose both secessionists and abolitionists while vigorously supporting President Lincoln in his battle to protect the flag and the government.

"Knapsacks for Democrats"
(Column 02)

Summary: The Inquirer, a Republican paper, states that the men who opposed Lincoln and the Republicans "are now found among the foremost in defense of the government. . . They regard the exigency of the times as a paramount to partisan distinctions."

Origin of Article: Philadelphia Inquirer

Editorial Comment: "The fact is forcing itself upon the minds of all . . . that the Democratic party is furnishing the bulk of the fighting element of the North."

Army Correspondence--Letter from Camp Scott
(Column 03)

Summary: Letter from J.S.K. which states that many men in camp are sick. They remain at Camp Scott, stuck in the mud. The men are all very religious and attend services in the forenoon and afternoon on Sunday.

Georgia Folks
(Column 04)

Summary: "The leading papers of the Lincoln party at the North declare that the people of the South shall be butchered like dogs, and their property divided out among the soldiers who fight for Lincoln."

Origin of Article: Southern Federal Union, Milledgeville, GA

Editorial Comment: "This is the kind of food Southern asperity is nourished with"

An Important Law
(Column 04)

Summary: "An act relative to Hucksters in the Counties of Berks and Franklin" requires anyone who buys produce in Berks or Franklin counties with the intent of selling it in another county to buy a license.

The Point of Honor
(Column 05)

Summary: Letter from James Buchanan in which he states that a military oath is sacred. The men who took that oath swore to support the United States, not the Constitution of their respective states.

Origin of Article: National Intelligencer

Important Movement on the Part of the Government
(Column 05)

Summary: The federal government has seized all telegraphic dispatches which have passed through the Northern states for the last twelve months. It is believed that these will show that Jefferson Davis had an army of spies in New York and elsewhere in the North.

The Proposed State of New Virginia
(Column 06)

Summary: States that New Virginia has abundant natural resources and predicts that it will be a "new centre of emigration, enterprise and development astonishing to Old Virginia."

Precautions--Hints to Farmers
(Column 06)

Summary: Urges farmers to grow staple crops that are consumed by soldiers, especially beans, peas, wheat, and cattle.

The Latest--Southern War Items
(Column 06)

Summary: Southern troops are pouring into Virginia from Tennessee.

From Fortress Monroe
(Column 06)

Summary: Gen. Butler and staff arrived at Fortress Monroe. It is understood that the U.S. steamer Minnesota was to make an attack on the battery at Sewall's Point.

From Washington
(Column 06)

Summary: The voting in Alexandria occurred on May 23rd. No one dares vote for the Union since there are thousands of rebel troops stationed there. Lincoln stated that there would be no invasion of the South before the autumn, when the army would be well conditioned and supplied.

Allotment of Troops
(Column 06)

Summary: List of the number of volunteer companies allotted to each Pennsylvania county.

The English Press on the War
(Column 01)

Summary: Discussion of the rights of neutrals to trade with belligerents.

Origin of Article: London Times

The Commissioners from the Confederate States in London--Reported Interview with Lord John Russell
(Column 01)

Summary: Americans in London are generally convinced that the North will ultimately triumph, but the South will have some initial success.

Origin of Article: Manchester Guardian

Gold from California for London
(Column 01)

Summary: "It is stated that policies of insurance are now being opened here for $1,000,000 of California bullion from Panama to London, these consignments being diverted from New York in consequence of the peril of captors."

Origin of Article: London Times

Jefferson Davis' Letters of Marque in England
(Column 01)

Summary: Because the South has no navy, they have issued letters of marque, which "empower any individual to fit out a privateer with which he can annoy the mercantile navy and in some small measure carry on a maritime war with the North." These privateers have had an immediate effect on Northern ships.

Origin of Article: London Economist

Effect of the Blockade on Ship Charters Made in England
(Column 01)

Summary: Discussion of what a British ship that has a charter to sail to a Southern port should do when faced with the blockade.

Origin of Article: Shipping and Mercantile Gazette

Excitement in Paris on Account of the War
(Column 02)

Summary: The French are worried that their supply of cotton will be curtailed and that the American market will be closed to French products.

Origin of Article: London Times