News from the Civil War: The Spigot Starts to Open
By Gary Farrow, Member of the Danville Historical Society
Prior to the Civil War, revolutionary technology remade the newspaper business so that information could be delivered from faraway places faster and cheaper than ever before. The October ‘61 editions of the North Star brought home opinion from a Boston Journal correspondent, the sentiments of a Danville soldier at the Virginia front, and news of military activities on the Gulf Coast,
North Star October 5, 1861
Why McClellan Holds On
The Washington Correspondent of the Boston Journal writes… It has been two months since the advance of the Federal troops from Bull Run to Washington.…the people are anxious to have something done by the large army to blot out the disagreeable part of that affair…
…It was supposed that everything would be in readiness by the first of September and that by the present time we should have made a triumphant march towards the very heart of secession, but instead here we are throwing up entrenchments with rebels flaunting their hateful burning in our face with the great dome of the capital in full view of their work at Munson’s. It is provoking to the blood…
…But the beauty of his [McClellan’s] hanging on… He has, by remaining quiet completely frustrated the plans of the rebels. They intend to attack us, but found we are getting very strong… They have conquered all in vain… When he sees that the proper time has come to let go, I am confident that he will do it in a manner that will win admiration.