Staunton Spectator: January 21, 1862 — Newspapers

The Flight of the Enemy from Romney

(column 1)

Summary:

Reports that the Union forces under the command of General Lander retreated from Romney, Virginia in anticipation of the advance of the Stonewall Brigade.

Excerpt:

"[t]he Federal forces . . . in apprehension of the advance of the Confederate force under the command of Gen'l Thos. J. Jackson, stampeded and scampered away from Romney as fast as their cowardly legs could carry them."

Traitors to be Hung

(column 1)

Summary:

Reports that J.P. Benjamin, Secretary of War, has recommended that several traitors confined in the Richmond city jail be hung. They are George Aubrey, Henry Ault, Benjamin Bone, John Berrydale, Aaron W.M. Donald, and John Alford.

Augusta Lee Rifles

(column 1)

Summary:

Item reports the promotion of McCoy to Junior 2nd Lieutenant in the Augusta Lee Rifles as a result of the death of Lieut. C.G. Davis.

Names in Announcement:

Charles D. McCoy; C.G. Davis

Judge Thompson

(column 1)

Summary:

Item endorsing Judge Thompson for the Confederate Senate.

Names in Announcement:

Judge Lucas P. Thompson

A Hopeful View

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Summary:

Predicts that the North will soon cease prosecuting the war for lack of funds in the Treasury and lack of will among the citizenry.

Origin of Article:

Lynchburg Republican

Full Text of Article

The Lynchburg Republican takes a hopeful view of affairs and expresses the conviction that the North will be unable to prosecute the war longer than the present year. With an empty treasury, a ruined credit, an enormous public debt, and heavy taxation, it is impossible for her to maintain hostilities of such gigantic proportions as those which the war has now assumed. The Northern volunteers are not fighting from patriotism or for defence, but for pay, and when they cease to get that, they will cease to be soldiers. The grand army will melt away like morning mist, and disorganization and mutiny be the order of the day. The people of the North, too, will proclaim for peace when the tax collector goes around with his drafts upon their purses for the money to foot army bills.--Direct taxation at the rate of three or four hundred millions a year, is more than the dollar-loving Yankee is going to stand. Their attachment to the "glorious Union," and to the "Stars and Stripes," were never known to equal their love of the dime. Patriotism was never known to interfere with their purse. They commenced the war as a money making operation. The loss of the South is a loss of two hundred millions of dollars to the Yankees, but to conquer the South will cost them at least $600,000,000 per annum. This fact is just beginning to break upon their astonished visions. The New York Herald says that something must be done or universal panic and bankruptcy will prevail in the North. "The money question is assuming an alarming shape against six hundred millions of expenditure."--Thus speaks the Herald. The people will soon echo the sentiment, and the administration will be left without money and without friends.

But this is not all. The leading minds of the North are now satisfied that to conquer the South is an impossibility. They are running up millions of debt, therefore, for nothing, which will become a permanent tax upon them and their posterity. The prospects of becoming involved in disastrous hostilities with England and France, are imminent, and will constitute an almost insuperable basis to a prolonged war. We think it highly probable, however, that in view of all these impending difficulties, which throw such a deep gloom over the North, the Federal authorities will make a desperate effort to force our lines and achieve a series of brilliant victories, upon which they can afford to retire with some degree of honor from the contest. A party in a desperate strait is almost sure to resort to desperate means to extricate itself. But all the South has to do is, to remain firm and vigilant, and relax not a single nerve until the struggle is over.

President Davis and the Southwestern Publishing House

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Summary:

A letter from Jeff Davis to the Rev. R. J. Graves praising the quality of books produced at the Southwest Publishing House.

Arrest of Tories

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Summary:

Reports the arrest of two men in Berkeley County, Virginia for allegedly passing information to the invading Yankees.

Death of Ex-President John Tyler

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Summary:

Item announces the death in Richmond of John Tyler.

Western Virginia

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Summary:

Reports resolutions passed by the legislature reasserting control over western Virginia, "in view of the presence of traitors in Western Virginia."

