Cold Harbor, in a Confederate newspaper...
Item # 694419
June 14, 1864
THE CHARLESTON MERCURY, South Carolina, June 14, 1864
* Rare from the origin of the Civil War outbreak
Among the front page column heads from this Confederate newspaper: "Interesting From Richmond' "Grant Changes His Base & Crosses the Chickahominy" "All Quiet in North Georgia" "Gen. S. D. Lee's Victory in the West" "Yankee Atrocities in Louisiana" "The Recent Naval Battle in Albemarle Sound" "From the United States" "The Confederate Congress" & more.
The back page has some war-related reports including a short dispatch signed in type: F. T. Beauregard General C.S.A., plus: "Yankee Outrages in Florida' and more.
Complete as a single sheet issue, various light damp staining, otherwise nice.
Background: This specific single-sheet edition of The Charleston Mercury from June 14, 1864, serves as an invaluable and exceedingly rare primary source artifact capturing the Confederacy at a desperate, dual-front turning point in the American Civil War. The front-page headline detailing Union General Ulysses S. Grant crossing the Chickahominy River marks the immediate, high-stakes aftermath of the Battle of Cold Harbor, capturing the exact historical moment Grant shifted his strategy from a direct assault on Richmond to the siege of the vital rail hub of Petersburg. Meanwhile, the dispatches from General P.G.T. Beauregard on the reverse page document his scramble to organize the defenses that would ultimately prevent an immediate Confederate collapse that summer. Beyond its immense content significance—which includes celebrating the fresh tactical triumph of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads ("Gen. S. D. Lee's Victory") amidst the grinding pressure of William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign ("All Quiet in North Georgia")—the physical format of the newspaper itself is a stark testament to wartime scarcity. Reduced to a single, tightly packed sheet due to the devastating success of the Union naval blockade, which choked off the South's supply of ink and newsprint, this issue stands as a scarce survivor of a crumbling Confederate press infrastructure, offering a raw, unfiltered look at how a society on the brink of defeat framed its final major campaigns.
* Rare from the origin of the Civil War outbreak
Among the front page column heads from this Confederate newspaper: "Interesting From Richmond' "Grant Changes His Base & Crosses the Chickahominy" "All Quiet in North Georgia" "Gen. S. D. Lee's Victory in the West" "Yankee Atrocities in Louisiana" "The Recent Naval Battle in Albemarle Sound" "From the United States" "The Confederate Congress" & more.
The back page has some war-related reports including a short dispatch signed in type: F. T. Beauregard General C.S.A., plus: "Yankee Outrages in Florida' and more.
Complete as a single sheet issue, various light damp staining, otherwise nice.
Background: This specific single-sheet edition of The Charleston Mercury from June 14, 1864, serves as an invaluable and exceedingly rare primary source artifact capturing the Confederacy at a desperate, dual-front turning point in the American Civil War. The front-page headline detailing Union General Ulysses S. Grant crossing the Chickahominy River marks the immediate, high-stakes aftermath of the Battle of Cold Harbor, capturing the exact historical moment Grant shifted his strategy from a direct assault on Richmond to the siege of the vital rail hub of Petersburg. Meanwhile, the dispatches from General P.G.T. Beauregard on the reverse page document his scramble to organize the defenses that would ultimately prevent an immediate Confederate collapse that summer. Beyond its immense content significance—which includes celebrating the fresh tactical triumph of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads ("Gen. S. D. Lee's Victory") amidst the grinding pressure of William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign ("All Quiet in North Georgia")—the physical format of the newspaper itself is a stark testament to wartime scarcity. Reduced to a single, tightly packed sheet due to the devastating success of the Union naval blockade, which choked off the South's supply of ink and newsprint, this issue stands as a scarce survivor of a crumbling Confederate press infrastructure, offering a raw, unfiltered look at how a society on the brink of defeat framed its final major campaigns.
Item from last month's catalog - #366 - released for May, 2026
Category: The Civil War
