NEW YORK HERALD, April 28, 1861  

* Near the start of the Civil War
* Maryland & Pennsylvania map
* Troops forming for battle 

The front page features a nice map titled: "THE SEAT OF WAR" showing portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia.
Among the one column headlines on the Civil War are: "THE WAR" "Highly Important News from Washington" "The Capital Garrisoned by Eighteen Thousand Northern Troops" "The City Considered Safe from Attack" "More Troops Pouring In" "Description of the March of the Soldiers through Maryland" "Reported Neutrality of Virginia" and more.
Eight pages, good condition.

Background: This April 28, 1861, issue of the New York Herald captures the precise, anxious hinge-point when the American Civil War transformed from a localized crisis at Fort Sumter into an industrialized, nationwide conflict. Its immense historical significance lies in documenting the immediate salvation of Washington, D.C., which had spent the previous two weeks terrifyingly isolated, surrounded by a hostile, seceding Virginia and a deeply divided, rioting Maryland that had cut off railroad and telegraph lines to the North. The headline celebrating the arrival of eighteen thousand Northern troops records the relief of a capital finally secured, transforming D.C. from an exposed outpost into a heavily fortified Union command center. Simultaneously, the front-page "Seat of War" map reflects a paradigm shift in American journalism, demonstrating how newspapers rapidly weaponized visual cartography to help an anxious public comprehend a fragmenting nation. Furthermore, the rumors regarding the "Reported Neutrality of Virginia"—which had already secretly voted to secede but had not yet held its public referendum—serve as a pristine artifact of the fluid, chaotic fog of war, capturing a fleeting moment when the North still desperately hoped the Upper South might act as a neutral buffer rather than the primary battleground of a bloody four-year struggle.