The Affair at Hanging Rock

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Summary:

Provides an account of a skirmish at Hanging Rock in Hampshire County between a small band of Confederates and a much larger force of Union soldiers. According to the writer, the Confederates decided to retire when they realized how outnumbered they were. They were not routed, as a "Yankee account falsely reported, as is usual with them."

Origin of Article:

Rockingham Register

The War in Missouri--Federal Atrocities

(column 4)

Summary:

J.W. Tucker, former editor of the Missouri State Sentinel, writes that the Unionist press in Missouri has lied to the people and has claimed that the Confederate States did not want Missouri as a member. He argues that the state is in fact an "inseparable part of the Southern Confederacy," but he pleads with the South to provide Missouri loyalists with military aid.

Burying a Man Alive--Singular Circumstance

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Summary:

Item reports a Wisconsin soldier being nearly buried alive in camp.

Origin of Article:

Baltimore Clipper

Lincoln's Cabinet and the Slavery Question

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Summary:

The Continental Monthly, a new abolitionist magazine, claims that a majority of Lincoln's cabinet favors emancipation. The magazine also believes that the majority of Republicans "are seemingly determined to press the great measure, and purify this country for once and forever of its great bitterness. It is a forgone conclusion."

Origin of Article:

Continental Monthly

A Female Spy on Horseback

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Summary:

Reports that a suspicious looking horseman was arrested in Washington. Once in custody, it was discovered that the prisoner was actually a woman.

Origin of Article:

New York Post

For the Spectator

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Summary:

Letter writer denounces the machinations of war speculators, who view the war as a means to make a fortune.

Trailer:

C.C.

For the Spectator

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Summary:

Letter from the Captain of the Clover Creek Guards (Co. E, No. 2, 31st Va. Reg't) disputing an account published in the Spectator that the company ran from an engagement with the enemy.

For the Spectator

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Summary:

A letter from Camp Allegheny requesting bandages from the "patriotic ladies of Augusta."

To the Lutheran Sabbath School Association

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Summary:

Letter thanks the school for 50 pairs of drawers donated to the Lewis Rangers.

Married

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Summary:

Married on January 9.

Names in Announcement:

Rev. R. Smith; Thomas A. Montgomery; Elizabeth A. Beard

Married

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Summary:

Married on January 2. Miss Shenk is from Rockingham.

Names in Announcement:

Rev. Joseph Early; Martin H. Wanger; Barbara Shenk

Married

(column 6)

Summary:

Married on September 5, 1861.

Names in Announcement:

Rev. J.M. Crawford; Robert A. Helms; Sarah J. Firth

Married

(column 6)

Summary:

Married on November 27. Mr. Howumb is from Rockingham.

Names in Announcement:

Abraham Howumb; Sarah Reubush

Married

(column 6)

Summary:

Mr. Silor and Miss Bosserman were married on January 5 at Mr. Holtz's residence near Middlebrook. Miss Bosserman is from Botetourt.

Names in Announcement:

Jacob Holtz; William Silor; Dorinda L. Bosserman

Died

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Summary:

Died on January 2 of diphtheria at age 55.

Names in Announcement:

Meredith Humphreys

(column 6)

Summary:

Died on January 12 at age 60.

Names in Announcement:

John Sales

Died

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Summary:

Died on January 12 at age 28.

Names in Announcement:

George W. Smith

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Died on January 8 at age 55. He was a long-time member of the M.E. Church.

Names in Announcement:

Capt. William Paxton

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Mary Richardson died on January 19 at age 5.

Names in Announcement:

Mary Emma Richardson; S.A. Richardson; Rebecca P. Richardson

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Died of typhoid fever on January 19 at age 57.

Names in Announcement:

John Bazzle

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Susan Henry, the widow of Dr. Henry, died of typhoid fever on January 13. She was a member of the Church of Christ.

Names in Announcement:

Mrs. Susan Henry; Dr. Richard Henry

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Dr. Butcher, a refugee from his home in Randolph County, Virginia, died near Churchville on December 21, 1861.

Names in Announcement:

Dr. O. Butcher

Died

(column 6)

Summary:

Died of typhoid fever on January 9 at age 53.

Names in Announcement:

Lewis Kincaid