Civil War News
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The Saturday Evening Post Beginning print in 1821 out of Philadelphia, on the same press Benjamin Franklin used to rollout his The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1728, the Saturday Evening Post has covered many stories from throughout American history, including the American Civil War. Recently, the publisher digitized all issues of the magazine and archived them on their website. Researchers can access these archives, with an affordable $15 print/digital subscription to the magazine, at https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/issues/ page/4/?issue-year=1860s. The archives hold every weekly issue from 1862, 1864, and 1865; two from 1863; and none from 1861. This writer awaits word from the Post on the missing 1861 items and will update readers in a future column. Navigating the archive website takes a little practice, but
soon, researchers will gain comfort and can quickly locate various articles through keyword searches. The following provides a couple of examples found when keyword searching, first, ‘U.S. Grant’ in the June 11, 1864, edition. “Our readers will remember the old anecdote – ‘If you are a
Illustration of Grant in March 8, 1862, edition.
July 2, 1864 cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
great general,’ said one famous warrior of antiquity to another, ‘come out of your intrenchments and fight me.’ ‘If you are a great general,’ replied his wise adversary, ‘make me come out of my intrenchments, and fight you.’” This editorial continued, “Lee has said, in effect, the same to Grant – and Grant has made him leave one fortified position after another until both are now near Richmond. And whatever may be the future of the campaign, it will not alter the great fact that Grant has forced his way to the fortifications of the rebel capital….” Searching “Sherman” in the July 30, 1864, edition yielded the following result. “General Sherman has done much fighting since crossing the Chattahoochee, and lost General McPherson. Sherman appears to hold a part of Atlanta…all communication with Atlanta, excepting from Macon, was closed at the last advices…. General Hooker thoroughly whipped the rebels on Wednesday [Peach Tree Creek] in the open field, and forty-four hundred were killed and wounded.” The pages of the Post during the war also contain various reports from Federal soldiers. Publishing in Philadelphia, the Post typically focused on Northern accounts from the war, and printed letters from Federal soldiers. The March 5, 1864, edition carried one such message, entitled ‘Heroic Capture of a Rebel Colonel.’ The writer, Private Charles Philbrick
1913 Memorial Day cover featuring veterans.
July 2019 Jr. of the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry, recounted his exciting capture of a Confederate colonel outside Baton Rouge. Writing in third-person, Philbrick noted, “Quietly fastening his horse, he crept to the front door, burst it open, and, pistol in hand, astonished the assembled party with the sight of a Union soldier on the rampage.” Expanding your search beyond the Civil War years will produce many additional results, as the magazine continued to publish various articles on the war, although most fall within the secondary-source category. Several Civil War-themed covers
1940 cover with Robert E. Lee.
General
occurred during the early decades of the 1900s, like the 1913 Memorial Day cover featuring veterans, and a 1940 cover with General Robert E. Lee. In 2018, the Post published a collector’s edition—Untold Stories of the Civil War—which researchers may find helpful as an offline index to aid in searching the online archives. Copies of this issue remain available from the publisher for $10; order at https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/product/the-saturday-evening-post-untold-storiesof-the-civil-war/. Next month, we will explore another primary source. Until then, continued good luck in researching the Civil War! Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@ gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.